Cheney Planning Commissioner Rick Mount is no stranger to the accountability of public office, having served on the Cheney School Board for 18 years. After a recent vote on a controversial issue, he found himself back on the hot seat.
In comments at the end of the commission’s April 10 meeting, Mount said he received a lot of citizen feedback since the last meeting on March 23, which was the conclusion of a public hearing on a rezone request for the Parkside Commons apartment complex. The rezone would allow Parkside developers to increase the number of units allowed at the site on North Eighth Street near Eastern Washington University from the currently allowed maximum of 76 to 115.
Mount said most who approached him disagreed with his vote on the request. Mount, commissioners Kristine Williams and Vara Lyn Conrath voted to approve the request while commissioners Vince Barthels, Dan Turbeville and Craig Huber voted against it.
Lack of a seventh commissioner to break the deadlock resulted in sending the request to the City Council for a final decision without a commission recommendation.
Mount said he explained to people that he voted the way he did because he felt he was following the requirements of the law. He added most people didn’t care about this because their concern was public safety due to the high volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area.
Mount said he shares residents concerns that construction of multifamily housing in Cheney is outpacing single family, and asked if there was a way they could address the possibility of the city placing a moratorium on multifamily housing.
Public Works Director Todd Ableman said a moratorium could only be done by the City Council. Mount said he understood this, but added he was hearing from residents the city is “going way too far” right now, and felt the commission needs to examine the issue and offer a recommendation.
“What can we do to take some kind of action on what the community is telling us we need to do as a commission?” Mount asked.
In business items, the commission began wrapping up its yearlong work updating the city’s comprehensive plan. At its April 10 meeting, the commission opened a public hearing to review and take testimony on changes it has made to chapters 1-6 of the plan governing how Cheney develops over the next 20 years.
Ableman gave the commission and audience members in attendance a brief synopsis of changes to the first six chapters, which really started at Chapter 3, “Land Use.” The few changes in Chapter 4, “Transportation” centered on updates to traffic patterns and vehicle trip numbers on streets and arterials produced by a traffic study, and how those would change in the future as the city grows. “Natural Resources and Sustainability,” chapter 5, also looked at how Cheney’s growth would impact such elements as water supply, both potable and non-potable.
The commission left the public hearing open in order to continue receiving testimony at future meetings.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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