By Grace Pohl
Staff Intern 

AH meeting turns contentious

 

Last updated 12/7/2017 at 3:31pm



There were barely any empty seats at the Nov. 30 Airway Heights Planning Commission meeting as citizens packed the room for the public hearing on rezones around the city.

“This is the most people I have ever seen at one of these meetings,” Commissioner Matthew Pederson said.

The meeting hovered around four hours and had 12 comments on the various rezones throughout the evening.

The rezone that caused most of the trouble was ZMA 2017-04. This includes 20-acres of land located in the northwest quadrant of the city, which is comprised of two 10-acre parcels. The properties are proposed to change from an R-1, single family residential to R-3, multi-family residential. This is to accommodate the alternative housing for residents located south of Highway 2 and within the Fairchild Air Force Base APZ (accident potential zone).

“Part of my job is to provide housing for everyone,” Development Services Director Derrick Braaten explained. “And this is a way to accomplish that.”

Braaten went on to explain that this is not an apartment complex being built and it is the city requesting the rezone. He said that the plan all along was to build cottage style houses that consist of 800-1,100 square foot “mixed-income” homes.

Citizens from the Hunter’s Crossing housing development showed up to oppose the rezone because they believe their houses will devalue, traffic will become an issue and the demographic it will bring to the area is undesirable. Some of those even threatened to leave Airway Heights if this was approved.

“I oppose the commission’s plan,” Hunter’s Crossing Rick Pageant said. “Homes in the neighborhood will be negatively impacted. Our quality of life will be diminished. I don’t think this scheme has been considered, disclosed or discussed in an appropriate manner with the property owners. I don’t think there have been appropriate studies with public safety and I believe there should be studies in each of the places impacted.”

Councilman Larry Bowman is in a unique situation due to the fact that he also lives in the area of the rezone. He was at Thursday’s meeting.

“We have heard a lot of people come up and talk about concerns,” Bowman said. “I am a resident and I am also a city councilman. I want to look out for everyone in the area. I think that in this case, we are getting the best of both worlds. We are getting something that is beneficial but scary. I commend the city for coming out and opening up this discussion. We hear what everyone is saying. This is something that won’t be taken lightly.”

One of the only people that wasn’t entirely against the rezone was resident Candi Poe.

“I have been in this area for a few years,” Poe said. “My property happens to be up against an apartment complex. My backyard is a parking lot on the other side for Cedar Summit. We have not had any additional issues because of it. But since when do we judge who gets to live in our neighborhood based on who can afford it? I always hear Airway Heights wants to be different than Spokane. The way that you do that is that you allow people of every type to come in. Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head.”

After hearing comments from eight different people on the manner, the commission decided to wait until the Dec. 13 meeting to make a final decision on recommending it to the city council. The members are currently 2-1 in favor to recommend it.

The other rezone that caused discussion was on two properties comprising 49.37 acres proposed to change from general commercial to a multi-family residential. The Kalispel Tribe is requesting it due to it not being tribal trust property.

This rezone is near the Airway Heights Corrections Facility and all three Planning Commission members were concerned about the location.

“I think it would be better fit for business and light industrial,” Pederson said. “I am very concerned about it being residential.”

A representative from the Kalispel Tribe was there to explain the reason behind it being a residential rezone, claiming it is so they can be “as flexible as possible” with the land.

After hearing a few comments from the crowd and the representative, all three planning commission members are currently against the rezone.

Another item involves changing 7.8 acres from residential manufactured to general commercial. This property is located west of Aspen Grove Park and east of Craig Road. The property is intended for the development of a church and is bound by a restricted commercial to the north and a multi-family residential to the south.

With few comments, the Planning Commission is currently sitting at a 2-1 decision in favor of it.

The only rezone that breezed by quickly involved rezoning light industrial to open space at the recreation center.

The final recommendations will be held at the Dec. 13 meeting, where the City Council will have the final decision made on Dec. 18 about all the rezones.

Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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