The first item of business on Spokane Valley City Council’s agenda was to hold a public hearing on the City’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP is a prioritized list of transportation projects intended to be implemented in the next six years addressing the City’s transportation needs.
The City is required by state law to prepare and, after holding a public hearing, adopt a comprehensive transportation program for the ensuing six calendar years. This plan must be submitted to the Washington State Department of Transportation by June 30th of each year.
Federal and State funded projects often require matches of between 10% and 20%. Staff regularly reviews the projected Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) fund balances compared to the timing and execution of planned projects to ensure that sufficient funds are available to satisfy the City’s fiscal requirements for the planned projects.
Immediately following the public hearing, Council unanimously approved Resolution 22-010 adopting the 2023-2028 Six-Year TIP as presented.
With expanding population, the City is experiencing problems with parking. As a remedy, Council, after several discussions has settled upon Ordinance 22-009 to define and remedy those parking issues. Ordinance 22-009’s various sections cover:
• Establishment of City authority from the state to enact parking prohibitions
• Identifies Council authority to establish parking prohibitions
• Identifies parking areas and time violations subject to fines or impoundment; that period of time is 24 hours
• Establishes definition of ‘junk’ vehicle and prohibitions for parking ‘junk’ vehicles on public rights-of-way and prohibits any vehicle with an expired registration (over 45 days) from parking on public right-of-way. And prohibits vehicle parking within 15 feet of a US Postal Service mailbox
• Establishes a daily $50 fine for violation of the City Code established under Ordinance 22-009 Council intends SCOPE to be the enforcing agent under this ordinance.
Ordinance 22-010, is a supplement to Ordinance 22-009, addressing unwanted parking on private property, which has been a long-standing concern of Council. The ordinance presents language to amend the city code to focus on junk vehicles, vehicle parking/storage on private property, camping (homeless) on private property, and multifamily development parking. Items covered are:
• Junk/inoperable vehicle storage. Keep definition of junk vehicles, add definition of unlicensed vehicle, prohibit unlicensed vehicles
•Vehicle (including RV) parking and storage on private property. Limit parking/storage to permitted use, number of parked vehicles on private property
(5, but no more than 1 RV)
• RV and tent camping on private property. (Allow RV for living purposes with valid temporary use permit, allow short term use of tents/similar set-ups
for limited social purposes)
• Multifamily parking issues. (Addressed in future Council action)
The motion to adopt Ordinance No. 22-010 passed 5-2.
The past discussions on flashing beacons at school zones has produced additions to the existing list of beacons which Council wishes to install:
• Tschirley from Sprague to Main
• Main from 300 feet west of Tschirley to Tschirley
• Corbin from Appleway to 200 feet north of Cowley
• Ella from Broadway to Desmet
• 4th Ave. from 300 feet west of Long Road to 100 feet east of Moen
Five other school zones were identified for removal from the list to comply with existing state law. A further review of the City speed limit schedule resulted in the following additions:
• Progress Rd. from Wellesley to Crown; reduce from 35mph to 25 mph
• Barker Rd. from Euclid to Trent; reduce from 40 mph to 35mph
• Indiana Ave. from I-90 ramp to Indiana Parkway; reduce from 35 to 30 mph
The motion to approve Resolution #22-011, repealing and replacing Resolution #18-006, passed unanimously.
On March 29th, 2022, Ordinance 22-005 adopted the South Barker Corridor Transportation Impact Fee (TIF). City regulations require that TIFs be applied in accordance with the most current edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual.
TIFs allow assessment and collection of impact fees consistent with the City’s Street Standards which address changes brought about by new development. However, the South Barker Corridor provides a significant part of the transportation system that routes traffic from Liberty Lake and sections of Spokane County south of Spokane Valley to I-90 and points north as well as east and west. The table below defines the per trip impact of participation by the jurisdictions.
TIF Impact Fee / Area Cost per Trip
City of Spokane Valley / $1,153 per trip
City of Liberty Lake / $657 per trip
Spokane County / $3,859 per trip
Resolution #22-012 adopts the Transportation Impact Fee Rate Study for Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and Spokane County. It sets forth the Cost Per Trip by Segment Analysis to provide a reference to identify traffic impacts and resultant mitigation for added traffic impacts related to developments in adjacent jurisdictions. Motion to approve Resolution 22-012 passed unanimously.
The City has had a series of lease agreements with Splashdown since 2009. Lately, with the effect of COVID and vandalism problems, the owners have asked for a modification of the existing lease to allow them time to possibly sell the business. Council agreed to amend the existing agreement allowing Splashdown to not open for 2022, waiving the lease payments, and would also waive the requirement for premises liability insurance for 2022. Motion to approve the lease amendment passed unanimously.
In a City initiated Code Text Amendment, CTA-2022-0001, the City would adopt permanent regulations to address transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency housing, emergency shelters, and transitional parking. All of this is in conformance with legislation passed by the legislature last year that became fully effective at the end of September 2021.
The City’s Planning Commission has deliberated and held a public hearing with recommending adoption of CTA-22-0001 with the following modifications:
1. Allow recreational vehicles in Transitional Parking
2. Require lighting and security cameras in all parking areas
3. Require a minimum of five parking spaces, plus enough for all on duty facility staff in the residential zones, and require ten parking spaces plus enough
for all facility staff on duty in non-residential zones
4. Reduce the minimum distance between facilities from one mile to ½ mile
Council reached consensus to place CTA-22-0001 on a future agenda for a first reading.
The schedule for Council meetings over the next two weeks is:
• June 21st: Regular Council Meeting Cancelled
• June 28th: Regular Council Meetings resume
City Hall is open for business during normal business hours. Masks are no longer required in the building. Council meetings begin at 6:00pm. The Public is invited to participate in action items or public comment periods in person or via ZOOM. Call 509-720-5000 or www.spokanevalley.org prior to 4:00 p.m. for access instructions.