Clogged streets and arteries no more: new drive-through ban could pass tonight

Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about.

Some things that stick out to us this week include:

Tonight, the Spokane City Council will vote on an emergency ordinance to immediately ban new drive-throughs from opening on some streets in the city — most notably, a huge swath of Division. If this seems out of nowhere, it is.
The Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee is packed. The new drive-through ban makes its first appearance, and the council will also discuss a renter protection ordinance that could guarantee renters the right to cooling in their units by 2031.
The STA board will decide this week when to run the ballot renewal for the sales tax that funds our transit system, a crucial decision to keep state and federal funding.
Spokane County will appoint people to write a “for” proposition to a measure the BOCC will likely add to August ballots to create a protection district for West Plains groundwater.
The governing board of Spokane County’s emergency call system is shrinking, and the BOCC will vote on a new quorum level for the body.
The cities of Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley will examine different aspects of their long-term plans that the state says must be completed by the end of December.

Important meetings this week:

Spokane City Council

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Participatory budgeting

Tonight, the council could accept a $650,000 grant from the WA State Dept. of Commerce to do a process called community participatory budgeting, where the community gets to decide how funds are spent in their neighborhoods. There aren’t a ton of details in the agenda as to how the process will work, or which neighborhoods may see the benefits of funding, but tonight’s action is just to accept the grant, so … more details later?

Fighting a police violence suit

The city could pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $75,000 fighting a lawsuit about Spokane Police Department (SPD) conduct in 2022, bringing the total costs to $175,000. The suit, filed by Andrei Johnson, alleged Johnson’s civil rights were violated by an excessive use of force from SPD. According to the lawsuit, Johnson was holding a shard of glass against his own neck, and instead of deescalating, SPD officers deployed tasers, 40mm less lethal rounds and then unleashed a K9 after Johnson was prone and surrounded. The dog inflicted severe injuries to Johnson’s head.

Stop the clog

Some council members have lovingly (or not so lovingly) described Division Street as “The Chicken Strip,” due to the sheer concentration of chicken drive-through restaurants. But the spread of chicken domination could be coming to an end. In an effort to stop the clog of streets (and also your arteries), all new drive-throughs could be banned on streets slated to receive planned frequent transit stops or transit-oriented development.

Tonight, the council will vote on an immediate emergency moratorium, proposed by Council Members Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone, which means any drive-throughs hoping to open on the streets outlined in the ordinance that have not yet received their permits will have to alter course and look elsewhere. The moratorium zone includes most of Division Street — which is scheduled to be the site of bus rapid transit from Spokane Transit Authority — swathes of Monroe Street, a small section of West Central, a small section of Garland District, a few chunks on Wellesley, about a dozen blocks on Sprague Avenue, part of 29th and a few other small areas. The map in full can be found on page 641 of the agenda.

If passed tonight, the moratorium would go into effect immediately and last for a year. It would halt any drive-throughs that don’t yet have counter-complete permits. It would, however, not stop the controversial Chick-Fil-A planned for Division Street.

Food truck fans, rejoice

Tonight, an ordinance from Council Members Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon that could make it easier for food trucks to operate in the city will get its first reading. The ordinance would do a few things:

Stop requiring food truck operators to make site improvements when they’re operating out of a surface parking lot
Update city code to match state code, allowing food trucks to sell alcohol at certain events with the appropriate permits
Eliminate a $60 permit required for trucks operating more than two weeks in the city
Allow food truck to park in any surface lot (with the owner’s permission)
Eliminate an onerous requirement that food trucks get written permission from any adjacent properties they want to park next to, requiring only the permission of owner of the property they park on

Agenda here
Monday, April 13 at 6 pm
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane City Council Study Sessions

Agenda here when available.
Thursday, April 16 at 11 am
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee

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WTE won … sort of

Spokane has been fighting in the state legislature for the Waste-to-Energy plant to get an exemption to the Climate Commitment Act carbon-credit bidding system for years. The city didn’t exactly win the fight, but this year, the legislature gave the city a stay of execution — no need to bid on carbon credits until 2030. Instead, the WTE plant’s emissions will be under scrutiny. The city needs to create a Waste Diversion and Recovery report, a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction report and more. For all the details on the bill and the fiscal impacts to the city, tune into today’s committee.

Right-to-cooling

The more renter-friendly Spokane City Council is continuing to pitch renter-protection laws. Up for discussion next is an ordinance that would guarantee renters the right to cooling in the residential properties they’re leasing. The first draft of the ordinance, proposed by Council Members Dillon, Klitzke and Dixit, would require every dwelling unit in the city to have adequate cooling in the bedrooms by 2031, or be deemed uninhabitable.

Renters are already guaranteed the right to adequate heat; this ordinance would do the same for cooling — a recommendation from the city’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board in the face of climate change. If this were to pass and tenants had lack of cooling, they would have the right to terminate their lease, pursue civil remedy or install a cooling device and deduct the cost from their normal rent. This is up for discussion today.

Death to drive-throughs

If you’re getting déjà vu because you just saw a drive-through moratorium in this edition of CIVICS, don’t worry, this is the same thing. Because the potential ban is speed-running the normal process, the council will have its very first discussion on forbidding new drive-throughs on streets with planned frequent transit stops at committee, and then vote later tonight. See the above for more details.

Agenda here
Monday, April 13 at 12 pm
Council Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Plan Commission

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Agenda here
Tuesday, April 14 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session

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For and against committees for West Plain water protection measure

The BOCC will appoint West Plains residents Julia McHugh, Craig Volosing, Reed Oakes and Hank Bynaker to the “for” committee that will draft public language advocating a protection district for West Plains Aquifers. According to the agenda sheet for the appointments, there were no candidates for an “against” committee. The West Plains aquifers, which flow under the city of Airway Heights, Spokane International Airports and Fairchild Air Force Base, are contaminated with “forever chemicals” stemming from firefighting operations at the airports.

A protection district is a taxing authority that raises funds — in this case, $400,000 for the next 20 years — to educate the public and promote clean water efforts for people who drink from the aquifer. The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, from which most Eastern Washingtonians get their drinking water, has been under a protection district for decades, but the West Plains aquifers are not protected. Voters will likely see a ballot measure creating the district on their August primary ballots.

Update on sheriff’s FIFA contract

There’s very little detail in the agenda sheet, but Undersheriff Kevin Richey will give the BOCC an update on the Spokane County Sheriff’s contract to do security at World Cup-related events. We first reported that contract in CIVICS here.

Agenda here
Tuesday, April 14 at 9 am
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session

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New quorum for the shrinking SREC Board

As the regional 911 management system changes after the city of Spokane withdrew from that body over unbridgeable disagreements with other represented governments last year, the board will have new quorum rules. These are the rules that say how many board members have to be present to hold a valid vote. The changes pan out like this: voting members of the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) board are being reduced from nine to seven, reducing from seven to four the number of members required for a vote.

$2M Fancher Property purchase for conservation futures

The Parks, Recreation & Golf Department wants to spend $2 million on a 78-acre property, called the “Fancher Property,” near Minnehaha, the Beacon Hill Conservation Area and the Centennial Trail for the conservation futures program. The BOCC is set to vote on the purchase. That program, which voters approved in 1994, currently preserves more than 9,000 acres in the county from development. The Fancher Property sits in an area that is quickly developing, according to the agenda sheet. The purchase would protect established hiking trails and wildlife habitat.

West Plain APA likely headed to ballot

Responding to years of advocacy from local residents, the BOCC will likely approve a ballot measure that would create a protection district that preserves the quality of the water in the West Plain aquifers in the same way the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer is preserved.

The details of the fees that would be implemented should voters approve the measure are detailed here.

Board appointments

The BOCC will appoint:

Undersheriff Sean Walter to the law enforcement position on the Behavioral Health Advisory Board and
Robert Ordner for District 2 position on the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee

Agenda here
Tuesday, April 14 at 2 pm
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors

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Renew now, or wait?

A big decision lies in front of the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors this week: when to run the sales tax renewal on the ballot. STA is funded in part by two-tenths of one percent sales tax — meaning they get 2 cents for every $10 retail purchase — approved by voters in 2016. The sales tax expires at the end of 2028, though, leaving the agency limited time to run a ballot measure to renew the tax.

The agency has received more than 80 written comments and 16 public comments, all in favor of running the sales tax renewal as soon as possible, rather than waiting until 2027. Waiting could risk STA’s access to state and federal grants, but some STA board members have expressed concerns that running the tax renewal this year could put it in competition with a potential tax for new public safety measures (or a jail) that may be soon proposed by the Safe and Healthy Tax force.

STA’s tax renewal could run as soon as this August, on the primary ballot, which some board members say would “clear the way,” for other taxes to run on the November ballot, while others say running two taxes back to back could negatively impact one or both tax measures. There is also an uncertainty about whether the Safe and Healthy Task Force is actually going to be ready to run a tax this year, and whether waiting to run the STA tax renewal in anticipation of a potential new tax could hinder them both, if STA holds and the new Safe and Healthy tax doesn’t even run this year, leaving both forced to run next year.

The Board Operations Committee for STA did not make an official recommendation on when to run the tax, which means it will be left to the full board. It will likely be a fight as early discussions showed fault lines between board members who seemed to prefer deferring to the potential new tax, like County Commissioner Al French — who said at an STA committee meeting that he would not support the STA tax renewal — and City Council Member Kitty Klitzke, who was in favor of running the STA tax in August.

For transit enthusiasts, this is definitely a meeting to watch. And who knows … we may even be there live-posting!

Agenda here
Tursday, April 16 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Airport Board

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Agenda here.
Thursday, April 16 at 9 am
9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Mead School District Board of Directors (work session)

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The board will hold a work session to discuss the 26/27 budget and levy rate, among other things. The agenda does not provide details for the topics the board will discuss.

Agenda here
Monday, April 13 at 6 pm
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead
Watch via Zoom here.

Central Valley School District Board of Directors (special & regular meeting)

Agendas here when available
Monday, April 14 at 6 pm
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd
Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.

East Valley School District Board of Directors

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New superintendent

The East Valley School District Board of Directors is expected to hold a vote on approving a contract for Mandi Rehn as the superintendent.

The contract’s term spans three years and offers an annual base salary of $230,000 for the first year. After that, the superintendent could receive the same annual salary or a higher amount.

You can view the full contract on the board’s agenda.

Agenda here
Tuesday, April 14 at 6 pm
3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1
Spokane Valley

Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting)

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Comprehensive plan update

Spokane Valley city staff will present an update on the long-term plan it’s required to finalize by the end of December. This meeting will focus on housing policy, climate resiliency and public and private utilities, and note recent changes in state law that impact those plans. One of the most important elements here is the new requirement that local governments start recording emissions of climate warming gasses so they can strategize how to reduce those emissions. The presentation says Spokane Valley has completed its greenhouse gasses inventory and is now working on a plan to reduce them.

Agenda here
Tuesday, April 14 at 5 pm
10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley
Virtual attendance here.

Liberty Lake City Council

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Workshop on the 20-year infrastructure plans

The council will hear a presentation on the capital facilities plan to govern the way Liberty Lake will invest in and build public infrastructure, which consists of roads, stormwater management, city buildings, public art, the golf course, to name only a few types of infrastructure. Liberty Lake plans to spend more than $130 million on such projects in the next two decades. The capital facilities plan is a central part of the comprehensive plan every local government is required to update every 20 years.