Work with residents, not against them
 
 
Guest opinion
Work with residents, not against them
 
Don and Barbara Mcbride
Special to The Spokesman-Review
 
 
We have lived in the West Central Neighborhood for 50 years, the last 40 years on Summit Boulevard overlooking the Spokane River. We raised our six children here. Our memories of our family and our neighborhood this past half-century are rich beyond measure.
 
For our neighborhood, major changes lie ahead. Marshall Chesrown of Black Rock Development Inc. in Coeur d'Alene is proposing 2,600 residential units and 1 million square feet of commercial space in an area called Kendall Yards on the south edge of the West Central Neighborhood.
 
Like so many of our neighbors, we generally support the development. But we have concerns.
 
Kendall Yards has looked so bad for the past 30 years that some say any change is good. Cleaning up this polluted site is clearly a good thing.
 
But we are concerned about what comes next and the impacts on our neighborhood and the Spokane River. Our West Central Neighborhood has many problems, but we have many good things, too. The city needs to be careful and cautious in issuing permits to the developer.
 
Our neighborhood is a mix of poor and middle-income families. In the 1960s and 1970s our neighborhood churches were overwhelmed with people coming to their door. The neighborhood rallied to address problems of poverty. Churches in our neighborhood started an outreach center called "Our Place." The Community Center was founded to help the neighborhood. Everyone worked together to make it work.
 
We've always placed a big emphasis on helping poor kids make a go of it – through Scouts and schools, churches and other opportunities. The proposed Kendall Yards development is for middle- to high-income people and will squeeze out lower-income families. That will be a major – and we think damaging – change.
 
The Spokane River is so gorgeous, so perfect for Spokane. High-rise buildings overlooking the river canyon will make the most money for the developer. We need a commitment from the city in its rush to encourage the development that we not end up with a wall of 12-story apartment complexes along the north end of the river canyon stretching west of Maple Street Bridge.
 
Some of our city's most beautiful views are here along the canyon rim west from the Maple Street Bridge and along Summit Boulevard. If you walk along the river canyon you will see spring wildflowers – and litter and erosion. Adding thousands of people along this short stretch of the river will increase use, user conflicts, personal safety concerns and risk more damage to the fragile river banks. The city must take a leadership role in protecting this part of the Spokane River.
 
Our neighborhood needs to be made safe for walkers and bicyclists. We already have problems with speeding cars. Adding 4,000 people will only make traffic matters worse. Other parts of the city have invested in traffic-calming devices – look at the traffic circle outside the Elk Restaurant in Browne's Addition. The city needs to address traffic problems up front and not as an afterthought when someone's child is hurt or killed.
 
Dust blowing in the wind over the 20-year build-out of the development will be a problem. Seed grasses and other temporary measures can be used. Once new people and businesses move in, they too will demand dust control. The city and developer should make plans now, and not make our neighbors suffer the dust.
 
Our property taxes keep going up. Our new neighbors will need city services. We are concerned that incoming Kendall Yards residents will be allowed to skip paying property taxes for several years. If they don't pay those taxes, then we will. We agree with the need to provide some level of incentive. The city needs to disclose the full extent of the public subsidy being given to the developer.
 
We want the Kendall Yards development to be a blessing – and not bring more problems to our neighborhood. We want to protect the best of the neighborhood – including its historic qualities – in the face of the massive new development.
 
The city needs to work with concerned neighbors – not just the developer – to advance solutions for these problems before the city approves the permits. That will take caring work, a willingness to listen and leadership.
 
 
 
Apr 25, 2006