Neighbors raise significant concerns regarding fast tracking Kendall Yards development

For immediate release, July 20

For more information, contact John Osborn, 509-939-1290

SPOKANE – From dangerous increases in neighborhood traffic to overwhelming damage to the Spokane River corridor, area residents this week raised significant concerns with the City of Spokane about the proposed Kendall Yards development.

Citizens also cited the need to address the vague and outdated environmental analysis and the prospect for 12-story condominiums along the north shore of the Spokane River before the city approves the development.

“The city is poised to allow a million square feet of commercial and retail space and thousands of condominiums on this prime river property with practically no review,” said John Osborn, of the Summit-Bridge Alliance. “This is one of the largest in-fill developments in Spokane’s history and deserves the city’s most careful analysis – not the quickest approval. This enormous project will cripple Spokane’s hard-earned downtown revitalization and potentially mar one of the few undeveloped stretches of urban river frontage in the United States.”

The Kendall Yards development is proposed on 78 acres along the north shore of the Spokane River, just west of downtown. The public comment period on the Planned Unit Development was initiated over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend and closed on Monday. A public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. This is the public’s last opportunity to make its voice heard.

“Tens of thousands of people will be affected by this decision, from the Brown’s Addition residents whose vistas will be blocked by this development to children will face an enormous increase in traffic as they walk to Holmes Elementary School,” Osborn said. “We can attend the public hearing and ask public officials to set standards that will make Kendall Yards an asset for the Spokane community or sit back and assume that our silence will prompt city officials to do the right thing.”

Additional sources:

Summit-Bridge Alliance letter to the City of Spokane

Olmsted Brothers’ Report to the Spokane Parks Commission