P
Penny S.
Guest
http://www.lsw.org/saveourbluff/
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=013003&ID=s1295442&cat=se ction.spokane
There is a "petition" at teh site, and there is also a place to enter editorial commentary at the
newspaper site
Spokane
Developer's plans upset West Cannon residents Neighbors accustomed to using nature trail on the
private property
Mike Prager Staff writer
The house was packed at the Woman's Club of Spokane two weeks ago. But this was no social occasion.
Scores of Cannon's Addition residents turned out to hear plans by a developer to turn a slice of
undeveloped land into exclusive home sites. The private wooded property overlooking the Latah Valley
holds a popular, but unsanctioned, recreation trail that residents have used for years. It connects
to a web of trails on city-owned conservation land farther south.
Citizens wanted answers. How could a private developer take away the trail? Instead, they heard
details of the proposed 8.47-acre development known as Ashland Estates and a discussion of the
land-use process the developer must follow to obtain city approval.
"It would have been nice if you would have come here and told us how to keep the trail," one
resident said midway through the meeting.
The meeting teetered on the edge of civility. Some in the crowd were openly hostile. At one point
the developer's attorney was shouted down by a young man.
Most of the people in the crowd were unaware the developer and co-owner was seated in the crowd
listening to the exchanges.
The developer -- Steve Smart of Ashland Estates LLC -- stood and introduced himself. His voice
sounded nervous. He said he had been receiving angry calls from residents upset about the
development and possible loss of the trail.
"I really resent it," he told the audience. "I've just been lambasted. My character has been
lambasted."
He said he thought his development would be a good thing because it would improve the property and
bring new residents to the neighborhood.
"Do I look like a rich developer who goes around raping and plundering things?" he said.
Smart is a landscape architect with Environment West and an owner of Smart Gardens, a popular
nursery at Bigelow and Argonne roads.
He bought the bluff property from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad seven years ago.
The land sat unused since the original plat was filed in 1910 with 41 homesites. A high-voltage
power line was later erected across the property.
Over the years, the land and its trail fell to the surrounding residents almost by default.
Why is it, Smart pondered aloud, that strangers act like a piece of private land is theirs when the
only permission they had to use it came from the owner not saying no?
Back in the late '90s, city parks officials were wondering themselves. Trails were being secretly
constructed without Parks Department permission. These trails line the steep slopes of city
conservation land along the bluff below High Drive to the south.
Parks officials didn't get too excited with the trail builders because the unsanctioned construction
helped stem erosion from a parade of mountain bikers who frequent the land.
The proposed Ashland Estates would be built over one of the most popular accesses to the
conservation land from the secluded intersection of 16th and Ash.
This system of trails, including the portion over Smart's property, has a passionate following in a
neighborhood ready to do battle over preserving its segment, even though it's privately owned.
Following the community meeting on Jan. 16, a newly formed group called Save Our Bluff amassed a
calling list with 300 names.
They have created a Web site at www.lsw.org/saveourbluff/ and have enlisted support of other
neighborhood groups, including two neighborhood councils and the Alliance of Neighborhoods of
Spokane County.
"There's no room for houses, yards and a trail," said Heidi Gann, an organizer of Save Our Bluff.
"Who wants to run through a development?"
This wildfire of grassroots action has sparked an activist bent in this neighborhood of older,
single-family homes. Gann said it has brought a sense of camaraderie, and this in the dead of winter
when people are more likely to be indoors.
"It's magical," she said.
The group is gearing for a land-use fight that could unfold at a public hearing later this year. The
developer is seeking to replat the parcel as well as gain approval of a planned unit development,
which would allow a private road to be built rather than a public one.
Neighbors are saying the plans call for a gated housing development, but the developer said no
decision has been made.
Smart told the audience he will look at the possibility of including a trail in the development if
it can be done safely and if it does not create a liability risk for private interests.
One resident sent the developer a letter suggesting that part of the property should be sold to
public ownership through the county's Conservation Futures program. The futures purchase would be
used to preserve the trail.
Gann and her organization want nothing of a compromise for now. "There are very few open spaces in
the city and those should be preserved forever," she said.
If anything, the Conservation Futures program should be used to buy the entire parcel, she said.
The city's two-year-old comprehensive plan calls for keeping the land as open space, but
doesn't prohibit Smart from developing it as single-family residences under its historical
zoning and platting.
An Avista power line would have to be relocated. Avista is seeking alternate routes but has filed a
condemnation lawsuit against the property to preserve the company's need to maintain the power line
in the event an alternative route cannot be found.
Aesthetic values aside, neighbors claim the land is not suitable for development. The sandy soil is
so steep in some places it poses a geologic hazard, they contend.
Already, there are erosion problems on the upper bluff, Gann said.
A development could trigger landslides, they said. Such a disaster might not only ruin any newly
built homes but could bring down existing homes higher up on the bluff along Maple Boulevard.
Gann lives in one of them, a historic Arts and Crafts jewel overlooking the proposed
development site.
The developer's consultant, Dwight Hume, said geologic studies are yet to be done, and the
scientific research should determine whether the land is suitable for construction.
Rick Dullanty, attorney for Smart, appealed to neighbors to cooperate.
"We'd like to make this a win-win for all of us, make it safe and improve the property," he said.
So far, the request is being resisted.
"We're looking for lawyers now," Gann said.
.Mike Prager can be reached at 459-5454 or by e-mail at [email protected].
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=013003&ID=s1295442&cat=se ction.spokane
There is a "petition" at teh site, and there is also a place to enter editorial commentary at the
newspaper site
Spokane
Developer's plans upset West Cannon residents Neighbors accustomed to using nature trail on the
private property
Mike Prager Staff writer
The house was packed at the Woman's Club of Spokane two weeks ago. But this was no social occasion.
Scores of Cannon's Addition residents turned out to hear plans by a developer to turn a slice of
undeveloped land into exclusive home sites. The private wooded property overlooking the Latah Valley
holds a popular, but unsanctioned, recreation trail that residents have used for years. It connects
to a web of trails on city-owned conservation land farther south.
Citizens wanted answers. How could a private developer take away the trail? Instead, they heard
details of the proposed 8.47-acre development known as Ashland Estates and a discussion of the
land-use process the developer must follow to obtain city approval.
"It would have been nice if you would have come here and told us how to keep the trail," one
resident said midway through the meeting.
The meeting teetered on the edge of civility. Some in the crowd were openly hostile. At one point
the developer's attorney was shouted down by a young man.
Most of the people in the crowd were unaware the developer and co-owner was seated in the crowd
listening to the exchanges.
The developer -- Steve Smart of Ashland Estates LLC -- stood and introduced himself. His voice
sounded nervous. He said he had been receiving angry calls from residents upset about the
development and possible loss of the trail.
"I really resent it," he told the audience. "I've just been lambasted. My character has been
lambasted."
He said he thought his development would be a good thing because it would improve the property and
bring new residents to the neighborhood.
"Do I look like a rich developer who goes around raping and plundering things?" he said.
Smart is a landscape architect with Environment West and an owner of Smart Gardens, a popular
nursery at Bigelow and Argonne roads.
He bought the bluff property from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad seven years ago.
The land sat unused since the original plat was filed in 1910 with 41 homesites. A high-voltage
power line was later erected across the property.
Over the years, the land and its trail fell to the surrounding residents almost by default.
Why is it, Smart pondered aloud, that strangers act like a piece of private land is theirs when the
only permission they had to use it came from the owner not saying no?
Back in the late '90s, city parks officials were wondering themselves. Trails were being secretly
constructed without Parks Department permission. These trails line the steep slopes of city
conservation land along the bluff below High Drive to the south.
Parks officials didn't get too excited with the trail builders because the unsanctioned construction
helped stem erosion from a parade of mountain bikers who frequent the land.
The proposed Ashland Estates would be built over one of the most popular accesses to the
conservation land from the secluded intersection of 16th and Ash.
This system of trails, including the portion over Smart's property, has a passionate following in a
neighborhood ready to do battle over preserving its segment, even though it's privately owned.
Following the community meeting on Jan. 16, a newly formed group called Save Our Bluff amassed a
calling list with 300 names.
They have created a Web site at www.lsw.org/saveourbluff/ and have enlisted support of other
neighborhood groups, including two neighborhood councils and the Alliance of Neighborhoods of
Spokane County.
"There's no room for houses, yards and a trail," said Heidi Gann, an organizer of Save Our Bluff.
"Who wants to run through a development?"
This wildfire of grassroots action has sparked an activist bent in this neighborhood of older,
single-family homes. Gann said it has brought a sense of camaraderie, and this in the dead of winter
when people are more likely to be indoors.
"It's magical," she said.
The group is gearing for a land-use fight that could unfold at a public hearing later this year. The
developer is seeking to replat the parcel as well as gain approval of a planned unit development,
which would allow a private road to be built rather than a public one.
Neighbors are saying the plans call for a gated housing development, but the developer said no
decision has been made.
Smart told the audience he will look at the possibility of including a trail in the development if
it can be done safely and if it does not create a liability risk for private interests.
One resident sent the developer a letter suggesting that part of the property should be sold to
public ownership through the county's Conservation Futures program. The futures purchase would be
used to preserve the trail.
Gann and her organization want nothing of a compromise for now. "There are very few open spaces in
the city and those should be preserved forever," she said.
If anything, the Conservation Futures program should be used to buy the entire parcel, she said.
The city's two-year-old comprehensive plan calls for keeping the land as open space, but
doesn't prohibit Smart from developing it as single-family residences under its historical
zoning and platting.
An Avista power line would have to be relocated. Avista is seeking alternate routes but has filed a
condemnation lawsuit against the property to preserve the company's need to maintain the power line
in the event an alternative route cannot be found.
Aesthetic values aside, neighbors claim the land is not suitable for development. The sandy soil is
so steep in some places it poses a geologic hazard, they contend.
Already, there are erosion problems on the upper bluff, Gann said.
A development could trigger landslides, they said. Such a disaster might not only ruin any newly
built homes but could bring down existing homes higher up on the bluff along Maple Boulevard.
Gann lives in one of them, a historic Arts and Crafts jewel overlooking the proposed
development site.
The developer's consultant, Dwight Hume, said geologic studies are yet to be done, and the
scientific research should determine whether the land is suitable for construction.
Rick Dullanty, attorney for Smart, appealed to neighbors to cooperate.
"We'd like to make this a win-win for all of us, make it safe and improve the property," he said.
So far, the request is being resisted.
"We're looking for lawyers now," Gann said.
.Mike Prager can be reached at 459-5454 or by e-mail at [email protected].