Last night, with a packed house and dozens of remote viewers, the City of Liberty Lake held a council meeting and public hearing. Mainly interested on whether the council would vote in favor or against Ordinance No. 242, the crowd waited patiently through the normal agenda items. When it finally came time for citizen comments on what they thought the council should do about the amendment, which would have changed zoning to allow for multi-family use along E Appleway Ave, the majority was against. In the end, the council agreed and voted with unanimously not to adopt the amendment or to introduce any amendments to the amendment.
What does that mean?
This means the land owner on E Appleway Ave may not proceed with plans to build a large multi-family, mixed-use complex. It is just not zoned for that. However, they are able to proceed with the RV park, as it was previously permitted in the zoning guidelines.
Did the community win?
It seems they have won the battle against high-density housing in that location. However, earlier in the night the community was presented with development plans for the River District which illustrated, already approved land use plans, to include high-density mixed-use construction which may include building up to 15 stories tall.
So, if you are a resident who is not in favor of high-density development; it appears you may have won a battle, but not the war. High density is coming to Liberty Lake one way or another.
What next?
The council, city staff, the developer, planning commission, and community members spent a lot of time and energy on this issue. Hopefully, everyone learned a lesson about paying attention and how to best communicate the collective vision for the city.
One thing was very clear by the citizen comments, reactions, and applause is that the community seems to be very concerned about school overcrowding and traffic.
It would make sense for the city to redirect their energy to work with the local school district and the state to expedite these projects. Based on the reactions from the community, if the council doesn’t get ahead of the population boom, they will get left behind at the next election.
Want to know more?
Here is the video from the meeting.
If you click on the FB icon in the video, you will find reactions and comments from the viewers.
Update 09/22/2017: Here is the official audio feed from the City of Liberty Lake
If you have further questions or concerns about items discussed in the meeting, please contact the City of Liberty Lake. The council and staff are friendly, approachable, and responsive.
