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Dear Community Member,
Scout and the rest of the Planning Department wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous New Year!
2025 will bring robust community engagement and work towards updating Spokane’s Comprehensive Plan to support a more resilient, connected, and livable community for everyone.
Be on the lookout for ways – like with the survey below – to have your voice heard as we plan Spokane’s future.
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KXLY Highlights Climate Planning Work
The Climate Commitment Act remains in play in Washington. It requires cities to include a climate element in their comprehensive plan.
Climate planning can include strategies or policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to changing environmental conditions, and enhance climate resiliency.
In Spokane, the first steps are underway for that climate and resiliency planning…
Watch the News Clips or Read More
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Climate Resiliency and Sustainability Board
The Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board has been established to provide advice and recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, and community on the actions necessary to achieve the community’s sustainability and climate goals consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Sustainability Action Plan, environmental stewardship policies of the City as adopted by the City Council, and within the requirements and parameters outlined in state law.
The first Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the City Hall Council Briefing Center.
Learn more about the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board.
You can get direct emails about agendas and meeting notifications by signing up for the Board Email Notification List.
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Short Course on Local Planning
The Washington Department of Commerce provides short courses on local planning in the state. While aimed at training elected officials, these courses are free and open to the public. If you are interested in learning more about state rules that apply to planning in Spokane, members of the community are encouraged to participate. The next virtual webinars are on Tuesdays, Dec. 17 and Jan. 21. Visit the Commerce webpage for more information.
Short Course on Local Planning
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Spokane’s Growth Series
As the City continues to ramp up our efforts towards PlanSpokane, the next major update to the Comprehensive Plan, an essential question must be answered. That question is, in a nutshell, “Does the City of Spokane have enough land available to accommodate growth?”
Read more…
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In Spokane on Tuesday, Nov. 12 Daniel Herriges, co-author of Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis, presented on the historical roots of America's present-day housing crisis, explaining why it has proven so intractable and why prevailing policy responses have failed to make a dent in rising costs and persistent shortages. He discussed powerful actions that local governments can take right now to ease shortages, tame speculation, and unlock new entry-level housing at scale.
You can watch the recording of the presentation below.
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Spokane Implements Commercial Building Conversion for Housing
This summer, Spokane City Council approved implementing the new statewide incentive that allows a construction sales tax deferral when constructing affordable housing in existing commercial buildings. Dubbed the Commercial Building Conversion incentive, city staff support property owners who want to convert an existing commercial building into housing. The incentive requires that 10% of total units be reserved for affordable housing to households earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income for the Spokane metro, to remain as affordable for 10 years.
The City of Spokane is looking for ways to maximize existing infrastructure and add housing near jobs and transportation, so city staff are happy to talk through potential conversions with interested property owners, including layering this incentive with the existing Multifamily Tax Exemption program.
Reach out to incentives@spokanecity.org with questions.
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What Happened?
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November 13 Public Workshop: The Spokane Plan Commission selected the Transportation Commission liaison and considered a resolution in support of the 27 by 2027 Urban Mobility Network proposal before hearing a presentation from the co-author of Escaping the Housing Trap, Daniel Herriges [watch 11.13.24 workshop recording]
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November 13 Public Hearing: The Plan Commission held a public hearing for the proposed Building Opportunity for Housing follow-up code amendments [watch 11.13.24 hearing recording]
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November 27 Public Workshop: This meeting of the Plan Commission was canceled due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
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What's Next?
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Wednesday, Dec. 11 Public Workshop: The Spokane Plan Commission will hear a presentation on the 2026 Periodic Update to the Comprehensive Plan, discussing the scoping for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as well as an update to the Land Capacity Analysis.
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Wednesday, Dec. 25 Public Workshop: This meeting of the Plan Commission is canceled due to the holidays.
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Development Services Center is Open to Serve You!
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday | 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday | 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
- In person - 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd - 3rd Floor of City Hall (Office closed Wednesday mornings from 8-11 a.m. through the near future to allow staff to focus on permit load and reduce wait times. Calls will be forwarded to voice mail during this time.)
- Online - Skip a trip to City Hall with online permitting, an email to permitteam@spokanecity.org or Electronic Document Review
- Phone - A representative can assist you at 509.625.6300
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Provide written comment in email to PlanSpokane@spokanecity.org
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for the Plan Spokane newsletter here.
Interested in requesting an outreach event? Email us!
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You are receiving this email because you signed up via the Spokane Housing Action Plan website, have been identified as an individual or stakeholder in the discussion, or expressed interest in receiving planning project updates from the City of Spokane. Please feel free to share this email with others who are interested in receiving email announcements about this project. To unsubscribe, please email planspokane@spokanecity.org.
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