SPOKANE Wash. – The Spokane City Council will consider an ordinance that would give it more influence over the location of “essential city facilities” at its meeting on Aug. 22.
Ordinance C36239 would define an essential city facility as “police precincts or offices, fire stations, utility facilities, community centers and libraries,” according to the council’s agenda.
If the ordinance passes, it would require agencies to take public input before locating or relocating essential facilities. It would also set specific criteria for where those facilities could be located.
For police precincts, the location must:
- Be visible to the public
- Be located on or within one block of the main street of a neighborhood business district
- Provide access for the public to onsite services and for officers responding to reports of crime
- Be located within a documented cluster of criminal activity
- Be located in a commercial zone with high visibility of patrol cars, foot and bicycle community policing patrols
- Provide adequate space and facilities for co-deployed behavioral health officers and reception provided through mutual agreement with Spokane C.O.P.S
For utility facilities, the location must:
- Be designed to minimize conflicts with traffic
- Be designed and operated to minimize odor, dust, or other negative impacts
The new rules would apply to new and existing city facilities. Agencies would have 180 days to provide a summary of all City facilities that fail to meet the new guidelines to the City Council.
The ordinance was proposed after city councilmembers expressed concern over a lack of transparency and community participation in placing public facilities.
A press release from the City Council cited as examples the water tower at Hamblen Elementary in the Southgate neighborhood, the stormwater treatment facility near Gonzaga University and the placement of a Spokane Police Precinct in the former East Central Library building.
The ordinance would also declare an emergency, allowing it to go into effect immediately.
