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Comprehensive Plan Open House (Mar 13)

Comprehensive Plan Open House (Mar 13)

There will be an open house for the 2012-2014 Comprehensive Plan Review and Update on Wednesday, March 13 from 5:30 to 7:30pm. It will take place on the lower level of Spokane City Hall [map] in the City Council Chambers and Chase Gallery.

The open house will be hosted by the Plan Commission and will serve as a follow-up to the district meetings that took place last month. Preliminary findings and survey results from those meetings will be presented and discussed, in addition to the opportunity for those who could not attend the February meetings to take both surveys. Demographic data will also be displayed.

Comprehensive Plan Update, March 13 Flyer

Why is the Comp Plan important? Put simply, it affects every aspect of how Spokane will grow in the coming years. If you don’t want to be unhappy with the city’s development in 2018, this is the meeting you should be attending in 2013.

If you have any questions, contact Jo Anne Wright. Her e-mail is jwright@spokanecity.org; her phone is (509) 625-6017.

E-G Planning Meeting Tonight (Mar 7)

E-G Planning Meeting Tonight (Mar 7)

The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Planning Group is meeting tonight (Thursday, March 7) at 6pm in Corbin Senior Center.

Please note that this date reflects the new meeting schedule on the first Thursday of every month. It was changed last month to accommodate more participants’ schedules.

There’s more planning-related news than usual this month because of several new or updated city- and neighborhood-level projects. Here’s a rough overview of the agenda topics:

  • Comprehensive Plan Update
  • Storm water runoff and sewers, a .5 billion dollar project for Spokane
  • City Council/Community Assembly discussion on neighborhood plans
  • CAN-PAC meeting review
  • Announcement of STA open houses for corridor upgrades

The planning group is always looking to include more participants who represent all facets of the neighborhood — so feel free to attend if you have an interest in mapping out Emerson-Garfield’s future. We hope to see you there!

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Do cars tear down your street? Do you see a lot of reckless cut-through traffic on roads near your house? Is there a spot on a busy road that threatens the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers?

Here’s the good news: You can do something about it.

Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is soliciting neighborhood traffic-calming proposals to be implemented in 2014-15. These will be vetted, voted on, and then the top two (one residential proposal, one arterial proposal) will be passed to the city for consideration.

Traffic-calming proposals include anything from curb extensions to traffic circles (aka roundabouts), chicanes, traffic islands, medians, landscaping, and pedestrian crosswalks. You can see some examples of these in the images above.

The traffic-calming toolbox (PDF link) from the City of Spokane provides a lot of easy-to-read information about potential traffic-calming measures, including a short description of each one as well as pros and cons. This post from a street-scaping blog also has lots of ideas and images.

Unfortunately, the deadline is incredibly tight (it’s Friday, March 1), but that’s because word didn’t filter out of the city until recently — so you’ll need to e-mail your suggestions immediately to emerson.garfield@gmail.com. We’ll take care of the initial paperwork.

Please include the following basic info in your e-mail:

  • Your contact information
  • The exact location of the proposed traffic-calming project
  • Why you think traffic calming is necessary in that particular location
  • Which traffic-calming method (e.g., chicanes, pedestrian islands, roundabouts) would be most effective

Keep in mind that, if your proposal is selected by the city for further study, you might have to collect signatures from neighbors for approval. This is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Although there’s always a neighbor who grumbles or is overly suspicious, signature-gathering here in Emerson-Garfield is usually a pretty pleasant experience, especially for universally beneficial projects like these.

And should you think that nothing ever comes of these applications, please note that Emerson-Garfield is currently under study for one of the most ambitious traffic-calming projects in Spokane — which was entirely proposed and advocated by residents.

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting, Feb 25

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting, Feb 25

There will be a meeting for the new Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee on Monday, February 25.

This year’s top goal for the Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee is to attract and retain membership in the neighborhoods program. At the upcoming meeting we will discuss the responsibilities of the Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary and tentatively hold elections. If you aren’t interested but know of someone who might be, please forward this information and let potential candidates know about the upcoming meeting.

Here’s what’s on the agenda:

  • Meet & Eats Plan for 2013
  • Recap of the January 30 event that was hosted in Chief Gary Park
  • Discuss template for helping Neighborhood Councils host M&E events
  • Schedule Meet & Eats for at least the next 3 months
  • Trainings Plan for 2013
  • Discuss working with COPS to training for Neighborhood Night Out Against Crime events
  • Plan out the first 6 months of 2013 trainings
  • Follow-Up on District 81 Program
  • Discuss which neighborhoods have been contacted
  • Discuss elections
  • Nominations for Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary Position
  • If time permits and there are nominations, take a vote on each position

The Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee is a subcommittee of the Community Assembly. It works to provide training and resources to neighborhoods to increase participation, identify and meet neighborhood needs, and build capacity. The committee meets monthly and works directly with the Community Assembly and neighborhood chairs to set annual goals and work plan.

The meeting on February 25 will run from 11:30am to 12:30pm and will be held at Fire Station 4, which is located at 1515 W. 1st Ave [map] outside of Browne’s Addition (accessible by STA bus routes #20, #60, #61).

February Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

February Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

[What follows is a recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council Meeting that took place on Wednesday, February 13. You can either read slimmed and streamlined version of the minutes below, or download the full version of the meeting’s minutes here.]

The meeting began with a presentation from Judge Tracy Staab of the Spokane Municipal Court. The judge gave a Powerpoint slideshow that detailed the many facets of the Court, such as crime statistics, budgets, and punishment or rehabilitation methods. The slideshow was supposed to be made available online at the Spokane Municipal Court’s website, but has not appeared as of this post.

The popular Spring Clean Up event is still tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 27 between 9am and 1pm at Faith Bible Church.

The call for logo designs for the neighborhood council is still out. Several entries have been submitted so far. If you have a design idea, please submit it to Chairwoman Liorah Wichser ahead of the vote in March. The general consensus was that our logo should reflect the historic nature of our neighborhood, the residential feel that we exude, the small local businesses that we have — and maybe that it should have a marmot on it.

Members were asked to provide input on the pending mission statement as the neighborhood council works to become an official nonprofit organization.

Jackie Caro from Neighborhood Services talked briefly about the traffic-calming project that had been approved on Montgomery Street between Monroe and Northwest Blvd (see here for more info). The engineers need more time to evaluate the project, which means the project has been delayed. Anyone with follow-up questions can contact Jackie at (509) 625-6733. To apply for a traffic-calming project on your street, please download the Toolbox (PDF link) from the ONS. Applications are due very, very soon.

Laura Schlangen gave the report for Corbin Senior Center. The Movin’ and Groovin’ Fair is scheduled for Saturday, March 9 from 8am to 2pm. The Corbin Golf Tournament is set for June 21 at Indian Canyon. They are in search of donors and players. Corbin will also be holding a yard sale on May 11 from 9am to 2pm. If you provide your own table, the cost is $10. It will cost $20 if Corbin provides you a table. Food will be available for purchase as well.

Jay Cousins reported that the neighborhood planning committee has a new meeting time. It is the first Thursday of every month at 6pm in the upper north room of the Corbin Senior Center. The group is small and would love more attendees.

There will be was a meeting for the review of the city’s Comprehensive Plan at the Shadle Library from 5:30 to 7:30pm on Tuesday, February 19. The purpose is to update all aspects of the plan, with a particular eye on transportation. A more general meeting for the public has been scheduled for mid-March.

Community Development rep Sara Kimball reported that the new swing set at Corbin Park has been installed. New horseshoe pits are proposed to go in the area of the old swing set. There is going to be some tree pruning in Corbin Park and as many as five trees will be removed due to disease.

Sara is also accepting applications for repairing damaged sidewalks: see this post for more information on how to repair existing sidewalk or install new sidewalks near your home.

Finally, Kelly Cruz from West Central Neighborhood Council requested a neighborhood representative from our group to be on the Community Assembly’s Land Use Committee. Tom Powell agreed to be that representative. They meet on the third Thursday of every month.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 13 from 7 to (roughly) 9pm at Corbin Senior Center.