First off, an important correction to the e-mail announcement that went out earlier this morning.
Starting in September, Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meetings will be held on the third TUESDAY of each month, not the third Thursday. It goes to show that you can proofread something a dozen times and still overlook a glaring mistake.
The details in the rest of the e-mail still stand: Namely, that the EGNC has organized a special planning-focused meeting for nextTuesday, August 25 from 6pm to 7:30pm.
This planning meeting is in response to the City of Spokane’s Future Land Use Map (FLUM), which was made public earlier this month.
The FLUM has identified large parts of Emerson-Garfield for high-intensity residential, commercial and mixed-use development. The proposed zoning changes could impact an additional 25% of our neighborhood.
You can see the proposed changes relative to the current zoning using the slider on this page.
The purpose of the planning meeting is to better understand the rationale behind the FLUM, to predict its potential impact—both positive and negative—on the neighborhood, and to develop constructive feedback for City planners.
If you’re interested in participating, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the PlanSpokane website, which describes the citywide planning process, and the District 3 FLUM.
Questions beforehand? E-mail Linda Carroll, the EGNC’s planning rep.
City Council members Zack Zappone and Kitty Klitzke, along with some of their staff, will be holding a second Town Hall event to discuss the Washington and Buckeye safe streets project. Neighbors are invited to join them at 6pm at the Corbin Senior Activity Center on TUESDAY, 10/14/25.
Spokane Public Schools (SPS), Spokane Parks and Recreation (Parks) and the Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC), invite you to a free community open house at the MAC, 2316 W. 1st Avenue, on Friday, October 3rd, from 5:30 – 7:30pm.
Representatives from SPS, Parks, and the MAC will be on hand to discuss upcoming November ballot measures and our historic opportunity to improve education and recreation for all Spokane residents.
All MAC exhibits will be open, including Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight.
As promised, EGNC is sharing information regarding the Public Comment period and Public Hearing for the 601 W Mansfield site / “Mansfield Grocery Conditional Use Permit (CUP)”. You can find the developer and City provided documents around this CUP here.
PLEASE NOTE: Public Comments are DUE by 4/3/2025 (by or before 5pm). Please send your personalized email to the following individuals: Steven Bafus, Project Planner, sbafus@spokanecity.org Kitty Klitzke, District 3 City Council Member, kklitzke@spokanecity.org Zack Zappone, District 3 City Council Member, zzappone@spokanecity.org Spencer Gardner, Director of Planning Services, sgardner@spokanecity.org Re: Application/Permit Number: Z25-047CUP3
This has been an ongoing concern of the neighborhood for some time, per our council vote in February, 2025 the EGNC sent an agency letter in opposition to the proposed change of use. As many of you know, neighbors Clay and Ron have been instrumental in sharing information and even engaging with legal council to address issues and concerns around this permitting process. Clay’s most recent email is below:
Dear Concerned Neighbors,
I hope this message finds you well. I want to share an important update regarding the Mansfield “Grocery” CUP that requires our community’s attention.
This week, residents and stakeholders in the immediate vicinity of 601 W Mansfield were informed that Ramka Properties, LLC’s application for a Type III Conditional Use Permit has progressed to the public comment phase (See attached Hearing Letter PDF). This is a crucial opportunity for anyone to express concerns regarding the pending approval of this permit. The deadline for written comments for this application is April 3rd, 2025 at 5 PM.
I have attached the formal notice and a picture of the posted sign for your reference. Our neighborhood needs to voice our opinions on this matter. I strongly encourage everyone who feels passionately about this issue to submit their comments. Based on experience, please remember that emailing directly without attachments before the deadline is most effective, as the city will disregard late submissions.
For those unsure of what to write, I have included the Neighborhood Position Statement below, highlighting key talking points we have been advised through legal counsel to be the most effective.
“We respectfully urge the city to deny all Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requests that plan to convert 601 W Mansfield back to retail use. This request aligns with the 1987 hearing examiner’s findings, which identified retail use as a substantial crime risk in the area. This is also supported by documented robberies that occurred during the 60 years before its conversion to a dental lab. These retail-related issues have been resolved for 40 years because of the conversion and commitment to non-retail use. We seek to protect our community’s safety and stability by preventing a return to these historic challenges.”
Following the comment period, a public hearing will be held at City Hall on April 10th at 9 AM. This coincides with Spokane Public Schools’ Spring Break, which may be a strategic timing by Ramka Properties. As a teacher, I will be canceling my family’s vacation plans to ensure our representation at the hearing. I hope many of you can attend, but rest assured we will be there to represent our collective voice.
If you have any further questions regarding either the Public Comment requirements or the Public Hearing and how it works, please reach out to me directly.
I hope this message finds you well – happy February! The EGNC was informed last week that a Type III Conditional Use Permit has been submitted for the proposed use change at 601 W. Mansfield (previously referred to as the ‘Mansfield Grocery’). The permit application and associated documents are available here.
As the agency comment period closes on Feb 12 (the day of our next regularly scheduled EGNC meeting), we will hold an ad hoc, extra meeting on Feb 10 to discuss any comment we would like to submit in the review period. Please see below for meeting details and attached for the agenda. Please note that if we are interested in voting on a resolution, we will need a quorum of voting EGNC members. We will offer both in-person and Zoom options, and if you need assistance to join via Zoom, please reach out to me and we’ll try to set you up.
We will still hold our regularly scheduled February meeting on Wednesday, Feb 12. My hope is that our ad hoc meeting is 1 hour or less. I will be in touch later in the week with our in-person meeting location.*
Thank you,
Eileen Kazura
EGNC Chair
*Please keep a close eye on your email and our FB page for the in-person location details.
