Building heights, streetscapes, traffic flow, and catalytic development projectstheyre but a few of the wide-ranging topics being scrutinized by the Downtown Spokane Partnership as it works to freshen a 9-year-old vision for the downtown area.


The city of Spokane is working with the nonprofit organization to update a downtown plan that the city adopted in 1999 as part of its comprehensive plan and that supporters say has helped spur $3 billion worth of revitalization projects. With a goal of sustaining that momentum, DSP, which has been hired by the city to oversee the update, says it expects to have a downtown plan update ready for City Council approval by this fall.


The plan encompasses an area thats bounded roughly by Interstate 90, Boone Avenue, Division Street, and Walnut Street, and that has the large Kendall Yards development site to the west and the University District to the east as book ends. The area also is being expanded to include additional property at both ends.


Marty Dickinson, DSPs president, says the current plan is a great vision tool, but most of the major projects envisioned when it was enacted have been completed. She says an update is needed to provide better design guidelines for city officials to use as they review proposed projects. The planning effort also will lead to updated zoning regulations and identifies targeted projects that deserve special attention because theyre expected to spur broader surrounding development activityhence the name catalytic.


Its our responsibility to create a practical, balanced working document, Dickinson says.


Thats no small chore, though, requiring community workshops, extensive input from civic leaders, business owners, developers, planners, neighborhood representatives, and others, following by the melding of all that information into a cohesive, detailed plan.


I think one of the most exciting things is weve proven we can do it, says Dickinson. She says she also senses a community confidence this time around that she finds uplifting, and adds, There is definitely a level of expectation.


She acknowledges, though, that it creates a sizable additional workload for the small DSP staff, and adds, Am I wringing my hands a bit? Yeah.


Marla Oleniacz, DSPs vice president of marketing and public relations, is working closely with Dickinson on spearheading the plan update. She says she expects the updated plan to be much more detailed than the original plan.


Its not a plan thats just going to sit on a shelf at City Hall, she says.


The City Council kicked off the process last September when it hired DSP to oversee the update. The total cost of the project is expected to be about $239,000. DSP has raised more than $100,000 of that from a host of public and private contributors, and the city is funding the balance from increased parking-meter revenues.


DSP has hired the urban-planning consulting firm MIG Inc., of Berkeley, Calif., to help it update the plan. MIG helped put together the original downtown plan and over the years also has helped create master plans for Riverfront Park, Davenport District, Spokane River Gorge, and University District, Oleniacz says. For the downtown plan update, a couple of subcontractors to MIGArizona-based EPS Group Inc. and California-based Fehr & Peers Associates Inc.are providing additional economic-development and transportation-related expertise, respectively, she says.


Additionally, the city put staff economic-development planner Melissa Wittstruck-Eadie on part-time loan to the Downtown Spokane Partnership.


DSP formed a task force to provide ideas and comment and to help frame topics, and that diverse, 50-member group has been meeting about monthly, with its next gathering slated for April 10. The task force has a steering committee that has held additional meetings.


DSP also has held two community workshops that each attracted more than 100 people, and Oleniacz says, There were a lot of new ideas, a lot of new people involved, young people, compared with nine years ago, including some who were Spokane newcomers.


Some of the most oft-repeated comments have focused on enhancing gateways into downtown, making downtown greener by planting more trees and promoting environmentally friendly design, possibly creating a public plaza, and improving access into downtown from bordering districts. Other commonly cited suggestions have included encouraging a broader housing mix, converting some one-way streets to two-way traffic, tapering the high-rise skyline to protect views, promoting alternate forms of transportation, and creating a sustainable location for a permanent public market.


Were getting a lot of good input, Oleniacz says, adding that shes pleased to see the suggestions and priority concerns voiced by the public mirroring those generated earlier from within the task force. It shows were coming up with the right ideas, she says.


DSP is continuing to solicit comments from the public on its Web site, but now is turning away from the visioning process and focusing on developing the details of the plan, such as how high should a building be and where it should be, Oleniacz says.


It plans to hold some open houses this summer to get public feedback on the plan once its drafted, basically checking in to see if were right and to tweak it where we can, but dates for those open houses havent been set yet, she says.


Wittstruck-Eadie says some of the focus, from the citys perspective, will be on streamlining the regulatory part of the plan and making it easier for developers and others to understand. What were trying to do is provide clarity, get some things that are subjective that shouldnt be determined by an advisory body, and put them into code, she says.


Based on the public comments received, she says, Some things are really starting to emerge very strongly, such as the need for improved ties between the U-District and downtown and for a greater focus on green buildings and green infrastructure.


Improving connectivity in general, particularly between downtown and the U-District, such as through better pedestrian and bicycle links and more friendly streets, is one of the top things that Steve Trabun says he would like to see come out of the process. Trabun is regional business manager for Avista Utilities and serves on the downtown plan task force and has been involved with U-District planning efforts for a couple of years.


Mindful of the growing number of students there, he says, These people need a place to live and play, and part of that requires connectivity to downtown.


As for catalytic projects, he says he thinks that restoration of the old Jensen-Byrd building in the U-District and construction of a pedestrian bridge that would cross the railroad tracks near there and connect the U-District with the East Sprague area should be high on the list.


Meanwhile, fellow task force and steering committee member Tom Arnold, the citys former director of engineering services who now is civil department manager here for Coffman Engineers Inc., says the green movement is of strong importance to him.


A lot of folks have talked about green and sustainability, Arnold says, but I really think that needs to be more formalized, creating a true environment element (to the downtown plan), and I think theres a lot of momentum that way.


Both men say theyve felt enthused by their involvement in helping to formulate an updated vision for downtown, and they lauded the DSP staff and consultants for their oversight and management of the endeavor.


I think its been a very collaborative process, Trabun says. What I like about it is I wasnt sure of the extent to which they were going to say, Youre going to have to write this whole thing. Theyve done the majority of the writing. That has allowed task force members to really be focusing on (downtowns) opportunities and assets as they peer into the future, he says.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.