Spokane Plan Commission backs development agreement for Excelsior Wellness, sends recommendation to council

The Spokane Plan Commission on Aug. 13 recommended that City Council approve a development agreement for the Excelsior Wellness properties northeast of Indian Trail Road in the South Indian Trail/ Balboa neighborhood, with one amendment requiring the applicant to identify a potential location for a future water transmission main on its conceptual plan.

Kevin Freybod, senior planner with the City of Spokane Planning and Development Department, told commissioners the development agreement is a required follow-up to a comprehensive plan amendment approved last year and “is not a relitigation of the comprehensive plan amendment.” He said the agreement sets filing and mitigation requirements the developer must meet before building permits will be issued, but it does not approve a site plan or authorize construction.

The commission’s recommendation matters because the adopted comprehensive plan change conditioned approval on a signed development agreement addressing five topics: an all-phases site plan, a circulation/traffic memo, water and sewer demand information, cultural resources protections, and limits or clarifications on primary uses. Freybod said Exhibit B of the draft agreement contains the full development requirements the city is asking the developer to satisfy before permits are issued.

Applicants and supporters described the project as a long-term, multigenerational campus. Andrew Hill, an applicant representative, said the project’s planning has been “about a co-design and shared implementation with the…