Spokane County planning commission previews EIS alternatives, UGA requests and flags water and housing challenges

The Spokane County Planning Commission on Thursday reviewed the scope, schedule and early findings for a countywide environmental impact statement and discussed proposed changes to urban growth area boundaries, regional water constraints and the county’s mounting affordable-housing challenge.

Planning Director Scott Chesney told the commission the EIS will test a range of alternatives — a no-change baseline, a middle path that allows neighborhood-style development and a more aggressive “bookend” option that would include larger UGA modifications — and that staff expects to release a draft EIS by the end of the year. Chesney said the Legislature extended the county’s plan deadline and related grant funding, moving the plan due date from June 30, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2026, and allowing the county to use grant funds through December 2026.

Why it matters: the EIS and the accompanying policy and development-regulation updates will guide Spokane County’s land-use, transportation and capital-facilities decisions for the next 20 years, affect which unincorporated parcels can be served with urban utilities, and shape the county’s ability to meet its state Growth Management Act obligations while responding to local concerns about water, wildfire risk and housing costs.

Key details and early policy choices

Chesney outlined three study alternatives staff and consultants will analyze: alternative 0 (a no-change baseline), a middle alternative that shifts development regulations to promote neighborhood-scale and higher-density infill rather than traditional low-density subdivisions, and a more aggressive alternative that would consider substantial UGA boundary modifications. He said the EIS will score areas for housing capacity by income band, facility and utility availability, transportation capacity, employment growth and environmental constraints.

Staff listed several landowner and municipal requests for UGA additions or boundary adjustments that will be part of the EIS analysis. Requests cited in the workshop included proposals from Deer Park, Medical Lake, Airway Heights and letters from other jurisdictions and landowners. County staff said some existing small UGA fragments will be candidates for removal or consolidation, and that some isolated “islands” of urban designation are unlikely to be eligible for expansion because they lack contiguous urban services.

Water, PFAS and West Plains concerns

Commissioners and commenters raised water availability and contamination as a potential constraint on growth. Chesney said water resources outside the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie aquifer are “a very concerning issue” for planning, noting that some water districts lack capacity to serve additional taps without acquiring or converting water rights. He also addressed public concerns about PFAS and other “forever chemicals” in parts of the West Plains and said county staff is convening a technical meeting at the sheriff’s new West Plains facility to gather information and coordinate with residents and public-works staff. Chesney said technical solutions for contaminant removal are emerging but that, until proven and funded, water limitations will be treated as a capital-facilities constraint when scoring candidate areas for urban development.

Public comments and stakeholder requests

A series of landowners and advocacy groups addressed the commission during the workshop. Highlights included: - Kevin (identified in the meeting as a participant requesting UGA changes) clarified that some small UGA fragments are being proposed for removal while three mapped locations shown in the presentation are requests to add roadway right-of-way to the UGA for facilities planning. - Eric Lowe, representing a landowner in Leataw (Lataw) Valley, said his group submitted a detailed scoping comment and offered to coordinate with county and city staff on a neighborhood-style proposal. - Dana Leroy of Habitat for Humanity Spokane urged the commission to consider “middle housing” — townhomes, cottages and smaller detached homes — in urban-adjacent unincorporated areas to expand affordable homeownership options. - Sean Elston asked the commission to consider bringing smaller agricultural parcels on 5 Mile Prairie into the UGA because the current farmland parcels are no longer economically viable as commercial-scale agriculture. - A representative for the Spokane Huterian Brethren (describing a communal farming community) requested options to accommodate about 15 additional housing units and asked the county to study possible designations or permitting paths. - Attorney Elizabeth Tullison (Winston and Cache) submitted materials on behalf of CPM Development and asked that mineral-resource lands be considered and appropriately designated in the periodic update; staff confirmed an aggregate-mapping analysis is now available countywide to inform resource-land decisions.

Housing affordability and regulatory constraints

Commissioners and several speakers pressed the limits of current tools to increase affordable housing on the county’s urban edge. Planning staff noted state-driven changes and proposals — for example, recent legislative pushes to allow more duplexes and triplexes in single-family zones and proposals to streamline small-lot subdivisions — that are influencing how counties and cities must plan for capacity. Multiple commissioners and builders warned that high land prices and interest rates make ownership and rental affordability increasingly difficult, and speakers urged the commission to explore regulatory changes (lot geometry, minimum lot sizes, unit-lot subdivisions and other short-plat reforms) as part of the EIS alternatives.

Process, schedule and next steps

Chesney said staff will use technical advisory committees (natural and rural lands; climate and resiliency) to refine analyses, and that the EIS scoping comment period closed May 30 and scoping comments are posted on the county EIS web page. He said the county will present a work plan and more detailed schedules to the commission; starting in July the commission will meet twice monthly for the next 12–15 months as the planning and regulatory changes proceed. Staff expects to return with scored alternatives and an initial preferred alternative recommendation to forward to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to adopt minutes of April 17, 2025: moved by Commissioner Pete Rainer; second by Commissioner Bonnie Edwards. Vote recorded as adopted; commissioners present (4) voted yes.

Ending

Commissioners thanked staff and public participants and asked staff to circulate the more detailed monthly work plan and touch points that will guide the July and subsequent meetings. The meeting adjourned at 10:28 a.m.