Spokane Planning Commission recommends update to Complete Streets ordinance

The Spokane Planning Commission on Wednesday, June 11, voted to recommend adoption of updates to the city’s Complete Streets ordinance, a revision staff and commissioners said modernizes standards and could improve Spokane’s competitiveness for state transportation grants.

The update — presented to the commission by city staff member John Snyder — revises language last changed when the ordinance was adopted in December 2011, clarifies how projects are defined, and adds references to newer plans and commissions created since 2011. Snyder said the Transportation Improvement Board indicated the draft could improve Spokane’s score for an August 15 grant round if adopted quickly: “This is an update from almost 15 years ago,” John Snyder said.

The changes matter because they affect how the city designs and funds street work for people who walk, bike, drive and use transit and because the Transportation Improvement Board’s grant scoring was cited as a near-term deadline. Snyder told the commission the update also makes the ordinance…