Spokane Plan Commission hears climate planning update, survey tops 1,300 responses

City planning staff and outside consultants on Jan. 22 updated the Spokane Plan Commission on the city—s climate-planning work, which will be folded into the periodic update of the comprehensive plan.

The presentation described early technical findings, an outreach program that has gathered more than 1,300 survey responses in six languages, and next steps that include a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and draft policy recommendations for later review by the commission and City Council.

The consultants said the project is focusing on community resiliency (rather than greenhouse-gas inventories) in this phase and is using a high-end climate scenario (RCP 8.5) for risk projections. Early findings highlighted a historic rise in average temperature in Spokane of more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit over roughly the last 120 years, a projected decrease in summer streamflow and snowpack (April 1 snowpack likely to fall below 75% of today—s levels), and an increase in extreme fire-danger days. The memo also maps groups and places that are likely to be more vulnerable to those hazards, including Native American, Black and Latino residents, low-income and houseless residents, youth and older adults, people with disabilities, outdoor workers, and neighborhoods already exposed to air pollution.

"We're kind of in the middle of the process now," said Lisa Greeter, a consultant with Burke Consulting, summarizing the current phase of work. Greeter and Meg (Cascadia, listed as a consultant) described three parallel tasks: the climate impacts and justice memo, a policy audit of existing plans and codes, and the climate risk and vulnerability assessment (CRVA) that will produce a place-based index and an interactive map for public comment.

Consultants said the policy audit reviewed more than 1,300 policies and code sections and performed a deeper review of about 327 items; it found existing strengths in land-use, transportation and ecosystem policies but identified coverage gaps in buildings and energy, food and agriculture, emergency management, waste, and water-resource policies. The audit noted that more recent documents such as the city—s sustainability action plan and the parks master plan could provide language to strengthen the comprehensive plan.

Council member Katie Klitsky said public-works staff will present on fire-hydrant pressure and other infrastructure issues at the city—s PICE committee in February; consultants said that cross-department coordination will be ongoing as draft policy language is developed.

Consultants described their engagement program as multi-pronged: a December survey (available in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic and Marshallese) that closes Jan. 31; neighborhood-district virtual workshops held in December; tabling and events; a planned community workshop in spring (possibly near Earth Day); targeted focus groups in spring for vulnerable populations; and tribal coordination led by Kaufman Associates with a tribal work group launching in February. "Kaufman Associates is launching a tribal work group this February," the team said, and noted that the effort will prioritize sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge, and careful handling of tribal data and input.

Casey, the engagement lead on staff, said the city—s survey had received more than 1,300 responses to date and stressed that the team will follow up with focus groups and partner organizations to reach people who are undercounted in census-based datasets. The consultants said they are testing an interactive CRVA map that will let community members add comments and local knowledge to the spatial analysis.

Commissioners and attendees pressed the team on data sources and outreach tactics. Commissioners asked whether census-block or block-group data would be used to avoid the known distortion that can occur when higher-income pockets within a census tract skew the result. Greeter said the team starts with census data but attempts to "ground truth" it with local sources and engagement, and invited commissioners to share local data sources. Several commissioners recommended partnerships with local groups and utilities — including Avista, SNAP partners that help with utility assistance, neighborhood councils, community centers and the Spokane Alliance — and urged compensating community organizations that help recruit participants to focus groups.

The consultants said they will present fuller policy recommendations and specific amendment language in a later phase, pending the city—s decision on phase-two Commerce funding and incorporation into the periodic update schedule. "This is phase 1," Greeter said; phase 2 would begin in July if funding and the biennial schedule align.

Why it matters: the climate element must be incorporated into the comprehensive plan and can inform zoning, infrastructure, park and emergency-management choices that affect safety, housing vulnerability and long-term costs. The consultants said their work aims to center equity by identifying communities that face compounded risks and by designing engagement that reaches those communities.

Next steps and public access: the survey closes Jan. 31; the team will post the CRVA mapping tool and the policy-audit memo on the project site and host spring workshops and focus groups. Materials are available through the city—s climate-planning page and the citywide engagement platform; staff said they will circulate memos and workshop notices to the commission in coming weeks.

A shorter presentation on a related multimodal level-of-service study was previewed for a future meeting.