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Spokane Valley council adopts interim rule to allow taller first‑responder towers for regional dispatch
Summary
City Council adopted an emergency interim ordinance allowing regional first‑responder communications towers to exceed the city’s 60‑foot limit — up to 100 feet for the tower and 120 feet including antenna arrays — so the regional dispatch agency can design and permit a new site while the city finishes a formal planning review.
Spokane Valley City Council on July 29 adopted an emergency interim ordinance that temporarily exempts regional first‑responder communications facilities from the city’s 60‑foot tower height limit, raising the allowable height to 100 feet and to 120 feet when an antenna array is included.
The change, contained in Ordinance 25‑013, was proposed by city staff to allow the regional public safety communications agency (SHREC) to design and submit plans for a new tower at a property it recently purchased in Spokane Valley. Eric Lamb, deputy city manager, told council that the existing tower on leased city property will not be available long term and that SHREC needs certainty to complete its application and begin construction.
The nut of the amendment is narrow: it applies to regional facilities providing first‑responder communications, not to commercial cell carriers or general wireless deployments. The interim ordinance is written to last six months, with a required public hearing within 60 days and a work plan to send the matter to the Planning Commission for a full code update and final regulations.
City staff said the interim rule does not permanently change the zoning code. “If you adopt this tonight, it is just an interim regulation,” Lamb said, adding the city could extend the interim period up to a year only after a public hearing and adoption of findings.
Council members asked why the city was using an emergency interim procedure rather than the typical Planning Commission process. Lamb said the need surfaced during the design phase when SHREC identified obstructions — including power lines and nearby buildings — that made the existing 60‑foot cap infeasible for their operational needs. SHREC representatives told the council their lease on a Spokane facility expires at the end of the year and the timing made an interim regulation the practical option to avoid disruption to regional 911 operations.
Speakers described due diligence with neighbors and air‑safety checks. SHREC staff said they currently plan to include at least one diesel generator at the remodeled facility and that the tower and equipment would be plumbed to allow a second generator if funding is available.
Council adopted the interim ordinance after discussion and public comment. The ordinance sets a 100‑foot tower height, extendable to 120 feet with antenna array, specifically for regional first‑responder communications facilities, and limits the exemption to those regional operations. A public hearing will be scheduled within 60 days and staff will return to the Planning Commission to develop permanent code amendments.
The council’s action grants immediate regulatory relief for the regional communications provider while preserving the normal public‑process safeguards for a later permanent change.
