County engineer to set public hearing on three limited-access (gating) petitions on dead-end roads

County Engineer Matt Zirkel presented three petitions to declare limited access on three county right-of-way segments, saying maintenance burdens and nuisance activity prompted the requests.

The first petition concerns a dead-end section of Commellini Road where the parcels fronting the road, led by petitioner Robert Seghetti, asked to gate the roadway; staff recommended limited access because the segment primarily serves a single residence and would relieve the county of maintenance obligations.

The second request comes from parcels owned by Emerald Dreams LLC along the Spokane River; the owner asked to gate a dead-end road segment to curtail nuisance access through private property to river frontage. Zirkel said the Avista day-use area and public access would remain available via adjacent parcels and that staff are coordinating on turnarounds.

The third petition involves a driveway/access near State Route 904 where a private road crosses public right-of-way and recent nuisance traffic (including church access) has led the owner to seek gating; staff said the segment is not currently maintained and that gating both ends is proposed to avoid vehicles becoming trapped.

Zirkel said staff support forwarding all three petitions to public hearing to give the public an opportunity to comment; commissioners directed staff to proceed to the public hearing process.