City planners release draft EIS for Plan Spokane 2046 and open 60‑day comment period

City of Spokane planning staff released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Plan Spokane 2046 on Dec. 18, 2025, and opened a 60‑day public comment period that closes at 5 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2026.

Terrell Black, a planner with the City of Spokane, described the draft EIS as the technical analysis that will inform a preferred growth strategy for the city over the next 20 years. "The draft EIS is about 600 pages," Casey Downey, also with planning and economic development, said during the webinar, adding that staff are preparing summaries and interactive tools to help residents review the material.

The draft EIS evaluates three growth alternatives: a no‑action option that maintains current policies; a "distributed and balanced" alternative that concentrates greater housing and job intensity along frequent transit routes and allows neighborhood‑serving mixed use; and a "Center City and Regional Hubs" alternative that prioritizes growth in downtown, the University District, medical district and regional employment hubs such as the West Plains.

Black told attendees the no‑action alternative does not provide enough housing capacity for households earning less than 80% of area median income (AMI), while the two action alternatives show greater capacity across income bands. He said the city may assemble a preferred alternative from elements of the different options rather than adopting a single existing alternative wholesale.

The Plan Commission will recommend a preferred alternative to City Council, which will make the final selection. Staff expect a Plan Commission recommendation in 2026 and said the final EIS and the updated comprehensive plan are anticipated to be ready for adoption in the fall (the webinar did not state a specific year for adoption).

How to comment: written comments on the draft EIS are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2026. Email is preferred at planspokane@spokanecity.org with "Plan Spokane 2046 draft EIS comments" in the subject line; mailed comments should be addressed to Carol Black at the planning department. Staff said comments submitted during the official comment period will be included in an appendix to the final EIS and used in selecting the preferred alternative.

The city is also holding drop‑in listening sessions and informational hours across January and February; details and dates are posted on planspokane.org and links were shared in the webinar chat. Staff encouraged residents to use the project's interactive story map and slider tool to compare alternatives and identify priority areas for growth.

The draft EIS and draft plan chapters, including seven nontechnical chapters now available for review, are posted at planspokane.org. The planning team also noted related work to update the critical‑areas ordinance and the unified development code to comply with state law and streamline implementation.

The webinar included multiple opportunities for participants to ask questions by chat; staff reiterated that while the webinar is informational, formal draft EIS comments must be submitted through the official channels described above.