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Council adopts Klitzke amendment to commercial parking tax public rule after debate
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Summary
After debate over legal scope and implementation, the council approved the Klitzke amendment to a commercial parking tax public rule by a 6–1 vote; the amendment allows zone-based reserved parking rather than requiring dedicated 24-hour spaces for individual cars and prompted discussion about good neighbor agreements and lobbying-code limits on council advocacy.
The Spokane City Council approved an amendment to the proposed commercial parking tax public rule after a divided debate over legal scope and policy details.
Council member Klitzke moved adoption of the Klitzke Amendment to the resolution concerning the commercial parking tax public rule, arguing the change would reduce land dedicated to parking and allow zone-based reserved parking rather than dedicated 24-hour spaces for individual vehicles.
“We wanted to encourage less land being taken up for parking and not more,” Klitzke said, describing the amendment’s goal of maximizing flexible use of parking stalls through zones rather than exclusive individual allocations.
Council members raised concerns about whether the amendment fully addresses a previously identified legal deficiency and whether it implements promised exemptions (students, employees, residents). One council member said the amendment does not fix the legal issue and therefore opposed it on precedent grounds; council discussion also asked staff and legal about the meaning of “exclusive” and whether public rules appropriately interpret existing ordinances.
A motion to waive confidentiality so legal counsel could release a legal analysis under the referenced rule 7.8 was made earlier in the discussion but failed for lack of a second.
After debate, the council approved the Klitzke Amendment 6–1.
Council members also discussed a separate request to add a special consideration item related to a legislative letter; that motion failed for lack of a second. Speakers raised differences over whether a state law limits ‘good neighbor agreements,’ with one council member urging local advocacy and another saying the current version of the legislation does not prohibit such agreements.
The council adopted the amendment and approved the modified agenda for final action items later that evening.
