Spokane Plan Commission recommends preferred growth map to city council amid debate over natural areas and housing

The Spokane Plan Commission voted on April 14, 2026, to recommend a draft “preferred alternative” land‑use map and related direction on the Plan Spokane 2046 environmental impact statement (EIS) to City Council, advancing the city’s next steps on housing, climate and land‑use policy.

City planning staff presented the draft preferred alternative as a high‑level map that combines elements of two studied approaches—one that distributes growth across corridors and another that concentrates growth in the center city and regional hubs. “The preferred alternative is a combination of those,” Terrell Black, a city planning staffer, told the commission, noting the map focuses on increasing high‑density residential and mixed use near transit and downtown.

Why it matters: the preferred alternative is the staff recommendation that will guide preparation of the final EIS and the future land‑use plan map, which in turn informs later zoning and code updates. Staff told the commission the draft EIS and community engagement informed the map; a final EIS is anticipated in the third quarter of 2026.

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