Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about.
Some things that stick out to us this week include:
- Spokane City Council could extend the interim moratorium on height limits downtown, which is government jargon to say — developers can continue to build really tall buildings downtown, if they want to.
- At the Public Safety & Community Health Committee meeting, the city council members will also discuss a new ordinance designed to penalize the owners of “chronic nuisance properties” who fail to properly handle, well, chronic nuisances.
- Spokane Police Department wants to spend an additional $45,000 on Cellebrite, the software that was used to secretly extract data from protesters’ phones, and they’ll be asking the council for permission at that same Public Safety & Community Health Committee meeting.
- Spokane County is facing a $30 million structural budget deficit — that could mean higher taxes in our futures.
- Spokane Valley is talking about the Urban Growth Area, the boundary restricting costly suburban sprawl. But there’s always a balance to be struck: housing restrictions in the past have helped drive up housing costs and increase homelessness.
Spokane City Council Agenda Review
Up for a vote next week:
- A contract to address a lack of culturally responsive treatment services for the opioid crisis — i.e. services specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities. The city council could contract with four organizations: Center for Growth and Empowerment through Compassionate Addiction Treatment, The Native Project, Nuestras Raices and Washington State University with Spokane Tribal Network. The total cost of these services is under $500,000, which was already approved in the 2026 budget.
- An ordinance that would create a process for vacant and underutilized commercial spaces to be temporarily activated. That means spaces like, say, the former Rite Aid downtown, could be more easily transformed for temporary commercial events like, say, the Punk Rock Flea Market.
- Our Urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn is set to be appointed to the Spokane Plan Commission.
- An emergency ordinance to ensure tenant protections for those impacted by the wildfires. Read the details here.
Up for a vote in two weeks:
- A procedural ordinance to modernize how the city’s financial funds are referenced in municipal code by removing budget codes that are no longer active, updating references in the fund structure and codifying funds that should have already been codified.
Even if these items are a week or two out, if you’re passionate about them, you can testify at the Wednesday city council meetings.
Agenda here when available.Tuesday, August 25 at 11 amCouncil Chambers808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Spokane City Council
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It’s a slower night at Spokane City Council but there are a few interesting items up for a vote, including:
- A contract to give Liberty Lake-based Frank Family Investments an 8-year Multifamily Housing tax exemption for the creation of 200 housing units in the Kendall Yards neighborhood.
- An ordinance to allow existing funds to be used to expand access to cooling, heating and weatherization services to individuals who meet the criteria established by the HEART Fund.
- An ordinance that would get rid of a city requirement for charitable organizations to obtain a free “charitable solicitation” license. Because this duplicates state requirements, Spokane could cut this requirement at the city level.
- An extension on the interim zoning ordinance that temporarily removed height limits on new buildings downtown, making it so tall building construction downtown is allowed for at least another six months. This extension is set to expire March 24, 2027, after which there may be permanent code changes that nix the height restrictions.
And a reminder — with the new format of council meetings, you can also sign up to testify on items that are one or two weeks out from a vote, which we preview in our Agenda Review section.
Agenda hereWednesday, September 2 at 6 pmCouncil Chambers 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, SpokaneThe meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.Thursday, September 3 at 11 amCouncil Chambers808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, SpokaneThe meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Safety & Community Health Committee
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Consequences for chronic nuisances
Last week, The Spokesman reported that city officials had declared the 7-Eleven downtown a “chronic nuisance” back in July, and were still struggling with the property…