SPOKANE, Wash. – Rain or shine, Phil Larkin shows up and speaks up against the Washington Department of Natural Resources selling 190 acres of forest just off of Thorpe Road in Southwest Spokane to a developer that would transform the trees there into houses.
“Of course housing is important, we need that in our community,” Larkin said, “we also need to balance that with the interest of our communities. Where are 3,000 homes going to go to get groceries? Where will they get water? Are they going to respond when their house burns because there isn’t a fire station close enough to get to them.”
Larkin likes to hike around this public land with his loved ones.
“I’m inspired by this area, it’s unique,” Larkin said. “Public lands provide us with oxygen, with carbon sink to overcome our climate problems, it’s just a worthwhile endeavor to come and enjoy (it).”
After learning about Washington DNR considering selling this area to a property developer, Larkin created the “Friends of Westwood Natural Area’ group on social media, and saw a lot of engagement on his posts encouraging the community to take action and contact DNR about their thoughts.
“It went viral,” Larkin said. “It’s 190 acres, 200 acres of public space…it’s an asset to the community.”
Adam Marshall, co-chair of Citizen Action for Latah Valley, agrees, that this area should remain a forest, and not become a neighborhood.
“I think this area is one of those special places in Spokane being nearly undisturbed, one of the most valuable recreation areas the public has,” Marshall said.
He also brought forth additional concerns about developing this specific area.
“The development that needs to happen on 195 that’s been recommended by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council…there’s 26 projects, many of which are not complete,” Marshall said. “It’s the cart before the horse, where you have no infrastructure in place and you still want to push that many more people into an area that’s not ready.”
Joy Skeikh, chair of Grandview-Thorpe Neighborhood Council, doesn’t feel that the area can handle the level of development proposed.
“We had lots of problems with fire, we have problems with traffic access of 195,” Sheikh said, “I think there needs to be better planning around where we’re gonna build.”
Sheikh said she’s also passionate about preserving land in the area.
“As chair of the neighborhood council, I feel like every other week, we’re getting a notification that a new developer wants to develop some plot of land. It seems like the city is just letting everyone build wherever they want without doing any planning of where there is going to be schools, where there is going to be natural areas,” Sheikh said.
Local writer and naturalist, Jack Nisbet, feels losing this natural area to development would be a great loss for the community.
“I work for a lot of nonprofits in Spokane including ‘Friends of the Bluff’ that’s right across the way…you can look over here and see amazing drainage,” Nisbet said. “This entire drainage is the lifeblood of this city. If we lose this piece, we’re losing an essential piece of understanding this side of Hangman’s Creek.”
Others, like Karen Mobley, worry about disturbing the wildlife in the area. She works with Spokane Urban Nature, which is an all-volunteer group working to protect urban nature areas, parks, and natural lands.
“One of the reasons I’m particularly interested in this spot is it’s a spot that is really excellent for bird watching,” Mobley said. She carries her binoculars with her almost everywhere she goes.
“There are also wild turkeys and deer and other animals…some really cool lichens and flowers and plants in the area,” Mobley added.
KHQ News Anchor Sean Owsley took some of these concerns and questions regarding the future of this 190 acre property to Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz.
The Spokane City Council could decide to postpone the sale at the upcoming November 25th meeting that starts at 6 p.m. In Council Chambers at City Hall.
Washington DNR will host a public comment meeting on December 4th at 6:15 p.m. at Spokane Central Library.
