Probably. The proposed map changes something in 25 of Spokane's 29 neighborhoods.
PlanSpokane is Spokane's 20-year plan for where and how the city grows.
Housing affordability is the promise.
A 30% tree canopy is another.
Houses with yards, trees, and green space.
Six-plexes can now sit next to houses. Qualifying six-plexes can get 12 years without property tax on the new building. As new construction, they are also exempt from the state rent cap for 12 years.
For this six-plex near 16th and Grand, two of its six units use the City’s 115% AMI limit. That just means those two units cannot exceed $2,317 per month. Not exactly a deal for anyone.
More units and taller buildings along major streets and frequent bus routes. High density may extend several blocks into existing neighborhoods.
These colors include higher-density housing:Mixed Use Commercial Institutional Downtown
Pretty close to over. State law gives Spokane until the end of 2026 to finish the plan. The clock is running to get your comments in. That is a lot to ask of the community while many residents are still recovering from the Spokane Complex fires.
Ask the Council and Mayor to request six more months from Governor Ferguson. Send an email in minutes. It doesn't hurt to ask.
City records flag East Central for urgent tree-equity needs, Spokane’s largest recent housing losses to demolition, displacement pressure, and climate vulnerability.
The colors show the general kinds of places the City expects each area to support over time, not what must be built on every property. Each category can include more than one kind of use. The map does not change zoning by itself; specific zoning rules come later through BUILDSpokane.
Residential Low is mainly houses, duplexes, and other small multi-home buildings. Small neighborhood businesses may also be included.
Density: 6–10 homes per acre
Most of this land is R1 today. R2 covers much less land and allows about twice as many homes per acre. The new map puts both under Residential Low.
A City consultant also recommends replacing R1 and R2 with one RS Small-Scale Residential zone. If adopted, R1 would no longer be a separate zone. The replacement rules have not been adopted.
Residential High is mainly apartment buildings and other higher-density housing.
Density: 15–40 homes per acre
The draft places it near streets, utilities, bus routes, jobs, and services that can support more homes.
Mixed Use combines housing, shops, services, offices, and public spaces. Lower-impact workshops, maker spaces, and creative production may also be included, with measures to limit noise, odor, and pollution.
Density: 10–45 homes per acre
Open Space is for parks, recreation, and protecting natural, cultural, or scenic resources.
An Open Space map designation does not automatically end an existing legal use or change its zoning. The draft says some existing uses may continue while long-term conservation is considered.
Commercial supports stores, services, offices, and other businesses serving the city or region. Housing may also be included.
Density: 20–45 homes per acre
Today, Spokane separates office areas from broader shopping and business areas. The new map combines both into one Commercial category.
Institutional is for colleges, universities, hospitals, medical centers, research laboratories, and other large public-serving institutions. Supporting housing, shops, open space, and technical facilities may also be included.
Density: 20–40 homes per acre
Industrial supports manufacturing, workshops, technology businesses, warehouses, and other places where goods are made or processed.
Today, Spokane's land-use map separates Light Industrial from Heavy Industrial. The proposed map combines both into one Industrial designation, removing that distinction from this map. That does not allow every industrial use everywhere; BUILDSpokane will later determine where higher-impact uses are allowed.
Downtown supports Spokane's broadest mix of housing, shops, services, arts, entertainment, open space, and limited workshops or production uses. It is the city's highest-intensity designation.
Density: 40–60 homes per acre
Agriculture supports farming, greenhouses, limited livestock, and similar food-growing operations.
Housing and shops are generally limited to uses that support agriculture, such as farm stands.
District 2Paul Dillon · Kate Telis
