College Hill plan comes to council

Sarah Mason

Nov. 6, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- QUICKREAD

WHAT HAPPENED: The Pullman City Council heard public testimony on the Draft College Hill Core Neighborhood Plan. Much of the testimony focused on zoning plans.

WHAT IT MEANS: The council will make changes and either approve or dismiss the plan.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The council will continue to discuss the draft and plans to adopt it by Nov. 17.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The draft is a comprehensive plan altering the hill's building codes, garbage collection, lighting and more.

Pullman residents tackled one of the main and more controversial goals of the Draft College Hill Core Neighborhood Plan Thursday night: rezoning.

More than 20 people spoke about the issue before the Pullman City Council.

It marked the first time the council accepted public testimony on the plan that was recently passed into their court by the city's planning commission.

The current draft slates the historic district for a R-T zoning standard, which is in between R-1 and R-2. To illustrate the difference, City Planning Director Pete Dickinson said R-T allows for duplexes, whereas R-2 would allow for triplexes.

Some residents said the new zoning would be too restrictive.

"About a third of the properties (there now) are non-conforming," said Pullman resident John Chapman. "That basically means you're operating the property illegally, and you can't continue to operate it in that manner."

Chapman added that residents in the historical district wouldn't be able to add a deck, playhouse, garage or shed if the R-T zoning code passed.

Kathy Wilson, broker and owner of DRA Real Estate, said the zoning plans would limit residents' abilities to lease out rooms within their own houses, which more people are doing in order to make ends meet.

Real Estate Agent Ryan Wilkerson said the zoning change could reduce property values on College Hill.

Wilkerson was one of many landowners or renters with a stake in College Hill to ask the council to upgrade the zoning plans on Maple Street from R-2 to R-4.

Currently, Maple Street allows for R-2-level housing, which permits four unrelated people to live in a unit. R-4 allows an unlimited number of people to live in a residence.

Wilkerson echoed the opinion held by many who testified Thursday when he said the city should consider R-4 zoning to cater to the growing student body.

"Kids are going to want to live there, and they're going to find a way to live there one way or another," Wilkerson said

College Hill Association member Bobbie Ryder opposed this view.

She said it wasn't the city's job to bring money to College Hill investors or increase the property values on the hill. Ryder called for the council to make the zoning of the historical district and Maple Street less dense.

"(It's your responsibility) to look at how to create the best community and the best quality of life on College Hill," she said.

In the end, most of the council did not look favorably on the R-4 zoning for Maple Street, but will continue to discuss the plan in coming weeks.

"I've always been opposed to the rezoning of the Maple Street area," Councilwoman Ann Heath said. "A lot of the problems up there stem from the fact that you have a whole bunch of 18-to-24-year-olds crammed together doing their thing."

The council is slated to make a decision on the plan by Nov. 17.

Sarah Mason can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail at smason@dnews.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-1113-39519587