SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane’s hearing examiner gave developers the green light to build 425 homes in Latah Valley. The future Marshall Creek Estates is about 121 acres and located on Cheney-Spokane Road, west of US Highway 195 and the Eagle Ridge community.
It's a change and growth that not all people living in Latah Valley are thrilled about. Leland Smith lives just down the street from the new development. “I think it’s too much change and development for out here," Smith said.
The hearing examiner’s approval of the project this week comes during the city’s one-year moratorium for any new projects in the Latah Valley area. This went into effect in May 2024.
Marshall Creek Estates is moving forward because the moratorium specifically excludes applications already submitted. The project met that criteria as the applications and fees were completed in 2020.
Still, the development is approved with conditions. They include requiring the developer to build a roundabout on Cheney-Spokane Road, an improvement Smith welcomes.
“I think it’s needed," Smith said. "When we had traffic coming through because of the closure of I-90, it was backed up all the way to my driveway.”
A WSDOT traffic study determined the project is expected to add 72 trips each morning and 33 trips each evening to the I-90 on-ramp from Hwy 195. The hearing examiner is requiring the developers to pay for improvements to that area.
While Smith prefers the peace and quiet in the area, he’s hoping the changes that continue to come to Latah Valley won’t take too much of that quiet away. “It’s just something that I’ve kind of adapted to and just going along with it the best I can," Smith said.