Black Realty Inc.’s planned Painted Hills residential development is looking to move forward with its plans to build over 580 living units at the former Painted Hills Golf Course, at 4403 S. Dishman-Mica Road, in south Spokane Valley.

The development company submitted an updated draft environmental impact statement early this year that laid out multiple development scenarios that CEO Dave Black contends “answers any questions that would ever come up on that development.”

The proposed development is now in the public comment stage of the city’s environmental review.

The scenarios include two variations of a preferred development scheme that include a mix of single-family, multifamily, and commercial buildings.

The two preferred development options range in size, with the first option including 300 single-family homes and 280 multifamily units, while the other option includes 272 single-family homes and 325 multifamily units. The two options offer the same stormwater infrastructure improvements, as well as 30 acres of open space areas that include a 10-acre park and wildlife travel corridor.

“It hasn’t changed,” says Bryan Walker, development manager with Black Realty. “It’s all the same, we just had to go through the process of developing a (draft environmental impact study).”

The development team has been working for eight years to receive development approval, Black says.

“The delay has actually worked for the benefit of everyone,” as the new documents address most of the issues raised by community members when the project was proposed in 2015, he claims.

The environmental documents indicate the developers hope to break ground this fall, with the project occurring in multiple phases.

Next steps are dependent on the city, Walker says.

“After that, after we get the comments back, we’ll address those,” he says, after which the development will go through a public hearing.

When the project was first proposed, it was opposed by many members of the surrounding community. Nearly 380 public comments were submitted between the two public comment periods in 2015 and 2018, the majority of which opposed the development. The current public comment period closes on Aug. 16.