The city of Spokane could begin moving forward shortly with work on a series of aggressive annexations, providing that the City Council approves.


Weve got a framework of a plan, says Dave Mandyke, the citys deputy director of public works and utilities.


Council members were scheduled to discuss the potential components of that plan at a study session this afternoon, with Mandyke slated to present five potential annexation sites to them for discussion.


Those sites include about 13 square miles of land on the West Plains, about 2.5 square miles in the Moran/Glenrose area, and part of the contested Yardley industrial and commercial area that the Boundary Review Board ruled recently should be part of a proposed new city in the Spokane Valley. The other targeted sites include the Costco Wholesale Corp. warehouse store at 7619 N. Division, the ShopKo Stores Inc. outlet at 4515 S. Regal, and some property around both of those stores.


The five sites have a combined assessed value of more than $500 million, but it wont be clear until additional analysis has been completed just how much annual property and sales tax revenue that might add to city coffers.


If given the green light to proceed, the city will create an annexation officepossibly staffed by a full-time employeeto oversee implementation of the plan, which would take a number of years to complete, Mandyke says.


Mandyke says his department has stepped up its annexation-related efforts at the directive of Spokane Mayor John Powers, who has made clear his support for annexations as a way to build up stagnant city revenues.


Weve talked about it (in the past), but theres never been a solid direction to move ahead, he says. John has stepped forward and said, Do it, so were going to try and do it.


The city would expect to carry out all of those annexations by exercising covenants signed by property owners who agreed not to oppose annexation in return for receiving city sewer and water services, he says. To annex an area, the city first must have signatures from owners who control 75 percent of the property value within the proposed addition, whether by petition, covenant, or other means. In areas where it lacks the required percentage of support, it would seek to secure additional signed covenants, Mandyke says.


If it receives the councils blessing, the citys public works department would move forward soon with the hiring of a consultant to do a cost-benefit analysis on the West Plains site, which would be the first area that the city would seek to annex, he says.


The large swath of land there tentatively proposed for annexation stretches westward from southwest Spokane to the edge of Airway Heights, then south to the industrial area on the southeast side of the Medical Lake-Interstate 90 interchange.


As envisioned, it would include Spokane International Airport, the airports business park, and a large amount of undeveloped land slated for business development, including the planned Pacific Northwest Technology Park. City estimates put the targeted areas population at about 1,750 people and its current overall assessed value at about $120 million.


Mandyke says one of the determinations that must be made is whether to appeal the Boundary Review Boards ruling on the Yardley area, start annexation proceedings targeting that property, or take some other action. If the Yardley area ends up becoming part of a new city in the Valley, the city of Spokane will expect to be compensated for the infrastructure investments it has made there, he says.


The area there that the city tentatively now is looking at is bounded roughly by Sprague Avenue on the south, Havana Street on the west, Broadway and Alki avenues on the north, and Fancher Road on the east.


The Costco property on the North Side that the city wants to annex encompasses about 42 acres of land, west of Division Street and mostly south of Cascade Way and north of Cozza Drive, and includes a housing development west of the big retail store. City estimates put that areas population at about 100 people and its overall assessed value at about $22 million.


The South Hill ShopKo and surrounding property being eyed by the city is a triangular-shaped, 80-acre area bounded by 44th Avenue, Palouse Highway, and Freya Street.


Although being treated as a separate proposed annexation district, it is part of, or at least contiguous to, the much larger Moran/Glenrose area that the city also wants to annex and began pursuing a number of years ago. That area, with an estimated population of around 7,000, stretches from Hatch Road on the west to about Glenrose Road on the east, and has a jagged southern border that includes parts of 57th, 61st, 65th, and 70th avenues.


While there may be concerns among some of the fire, water, and other special districts in the county that provide services within the areas targeted for annexation, Mandyke says the citys intent is to try to avoid any negative impacts.


Our goal is not to jeopardize public safety in the least. Nor is there any desire to put any water districts out of business, he says.