Spokane Municipal Code

Title 17C Land Use Standards

Chapter 17C.180 Airfield Overlay Zones

Section 17C.180.070 Compatibility Use Categories

1. This section classifies land uses and activities into use categories on the basis of common characteristics that are potentially compatible or incompatible with both civil and military airfields. Uses that put people in harm’s way, increase the risk or severity of an aircraft accident, endanger public infrastructure, or reduce the long-term functionality and economic viability of the region’s civil and military aviation facilities are considered incompatible.

2. Uses Not Listed.

Examples of uses that are included in the use category are provided. The names of uses on the lists are generic. They are based on the common meaning of the terms and not on what a specific use may call itself. For example, a use whose business name is “wholesale liquidation” but that sells mostly to consumers would be considered a retail sales use rather than a wholesale sales use. As such it would be in the high-intensity uses category rather than the low-intensity uses category. This is because the actual activity on the site matches the description of the retail sales and service category. A use may not be listed but may have the same incompatible characteristics as a listed use. The planning services director may determine that a proposed use has similar incompatible characteristics as other uses that are permitted or not permitted in the respective airfield overlay zones, and therefore should also be permitted or not permitted.

3. Accessory Uses.

Accessory uses are permitted only when they would be permitted as a standalone use. For example, in a zone that prohibits a daycare but allows an office use, a daycare would not be allowed as an accessory use. Except that an office that is accessory to a use in the low-intensity uses category may be permitted pursuant to subsection (D)(6) of this section.

4. Use Categories.

1. 1. Residential Uses.

Residential uses are considered incompatible because in addition to safety concerns they are sensitive to noise impacts. Examples of residential uses include group living, single-family residences, duplexes, apartments, condominiums, manufactured home and mobile home parks. This does not include hotels and motels in which occupancy is arranged for time periods less than one month.

1. 2. High-intensity Uses.

High-intensity uses are uses that have the potential to concentrate a large number of people in a small area. These uses are considered incompatible because of their potential to put a large number of people in harm’s way. Examples of high-intensity uses include religious institutions, theaters, auditoriums, arenas, concert halls, amphitheaters, lodges, meeting halls, fraternal organizations, gymnasiums and exercise facilities, skating rinks, bowling alleys, arcades, batting cages, community centers, universities, museums, public libraries, funeral homes, arenas, outdoor amphitheaters, outdoor spectator sports, racetracks, speedways, amusement parks, splash pads, campgrounds, fairgrounds, zoos, circuses, carnivals, eating and drinking establishments, farmers markets, retail sales and services, malls and shopping centers, hotels, motels, auctions, offices, labor intensive manufacturing, bus and rail passenger terminals, and mass shelters.

1. 3. Vulnerable Occupant Uses.

Vulnerable occupant uses are uses in which a majority of occupants are children, elderly, or disabled or other people who have reduced ability or are unable to respond to emergencies or get out of harm’s way. Examples of vulnerable occupant uses include daycare centers, family daycares, schools (grades K-12), hospitals, other health care facilities where anesthesia is used or patients remain overnight, correctional facilities, retirement homes, nursing homes, and convalescent facilities.

1. 4. Critical Community Infrastructure.

Critical community infrastructure includes facilities that the damage or destruction of which would cause significant adverse effects to public health and welfare beyond the immediate vicinity of the facility. Examples of critical community infrastructure include police stations, fire stations, emergency communication facilities, power plants, and waste water treatment facilities.

1. 5. Hazardous Uses.

Hazardous uses are uses that release discharge into the air such as smoke, steam, or particulates that impair air visibility, uses that have aboveground storage or uses that require the storage of large quantities of hazardous (flammable, explosive, corrosive, or toxic) materials that have the potential to exacerbate an aircraft accident, or uses that attract wildlife hazardous to aircraft. Examples of hazardous uses include above-ground chemical or fuel storage exceeding household quantities, mining, rendering plants, slaughter houses, stock yards, and feed lots.

1. 6. Low-intensity Uses.

Low-intensity uses do not concentrate people or hazardous material into small areas, are not sensitive to loud noise and do not directly or indirectly inhibit aviation operations. Examples of low-intensity uses include agricultural uses (that do not attract wildlife hazardous to aviation operations), kennels, animal clinics, motorcycle, automotive, truck, marine craft, manufactured home and travel trailer sales (except for auctions), commercial parking, quick vehicle service, maintenance and repair shops, towing services, taxicab terminals, wholesale sales, ministorage, warehouses, non-labor intensive manufacturing, printing and publishing, cemeteries, trails, rail lines, roads, underground utilities. Low-intensity uses may include a small accessory office in which onsite uses are managed. Larger offices in which business involves matters not related to uses onsite are considered high-intensity uses even when combined with a use that is in the low-intensity uses category.

Date Passed: Monday, April 4, 2011

Effective Date: Friday, May 13, 2011

ORD C34697 Section 1