The second story has the headline "Water Scarcity Threatens 27 Million People in the U.S."
In the last ten years there have been climate refugee stories from around the world. As part of resilience planning, I suggest that we change that sentence to, "Growth numbers will consider the possibility of climate refugees"
Transit
Are we giving up on increased use of transit? Yes, to use a popular analogy, people will probably give up their guns before they give up their cars. But, as a relative newcomer to the city, I am impressed with our STA. I'm also fortunate because I live three blocks from a transit station. We are just scratching the surface of what transit can do to positively transform a region. Yes, it is damn expensive. I guess we'll have to buck up.
Affordable Housing
I have no idea how we can incentivise the building of affordable housing. Removing regulation on new construction seems to result in more of our already surplus not so affordable housing. In the EIS I would like to see a plan or a plan for a plan for a higher percentage of affordable housing being built.
Personally, I am tired of watching developers apply their ideas of what a city should look and feel like. Please don't drop the regulatory ball for the next 20 years.
Neighborhood Councils
The draft EIS does not mention the role of Neighborhood Councils or the Community Assembly. As an individual in the city, I feel tiny. As part of a Neighborhood Council, I feel a little less tiny. Let's face it, the next 20+ years are going to be ugly. Neighborhood Councils are the thin wall between citizens ranting at the city council or cooperatively working for solutions.
Thank you all very much,
Shawn Terjeson
[PDF page 2 of 2 contains the remainder of the commenter's contact details, omitted from the reading text.]
[Personal contact details omitted from the reading text.]
Shawn Terjeson
Feb 18, 2026
Local Resident
[PDF page 1 of 2]
With complete gratitude to everyone working on Plan Spokane, I have some comments on the EIS.
In the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - Summary, three Proposed Alternatives. I support Alternative 2.
For the remainder of my comments, I will be referring to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - Full
Climate Refugees
On the subject of Climate Refugees, the draft EIS states in two locations, "Growth numbers should consider possibility of climate refugees"
In a recent article about Project Censored, the Spokane Inlander reviewed news stories that do not get covered by the mainstream press.
https://www.inlander.com/news/at-a-moment-when-accountability-and-truth-are-paramount-project-censored-s-list-of-buried/article_16dcfe55-0bf3-462c-8ac7-486dd6db6c4c.html
The second story has the headline "Water Scarcity Threatens 27 Million People in the U.S."
In the last ten years there have been climate refugee stories from around the world. As part of resilience planning, I suggest that we change that sentence to, "Growth numbers will consider the possibility of climate refugees"
Transit
Are we giving up on increased use of transit? Yes, to use a popular analogy, people will probably give up their guns before they give up their cars. But, as a relative newcomer to the city, I am impressed with our STA. I'm also fortunate because I live three blocks from a transit station. We are just scratching the surface of what transit can do to positively transform a region. Yes, it is damn expensive. I guess we'll have to buck up.
Affordable Housing
I have no idea how we can incentivise the building of affordable housing. Removing regulation on new construction seems to result in more of our already surplus not so affordable housing. In the EIS I would like to see a plan or a plan for a plan for a higher percentage of affordable housing being built.
Personally, I am tired of watching developers apply their ideas of what a city should look and feel like. Please don't drop the regulatory ball for the next 20 years.
Neighborhood Councils
The draft EIS does not mention the role of Neighborhood Councils or the Community Assembly. As an individual in the city, I feel tiny. As part of a Neighborhood Council, I feel a little less tiny. Let's face it, the next 20+ years are going to be ugly. Neighborhood Councils are the thin wall between citizens ranting at the city council or cooperatively working for solutions.
Thank you all very much,
Shawn Terjeson
[PDF page 2 of 2 contains the remainder of the commenter's contact details, omitted from the reading text.]
[Personal contact details omitted from the reading text.]