Improving an Older Spokane Home Without Losing Its Character

An older house in Spokane asks two questions before any work starts. What is the property, and who has authority over the address. For most older homes, no special review applies and the ordinary permit rules govern. For a listed landmark, or for a contributing property inside a local historic district, exterior work runs through design review first, and that review changes the order of the project.

This page is for the owner of a house old enough to have character worth keeping. It covers the lookups that settle both questions, the review a listed property needs, the local incentives that offset rehabilitation, and the record to keep. It teaches no repair method, compares no material, and gives no abatement, structural, electrical, or gas instruction.

One boundary matters most. The City of Spokane and the unincorporated parts of Spokane County share one preservation program, and their ordinance says so. A Spokane Valley address sits outside that program, so ask that city which rules apply to it. State and national listings are different lists again, and a house anywhere can stand on them. If the address itself is still in question, the jurisdiction guide settles it.

Quick route

Two lookups settle the question

Start with the status of the property. The preservation office publishes the Historic Properties of Spokane list, and it searches by name, address, neighborhood, or historic district. A listing in the sale papers is not evidence; the office’s list is. State and national listings sit in the inventory kept by the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, which opens without an account.

Then settle the address, on the boundary set out above. The code fixes the chapter’s territory: properties in the City of Spokane and in unincorporated areas of Spokane County. A Spokane Valley address needs that city’s answer.

If the property stands on no list, nothing in the preservation chapter applies to it, and age alone creates no obligation. If it is listed, the office keeps a file on it, and the file is the place to begin.

What a listing changes

A landmark designation becomes final only when the owner signs a management agreement with the City. Without that agreement the designation does not become final, and the property does not reach the register. The agreement binds construction work and modifications to review before the work starts.

That review is called design review, and its approval is a certificate of appropriateness. The code requires one before any permit issues for five activities: demolition of a Spokane Register landmark or of a contributing resource inside a historic district on either register; relocation of a landmark or a contributing resource; work that affects the exterior appearance of a landmark; work that significantly affects the street-facing façade of a building inside a district; and development or new construction inside a district boundary.

The code writes three exemptions. Ordinary repair and maintenance, including emergency measures, that affects no significant historic feature. Ordinary repair and maintenance that alters the appearance of no significant feature and uses no substitute material. And repair or replacement of utility systems that alters no significant feature.

Between those poles, the code’s own table sorts work into what the full Commission reviews, what the office may approve administratively, and what is exempt. The office states that the chart is not exhaustive, and asks owners to contact it when their work is not listed.

One warning belongs here. The code also provides for review of work that was already done without a certificate of appropriateness.

How the review runs

The application runs through the same public portal the City uses for permits, under the heading “Historic Preservation & Tax Exemptions”. It carries the work description, the materials, paint swatches where a color is part of the change, and photographs of the existing building.

The office then sets the level of review and the fee. Administrative review ends in a decision that the office describes as arriving within 24 to 48 hours. Work that goes to the full Commission must arrive at least three weeks before the meeting, and a nomination to the register must arrive four weeks before it. Commission meetings fall on the third Wednesday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Council Briefing Center at City Hall, and commissioners visit the site before they vote.

Paint color is reviewed for individually listed landmarks and for the local districts, with two exceptions the office names: Browne’s Addition and the Cannon Streetcar Suburb Historic District. The office adds a position of its own on masonry. It does not condone painting brick that was never painted, because the paint can hold moisture in the wall.

A denial of a demolition certificate can be appealed to the City’s Hearing Examiner within 30 days.

Demolition follows a different road

Demolition inside a local district, or of a landmark, is not a permit the office stamps. The code says that no demolition permit may be processed or issued until the Commission issues a certificate of appropriateness, and that a building permit for a replacement structure may not be accepted before the demolition permit issues. The applicant and the office meet within 45 days to look for feasible alternatives, and that search can be extended by agreement. If no alternative is agreed, the Commission may grant or refuse the certificate, weighing the property’s historic importance, the redevelopment plan, the structure’s condition, the effect on the neighborhood, and any mitigation. Mitigation can require salvage after the building is documented.

For a structure in a National Register historic district, in the downtown boundary area, or in a Center and Corridor zone, a separate section applies. It reaches structures listed or eligible for listing on either register, and eligibility is decided by the Commission within 30 days of a complete application, with the applicant supplying the eligibility document.

The office’s own FAQ says that a National Register property is not bound to a management agreement and does not need design review, and then points readers to demolition-ordinance information “below” that does not render on its page. The live code section is the place to read the requirement.

The local tools that offset the cost

A rehabilitation of a listed property can be offset, but not by this office. The office states plainly that it does not fund rehabilitation. Its work is to certify work that qualifies for programs run by others.

Special Valuation is the largest of them, and it is local. It is a revision of the assessed value of a historic property that subtracts approved rehabilitation costs for up to ten years. The chain of conditions runs in order. The property stands on the Spokane Register, individually or as a certified contributing property in a local district. The Landmarks Commission approves the completed work. The work was completed no more than 24 months before the application. And the rehabilitation cost equals at least 25 percent of the assessed value of the structure, with land excluded. The application goes to the County Assessor, and the office needs the full packet at least three weeks before the meeting at which the Commission hears it. October 1 is the annual deadline for an application to be heard that calendar year. The reduction appears two years after approval and runs to the year after the ten-year period. The owner must keep the property in good condition while the valuation is in effect. The penalty for breaking the agreement is stated in full: back taxes, interest on them, and a penalty equal to 12 percent of both. A disqualification can be appealed to the Board of Equalization by July 1, or within 30 days of it, whichever is later.

What counts as rehabilitation cost is set out, and the list is worth reading before the first invoice. Windows, doors, painting and roofing count on the exterior. Plumbing, electrical, lighting, wiring, flooring, doors, windows, heating and air conditioning, finish work, and cabinetry fixed to a wall count inside. Architectural and consultant fees, taxes, insurance and utilities during construction, construction administration, and construction-phase interest count as well. Owner labor does not count. Nor do acquisition costs, enlargement of the building, permanent financing, overhead, fixtures that are not attached, landscaping, or appliances unless they are built in.

Two grant programs are administered by the office itself: matching funds for the street-facing façades of landmarks and contributing resources in districts, and a pilot program for the sidewalks beside them. The code creates both and sets criteria for them; the office confirms the current terms and the cycle, which change from year to year.

Three further tools have narrower uses. A conservation easement is a legal agreement that gives up certain rights over the property and runs with the land. The office states that it can carry federal income, estate and gift tax consequences, and urges an owner to consult a qualified attorney or financial adviser early. A conditional use permit can allow a non-conforming use of a historic property, granted by the City or county zoning board after the Commission declares the property and the use eligible. Building code relief can relax code requirements for a historic property, granted by local code enforcement officers, with the Commission able to recommend eligibility and the deviation.

One caution about the federal credit. The federal rehabilitation investment tax credit applies to income-producing buildings, and the office describes the review that goes with it. An owner-occupied house is not an income-producing building, so that credit is not for it. Ask the state preservation office about anything federal.

The record to keep while you work

The office’s own nomination standard shows what makes a property’s story, and it is a useful list for any older house. At least six digital photographs of the primary and secondary elevations and the landscape, at least one photograph showing the property in the context of its neighborhood, and at least six representative photographs of significant interior features.

Keep the rest in one file: the work description, the approval, the materials, the dates, and the receipts. Special Valuation turns on dates and on costs, so an owner who starts work before checking the chain can lose the window that chain depends on.

The permit file for the address is a separate lookup, and a missing online record is not proof that work was unpermitted. The guide to looking up permit history carries it, and the local property resources guide routes the rest.

Two hazards that change the scope first

Asbestos. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency states that most renovation and demolition projects begin with an asbestos survey by an AHERA-certified inspector and a Notice of Intent filed with the agency. Its rules differ for an owner-occupied, single-family residence, which gets relief from the survey, notification, and fee requirements that apply to other projects. The agency publishes a quiz on that distinction, and its number is 509-477-4727. Never attempt abatement.

Lead paint. The federal Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule requires that anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in housing built before 1978 be certified, and that their employees be trained in lead-safe work practices. The rule does not cover an owner working in their own home. It does cover an owner who rents out part of the home, operates a childcare in it, or buys and renovates houses for profit.

Structure, electrical service, gas, and roofing stay with licensed professionals, whatever the review says.

The pre-project file

Empty fields are intentional.

When to stop and call someone

• Demolition, relocation, or a large addition. The office and the Commission decide, and the sequence is theirs rather than the contractor’s.
• Any abatement, or suspected asbestos or lead. Certified contractors, and the two agencies named above.
• Structure, electrical service, gas, or roofing. Licensed trades.
• An easement, a management agreement, or a tax credit. An attorney or a qualified adviser.
• Work already under way without approval. Ask the office about review of completed work before calling the job done.

Next step

Settle the two lookups before the first order: the property’s status on the office’s list, and the authority for the address. If either answer is unexpected, call the preservation office on 509-625-6300 and describe the work. Then open the pre-project file and put the first entry in it. Report an error or a change you have spotted through our contact page.