Bus garage, daycare now allowed

The Senior Center may now build a garage to house buses on their property in Grand Coulee. And, if anyone is still interested, a licensed daycare could set up shop on Main Street.

Those two subjects of longstanding requests are now possible, following an ordinance passed the Grand Coulee City Council May 20.

The issues had come before the council about a year ago and the city held a public hearing on the matter early in April.

The Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center has two buses and had come before the council a year ago to ask if they could build a garage on property they own to house the vehicles. They were told no at the time because current zoning wouldn’t allow a garage unless there was a residence on the property.

Senior member Larry Curtis made more trips to the council, and while sympathetic, the answer was still no, until the issue took life earlier this year.

Charlie Long continued the senior appearances before the council, and a public hearing was set up to determine what the public’s reaction would be.

That brought support from Fire Chief Richard Paris, who urged the council to allow the bus garage.

About a year ago, two women appeared before the council, wanting to open a daycare center on Grand Coulee’s Main Street. They made the case of the community need citing that families of school, federal, and tribal employees needed a licensed daycare here. That was met with a “no” due to zoning rules. Though the women never appeared again, the idea took hold this spring.

Again at the public hearing, Paris encouraged the council to amend its zoning requirements on behalf of a daycare center.

Now both issues have been resolved by the council.