Moscow council approves annexation for business park

The Moscow City Council approved the annexation of 51 acres of land Monday, which will be developed into a business park in south Moscow.

The land will be located on the east side of the new U.S. Highway 95 and next to the South Fork of the Palouse River. Jeff Motley, owner of Two-GM LLC, applied for the annexation which will make the land part of the motor business zone.

Fifteen lots are planned for development. There will also be parkland and a pathway along the river. Motley told the council that this business park, which has been in the planning stages for several years, is “going to do some great things for south Moscow.”

“Since we started this three years ago, we have a lot of interest in a lot of services that would be great for Moscow, I believe,” he said.

Motley said development of the park could begin in the spring.

Shelley Bennett, a broker with Kiemle Hagood, said the business park will be centered around small businesses.

“I’ve worked with people over the years in Moscow and we’ve desperately needed a business park,” Bennett said. “We have not had a business park offered to Moscow for 30, 40 years.”

In other business, the Moscow City Council on Monday approved funding a study into a possible new elementary school location.

Earlier this year, the city and the Moscow School District entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly fund the study.

The study, which will be conducted by Lombard Conrad Architects, will look at the feasibility of building a school on city-owned land near West Palouse River Drive in south Moscow. It will focus on factors like vehicular and pedestrian access to the site, bus transportation and the potential for athletic fields.

The study has a base fee of $34,000, which will be split by the school district and the city. The study does not obligate the district or the city to take any further action.

Kuipers can be reached akuipers@dnews.com.vvw