CDA: Follow own plan - and advice
In regard to Deanna Goodlander's My Turn Nov. 12, let me quote your last paragraph. "It's easy to say no ... it costs too much ... it needs to be voted on ... I don't want to pay for it. The same people, the same words, the same negativity over and over again. It's time to look to the future, to take the risk and continue to make our city the best it can be."
Let's start with the 2007-2027 Coeur d'Alene Comprehensive Plan.
1. Natural Environment: Objective 1.18 Night Sky; Minimize glare, obtrusive light, and artificial sky glow by limiting outdoor lighting that is misdirected, excessive, or unnecessary.
We live with bright lights all night, from the trucking company that abuts our neighborhood.
2. Home environment: Coeur d'Alene is obligated to preserve the character and respect the history of the city as seen in the old neighborhood. The following objectives are a common sense approach to creating exceptional neighborhood.
Objective 3.03: Direct development of large chain warehouse (Big Box business outlet to zones that will protect neighborhood).
Objective 3.05: Protect existing neighborhood from incompatible land use and development.
Objective 3.06: Protect the residential character of neighborhoods by allowing residential/commercial/industrial transition boundaries at alleyways or along back lot lines if possible.
Objective 3.09: Establish incentives and proscriptive ordinances to ensure the beauty, safety, and value of our neighborhoods.
Pinegrove was created in the mid-70s. Deanna, you, the City Council, mayor, planning department, assistant city attorney, etc., have all said no, no, to all of the objectives listed above. Same people, same words, same negativity, over and over again. In our neighborhood for the last 18 years we have had to live with an illegally zoned business, 24/7 trucking company refrigerator trucks running all night, back-up beepers, air brakes, air horns, clanging, banging, etc., with nothing but a chain-link fence to separate us from them. John Bruning wrote a report on our neighborhood and how any business coming past mid-block needs transition boundaries, not a chain-link fence. When he became a City Council person, everything he wrote went out the window.
Mayor Bloem asked Victoria Bruno to write a report about what other cities do when light industrial abuts residential. Not one city said, put up a chain link fence and call it good. I went to the comprehensive plan meetings. The mayor sat at my table and told me I could not talk about my concerns in my neighborhood. PERIOD.
Deanna, you talk about the beautiful city you and the others have created. Not from my windows - I see a big rig trucking parking lot. With 18-wheelers, school buses and school children all using the same street. All we have gotten from you is a great big NO, we will do nothing.
Kroc Center, library, all we heard was no tax dollars; wrong again. Millions of tax dollars were used. So if you are receiving negativity from the same old people, and hearing NO from the same old people over and over again, it's because we can not trust what you tell us, nor do you listen to us. In fact you don't even follow your own Comp. Plan. It's all about who owns the business, land, etc. Not what the people want, need or don't need. It's the Who's Who list.
The way the citizens of Coeur d'Alene have been treated I can't believe this is a surprise to you. Did you really believe you could treat people the way the City Council and mayor have been doing and it would go on forever? When you don't want to deal with something you hide behind your city attorney, who also has the "No" thing down.
KATHY HUNT
Coeur d'Alene