New code attacks property rights
Kootenai County is currently in the process of implementing new zoning codes or laws. It's called Unified Land Use Code. This is being facilitated by an outside "expert" planning company, Kendig Keast Collabrative. We are told by our commissioners that we didn't have the expertise within our own county to be able to do this without their help.
During the first webinar, the facilitator said to put us at ease, "this is nothing like living under a homeowners association; these are not covenants but code." He is right: this will be much worse than living under covenants. A covenant is a contract where all affected parties sign an agreement. You choose to live under covenants on a voluntary basis. New laws that will affect everyone will be decided on and implemented by our three county commissioners and will control all aspects of land use, and unless you get involved, will happen without our consent, input or agreement.
So far there are maybe 60 people following the process. Consensus is how this will be decided. What is a consensus? 31 of the 60 people, or maybe the loudest and most vocal protester, or the one that has the greatest influence on the commissioners? The rules are being rewritten and we all will live under them whether you agree to them or not. This will make Kootenai County one big homeowners association, without the agreed upon contract by all parties.
The primary goal of Kendig Keast Collabrative is to preserve open space. Should it be? Is that the job of government? Cluster development is the goal. That means the percentage of "required" open or undeveloped land depends on where your property is. Up to 90 percent of your land could be locked up or "preserved" if you want to develop it. That means all building will be on a 10 percent block of the land.
We were told that our history of 5 acre lots are unsustainable and damaging to the environment. It creates "urban sprawl," they say. I would consider it the ultimate American Dream. The solution is the "stack and pack them" method. To allow any development, it must be clustered or packed. If you own 20 acres and you would like to build four separate properties, all four will have to be on a 5 acre block to preserve the other 15 for open space.
The term I heard over and over is what will "be allowed." I didn't move to Kootenai County to be told what I will be allowed do with my own property, did you? I moved to Kootenai County because I value FREEDOM and thought that my property rights would be more protected here than in many other places. If we the citizens are not willing to protect and defend our rights they will soon be entirely lost to the "experts" that know what is best for us.
Get involved and get up to speed as to this process by going to www.kccode.com. Google the term Sustainable Development and Smart Code and learn about the FrankenCode that is being implemented all across the nation. I didn't really believe it until I read the comprehensive plan of Great Falls, Mont., where the goal is "Compact Land Use Patterns." Is Great Falls suffering from urban sprawl and running out of land? This is insanity!
Leah Southwell is a Kootenai County resident. You may contact her to learn more of what you can do to protect our property rights. bokwells@earthlink.net