ZONING: Definitions of a nightmare

COEUR D’ALENE PAVING: A company wanting yet another asphalt plant in a neighborhood.

HEARING EXAMINER and KC COMMISSIONERS (Lisa Key, Todd Tondee, Dan Green, Jai Nelson): Leaders (?) of Kootenai County doing all they can to accommodate Coeur d’Alene Paving: i.e., re-writing the zoning development agreement so they could pass it.

KC RESIDENTS: Some 500-plus living within a mile of the proposed site, many opposing it, and being ignored and dismissed by the Leaders. Also told by Todd Kaufman, co-owner of Coeur d’Alene Paving, if they didn’t like him putting an operation nearby, to move to a more residential area.

IDAHO CODES, KC ORDINANCES, COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Documents used as guidelines when Leaders make changes to zoning and approve developments. Not always used. Reference Ordinance 401, Chapter 21, which states that the applicant for a zone change (Coeur d’Alene Paving) “must show facts to justify the change on the basis of advancing the public health, safety and general welfare” and “the effect it will have on the value and character of adjacent property.” Also reference Article I, Section 1 of the Idaho Constitution, which “guarantees inalienable rights, including possessing and protecting property,” and “The purpose for zoning regulations in Kootenai County is three-fold: (1) to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the County…”

Residents of the Stateline area and Woodbridge, if you want to protect YOUR health, welfare and property rights, you need to SHOW UP and SPEAK UP at the next hearing on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m.

JOYCE FLANIGAN

Newman Lake, Wash.