LAND USE: Issue important to all

As one of the nearly 300 people who attended the Unified Land Use Code (ULUC) Public Workshop at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, I read with interest and want to add to Brent Regan’s letter about the ULUC to the Editor in the Sunday, July 1, issue of The Press.

With 40 years of law enforcement experience and leadership at all levels of government, I can attest to the fact that the best way to keep big government from “doing for local government what it can do for itself” is to insure that local government has strong competent leadership who manage their resources well and carefully research all issues affecting their area.

As one who has been influenced by four generations of Idahoans I know that we are independent thinkers who speak our mind as evidenced at this meeting. Our rights to use our land is an issue we cannot rely only on our government leaders to “solve” for us. It may be that the “problem we’re trying to solve doesn’t exist.” Land use is an important matter that impacts our individual rights in many ways.

We must research any proposed legal and binding rule or law that encroaches upon our basic individual rights or seeks to usurp our local or state authority — property rights and use are paramount in this regard and should be decided upon by those of us who are the primary stakeholders in our land. I believe that Idahoans are capable and most qualified to decide this and many other “rights” issues.

Local citizens should elect those leaders who are trained and levelheaded to keep local government strong and to aid them in their quest to provide for the common good; leaders who are accountable to their constituents and have Idaho’s autonomy and authority primary in their agenda.

Land use is a foundational concern of law enforcement: from enacting nuisance laws to policing overcrowded areas that promote increased crime. Land use can have a significant impact on the types and frequency of crime.

Well thought out uses of our land actively decided by the local population and their elected officials will have a positive effect on all involved — but we have to participate in the process.

BOB FOSTER

Coeur d’Alene