CODE: Simple can be better

Not so long ago, conservationists were screaming that the nation’s forests were being destroyed by the massive amount of computer-generated paper being spewed out by high-speed printers. They could have saved their breath. Electronic storage technology was advancing exponentially. Almost before the Sierra Club could file its next lawsuit, paper was joining cave walls as a recording medium. So rapidly has storage technology advanced that the National Security Agency (NSA) is currently building a massive data center in the Utah desert with the purported but secret goal of storing all foreign and domestic electronic data transmitted within the United States. Perhaps Big Brother has arrived.

Be that as it may, it seems that this new technology has unleashed an unexpected consequence. Now writers of laws and codes can fill volumes with no fear of forest degeneration. The Affordable Healthcare Act (Obama Care) at 1,990 pages probably set an all-time record. The House Speaker’s comment: “But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it” set its own record for political debate blunders. The Immigration Reform Bill just passed by the Senate boasts 1,200 pages. Now the House of Representatives will either pass it so you can find out what’s in it or table it and start over with their own epic length bill to confuse you.

Saturday’s Press led with “Land use code yellow — County commissioners hit ‘pause’ on ULUC.” Apparently the little stir up at the public hearing for the Kootenai County Unified Land Use Code (ULUC) got the County Commissioners’ attention. It seems that the ULUC could use “some organizational and structural revisions” before public hearings resume. The draft of the ULUC now stands at 454 pages. One can only wonder how much it will grow once Kendig Keast Collaborative with offices in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Colorado get through revising it. Round two awaits us.

Four hundred fifty four pages seems pretty small potatoes when compared to the bills coming out of Washington, D.C., these days. However, it should be remembered that Kootenai County serves 141,000 souls on 1,245 square miles of land, not 300 million people on half a continent. Why in the heck do we need 454 pages of out of state land use consultant argot telling us what we can or cannot do with our 1,245 square miles? Perhaps that is the question the County Commissioners should be answering before they invest more of our money in “organizational and structural revision” consulting fees.

Folks, if you print out the United States Constitution in PDF format, you will find that with its 27 amendments and signature page, it fills 21 pages. That 21-page document has occupied scholars and lawmakers for two and a quarter centuries just trying to interpret it and apply it. Furthermore, perhaps because of its simplicity, it has served us very well. Do you suppose that the old adage “simple is better” may apply here?

BOB LaRUE

Hauser