ULUC: Kill it and start over

In recent weeks my wife and I have had to spend over $3,000 on legal and consulting fees to protect our ownership of what is already ours. This is a direct result of the Unified Land Use Code that is being pushed ahead by Commissioners Tondee, Green and Nelson. I have been assured by Commissioner Green that I really have nothing to worry about. But let me ask this of the residents of Kootenai County, both urban and rural: If the industrial zoning classification, which has been in place since 1973, of your manufacturing plant is being replaced with a conditional use permit, or something similar, and your home is going to be classified as a “non-conforming entity” would you be worried? If the government says, “things will be OK,” would you believe it? I think not.

Even though the above situation is our personal problem, this letter is not about us. It is about every property owner in Kootenai County. The ULUC will have a devastating effect on everyone. Already the county has spent $350,000 on a consultant, Kendig-Keast out of Denver of all places, to write this plan and the commissioners continue to employ this group.

Recently, the commissioners said they are going to review the document and make revisions and thus public meetings and comment have been delayed. No amount of revision will make the ULUC palatable. It needs to be scrapped.

Idaho code states that every so often a county’s zoning laws and ordinances need to be reviewed. This does not mean they need to be changed. Let’s cut our losses and start over and this time let’s use people from Kootenai County to make whatever adjustments may need to be made, people who know our land and who understand our way of life.

This is an extremely dire situation and we all need to pay attention. Two of our commissioners, Tondee and Nelson, are up for re-election next year. We ask everyone to please become involved. If the ULUC has not been buried in history’s garbage dump by next year’s campaign season, then we think Tondee and Nelson’s tenure as what is supposed to be the stewards of what is in the best interest of Kootenai County, has to be seriously reviewed.

BRAD and MARY CORKILL

Kootenai County