CODE: Why the people fear it

I believe everyone who attended the prematurely adjourned ULUC hearing Monday, June 17 probably walked away with a somewhat sour taste in their mouths. What I witnessed as a rural property owner and current non-participant in the county political system was a strong desire of other rural property owners to express themselves at a “functional meeting” which wasn’t designed for that purpose.

Of the opinions that managed to get expressed, the content was varied, but I believe the theme behind each message was common. We, Kootenai County residents, are scared. We fear the imposed regulation of a document that we can’t understand. I’m sure the authors of this code, and perhaps the planning commission, can understand the structure and verbiage just fine, and their intentions are honorable. However, we, the common folk, can’t grasp the content. I personally have tried and failed. The language of the code references and cross-references and sends you back and forth from one section to the next until eventually you forget the original question that began your search for knowledge.

Mr. Kezziah, one of the authors, suggested that the code allowed for a wide range of land uses, without punishing all involved with the usual permissive steps which often bog down the process of land development, and he could very well be right. However, we, the citizens, can’t see it in the code and that’s what we fear. The Unknown.

JOHN BOOTHE

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