Land use changes bad for 4-H, country life

A country home with four acres "for sale" - perfect for horses, beehives, chickens, any animal you may want to raise. Live your dream!! But be aware!

As a new homeowner, has your Realtor told you about the proposed ULUC (Unified Land Use Code) that the planning commission wants to force on us?

In a letter I received from Jai Nelson, Kootenai County commissioner, the following is what I can have with the proposed ULUC. I live in the Wolf Lodge area. Not exactly downtown Coeur d'Alene. We will go from rural to established neighborhood. We are in a flood zone. We have 4.56 acres - the following is what we can have under the proposed ULUC:

"The keeping of horses, cows, llamas, alpacas, swine, goats, sheep, chicken, or bees for noncommercial purposes (e.g., use of eggs or wool by the homeowner, 4-H animals, etc.) at a rate of:

(1) Not more than one horse, cow, llama or alpaca per two acres;

(2) Not more than two pigs, goats, or sheep per acre;

(3) Not more than 10 chickens per household; and

(4) Not more than one bee colony per acre."

As a parent of former 4-H and grandparents of current 4-H children, you have no idea what this would do to our future generations. Talk about keeping kids off the streets. You are doing just the opposite. The majority of 4-H kids raise more than one animal. If there is more than one child in the family who do you tell they can't raise an animal?

Children are more important than your precious pocketbook you want to line with money. "Shame" on all of you. We may not be college educated, but we are not "STUPID."

People want to move to a slower pace of life. But they bring their ways with them, thus creating what they left. STAY where you belong.

So, new and current homebuyers looking for that perfect, quiet, serene place, check with your planning commission, (208) 446-1070 - or better yet, call your county commissioners:

(1) Jai Nelson, (208) 446-1600 or email jnelson@kcgov.us

(2) Daniel Green, (208) 446-1605

(3) Todd Tondee (208) 446-1606

That's what they are paid for, to represent us not fleece us. You may buy the perfect dream house - only to find out you can't have the animals you want.

This is only a sample of what is in the "Unified Land Use Code." Do you want to be told how you can landscape your place? Get off your "duff" and get educated before it's too late.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our forefathers died for this. They wanted us to have a country that was free - not run by a few. Do you want to stand in line for a loaf of bread like some countries? This is where we are being led. A lamb to slaughter.

The people behind this already say we are uneducated, because we don't understand. Turn it around - we are more educated - we want a future without being told by a few that we need a permit to do "this or that."

Gene Webb is a Kootenai County resident