PLANNING: Rural has no voice

Last Thursday, the County Planning Commission held its monthly workshop. The new draft for the Land Use Plan (zoning) was discussed together with a proposed new comprehensive plan. The public’s lingering distrust was immediately apparent. Three of the commissioners seemed to be offended by a comment from a member of the audience that all seven commissioners reside in a small area around Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, with no commissioners from any of the outlying rural areas. More on that later. Responses from these three commissioners were not just defensive, they were arrogant, rude and condescending. A series of rapid-fire questions from one commissioner to the Director of Planning on what the Planning Commission is not was the low point of the evening. Then two commissioners took the opportunity to lecture the audience on their failures in voting or not voting at the last election. Another commissioner held one citizen at the podium after his presentation to publicly admonish him for something he said or may have said at a different time and a different place.

Luckily for all, the four other commissioners seemed to bite their tongues and remain mostly silent. But the overall impression left with those in attendance was that of a dysfunctional commission, not capable of handling the tasks they have been assigned.

Now back to the issue of commissioner residency. An astute citizen, Deann Turcott, picked up on the fact that all seven commissioners reside in the small area south of the Spokane River between Cougar Bay and the State Line. The commissioners responded by telling the audience that they all represent the entire county and it is OK if they all live in one suburban area. Well, it is not OK with Deann, me or any of the many others contacted. To elaborate a little, each commissioner resides within one to three miles of Post Falls or Coeur d’Alene and within one to three miles of another commissioner in a land area that is only four percent of the county and is mostly suburban in nature.

Rural viewpoints need to come from rural people; they often are the ones most affected by planning and zoning. For the commission to regain credibility with the public, it will need members from the rural areas throughout the county. They will need to be familiar with the countryside out there around distant places like Athol, Spirit Lake, Bayview, Worley, Harrison, Medimont, Rose Lake and Cataldo. And they should want to listen to the public rather than lecture the public. Without that credibility, all of the Planning Commission work outlined for the next year or two will be wasted, again.

JOHN McFADDIN

Medimont