PROJECT: Praise for the developer

I sat through 3 1/2 hours of a 5 1/2-hour meeting recently. This was for a new 82-lot subdivision that wants to go out by Silverwood. In this meeting several people got up and bad mouthed the developer and the builder then threatened the commissioners if they didn’t vote their way. They claim this developer would be putting 1,000 low income homes out there very soon if they didn’t stop this and many other things that they did not have the facts of. My guess is that there probably will be 1,000 more homes out there sometime in the next 20 or 30 years, but they would not all be by this developer. This is called progress. It’s just wrong to think we can stop it.

Fact: This is a forward thinking developer. He has done two developments in Kootenai County in the last 35 years. Property he and his father bought in the ‘60s was developed into one of the nicest developments in Coeur d’Alene in the ‘70s. This is Fairway Forest. Another property they bought in the ‘70s then finally developed in the ‘90s is Riverside Harbor, one of the nicest developments in Post Falls. Personally if there had to be a subdivision going on out there I would want it to be by this developer. He doesn’t seem like the bad guy these people have made him out to be.

Fact: The builder has built quality homes in the area for more than 30 years. Evident by the homes and neighborhoods he has been involved with. Neither one of these men has ever been involved with a neighborhood of homes that most of us would not want to live in.

Fact: The commissioners have the rules in front of them. They know we put our trust in them to do the right thing for the county. They are no more biased to one person than they would be to the thousands of others. They are just doing their job. If they vote for it, it’s because they think it is the right thing to do. If they vote against it, again it would be because they think it is the right thing. The thought that they were threatened by people who don’t even know the facts seemed very wrong to me. But really these people just don’t know the real facts.

Fact: What they know is the gossip from at least one person going door to door before the meeting and spouting falsehoods and lies to their neighbors. Wanting them to sign a paper against this development. If they didn’t sign right away they were intimidated by this person until they did. They were told every bad thing that could happen. Mostly untrue. They were told their property would be turned into a subdivision. Property they themselves own. Now really. Some people did refuse and they are afraid of retaliation of some sort from this gossiping troublemaker they have to live next door to.

I left the meeting early because I couldn’t listen to the people anymore. People that are unaware of the facts and were manipulated and intimidated by at least one individual with falsehoods and lies. This was a sad meeting.

RONNIE WARMINGTON

Rathdrum