We don't want this stigma zone

I want to address the request by Mort Construction, Inc. for a conditional use permit (CUP14-0005) to allow establishment of a Public Utility Complex Facility, i.e., a wastewater/sewage treatment plant on approximately 515 acres to be located approximately 1.5 miles south of Brunner Road between Diagonal Road and Old U.S. Highway 95.

The definition of a public utility is a business or businesses that provide the public with necessities, such as water, electricity, natural gas, telephone, or in this case wastewater/sewage treatment. A public utility is a business that furnishes an everyday necessity to the public at large. Utilities may be publicly or privately owned, but most are operated as private businesses.

Typically a public utility has a monopoly on the service it provides. It is more economically efficient to have only one business provide the service because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain. A consequence of this monopoly is that federal, state, and local governments regulate public utilities to ensure that they provide a reasonable level of service at a fair price.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Public+Utilities

Given the definition of a public utility, one would assume that there was an expressed need in the surrounding community for such a service. There is none. No government agency requested this facility.

The management of this proposed facility, once built, would be turned over to North Kootenai County Water & Sewer District, a privately held for-profit company. This begs several questions:

1. Why would a private contractor go to the expense of building such a facility just to turn it over to a public utility? Altruism? Not likely.

2. Where is their revenue stream coming from? Most of the surrounding rural residents are on their own functional private water and septic systems.

3. Which governmental agency is going to ensure that this public utility provides a reasonable level of service at a fair price?

4. Which governmental agency is going to ensure that this public utility is operated and maintained to the highest standards possible since not doing so could result in contamination of the aquifer.

5. What are the changed conditions in this rural area of Kootenai County which warrant this proposed sewage treatment plant?

6. What facts are there to justify the change on the basis of advancing the public health, safety, and general welfare?

7. What is the effect on the property owner or owners if the request is NOT granted?

8. What effect will this change of use have on the value and character of adjacent properties?

Let me explore this last question further.

The term "undesirable land use" comes to my mind when considering this conditional use request. It is a term coined by Professor Stephen Thode, director of Lehigh's Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies. He defines undesirable land use as any land use that creates a stigma for at least some nearby properties which in turn exacts a penalty on the marketability of the property and hence its value. He goes on to say that "Stigma" is defined as an undesirable land use that tends to affect at least one of the three human senses - sight, hearing, and smell. Further, an undesirable land use may negatively affect ability of nearby residents to continue to use and enjoy their homes in the same manner in which they are accustomed. The presence of this land use creates an adverse public perception, which in turn reduces the marketability (and, therefore, the value) of properties located within the stigma zone.

Please note this; it is public perception that defines the parameters of the stigma zone, not some real estate appraisal.

For example: If I were to ask you, would you buy the property that you currently own if it were next to or in proximity to a sewage treatment plant, most of you would probably say NO. If I were to ask you if you would buy the property you currently own next to, or in the proximity of a quarter mile, half mile, or even 1 mile of a sewage treatment plant, my guess is that you would say NO.

Here is the real reason Mort Construction is applying for a conditional use permit to build the regional wastewater/sewage treatment facility. Mort is acting as a proxy for Dennis Swartout, an out-of-state land developer who owns Silver Hill Land & Cattle Company. Swartout owns the former 1,060-acre Rickel Ranch just south and east of Silverwood. He wants to turn it into a "mixed use, full service urban community." This has been his desire since 2005 when his first attempt failed to get the zoning changed on that piece of land from Rural to Urban Residential.

This past year he took a different tack when he bought, then tried to get a zone change from rural to restricted residential, on 34 acres so that he could build 86 high-density residences. That attempt also failed, twice. Now he wants to get this regional wastewater/sewage treatment facility built so that he can say, hey look, all the infrastructure is in place now for MY "mixed use, full service urban community."

Once again we need to come together en masse to defend the scenic rural nature of northern Kootenai County from those who would destroy it for profit. Mort and Swartout are counting on us to tire of this battle. LET US DISAPPOINT THEM ONCE AGAIN.

The public hearing on this conditional use permit will be held once again at the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall on the North Idaho College campus at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24.

If few show up in that large auditorium it will signal the county commissioners that we really have little interest in their decision. Your attendance at the hearing on the 24th to voice your opposition to this latest request by Swartout, seeking to forever alter the character and beauty of our rural environment for personal gain, is needed.

Help us continue to send the message to our county commissioners that haphazard urban sprawl into Kootenai County's rural areas is not in the best interest of its citizens.

Lee Zimmer is a resident of rural northern Kootenai County.