MY TURN: Editorial only covered one side

Sunday’s editorial in the Coeur d'Alene Press is the result of hearing only one side of an argument. Senate Bill 1403, to which the editorial aims misguided commentary, does exactly the opposite of the author’s argument. We too, believe in limited government. This bill actually reduces government oversight and makes housing development cost less, resulting in more affordable housing to the people of Idaho. Simply put, Senate Bill 1403 removes the requirement that a builder or developer come into compliance with two separate municipalities, with sometimes conflicting codes. The only improvement to Senate Bill 1403 would be to eliminate areas of city impact (ACI) altogether. In the absence of such, the legislation is a welcome waiver from current burdens impacting our housing crisis.

The previous problem was that in order to build a housing project in the county, but within one of the city ACIs, you not only had to meet all of the county rules, but also all of the rules of the city. In our case, there were areas of city and county code that were in direct conflict with one another, and without either the city or the county waiving their requirements, there was no way to build the project. It is already incredibly difficult to get a project approved in one municipality, the impact of having to take the same project through two government approvals leaves projects unbuilt.

In another entirely different instance, one city turned down our request to annex property that was contiguous to its border, but then subsequently refused our right to build in the county because we were within their ACI. These decisions both increased housing costs and delayed affordable housing; exactly what the author is wrongfully arguing the legislation does.

In both of these cases, private property rights were infringed upon, and government red tape increased the cost of the houses and the time it took to create needed housing for our community. 

The mystery with how to draw the new map is no different than the old ACI or the future land use maps that the cities currently create. Simply, follow the rules created by the Legislature. Cities should either give up their power over land that is outside their jurisdiction or annex the land into the city to be subjected to their land use rules. Having purview over both directly impacts the availability of affordable, expedient housing.

SB1403 returns logical property rights to the property owner and reduces overlapping government oversight and costly delays that make housing less affordable for all of our residents. This legislation has helped to remove some of the roadblocks to housing availability. If the Legislature chooses to revisit this law, it should be in an effort to release more land from the onerous ACI.

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Scott Krajack is a Coeur d’Alene resident.