[Vision2020] Strategy of Misinformation: NSA at It Again

[Saundra Lund]

Visionaries:

I was interested to see in yesterday's Daily News that Roy Atwood, President
of New Saint Andrews College (NSA), was given space to continue the strategy
of misinformation regarding NSA's zoning difficulty.  For those who don't
know, I have no horse in that race other than being a community member and a
taxpayer.  Oh, and I *am* interested in truth and accuracy.  In fact, those
are values I hold quite dear, and I'm sorry to say Atwood's Op-Ed piece
illustrates those aren't values he apparently shares.

In specific, I was dismayed to see that Atwood wrote the following:
"But zoning was never the issue. That's why London's position is so
destructive. If zoning were the issue, he'd be equally concerned about the
presence of the Food Co-op downtown. After all, grocery stores are not
included among the permitted or conditional uses allowed in the central
business or the general business districts."

Oh, for Pete's sake!  Atwood seems to be too clever by about half, and I'm
quite disappointed that the Daily News allowed space to such factually
incorrect information.  I would encourage folks to look at Moscow's Zoning
Code *themselves* and then ask why Atwood thinks it's OK to mislead our
community.  It's not rocket science, and IMHO, Atwood's -- and NSA's --
credibility is irreparably harmed by such tactics.

For those willing to take the time to look at the Zoning Code to get
*accurate* information (which should be all of us), please see:
http://www.zonemoscow.com/downloads/MCC_Title4.pdf
OR
http://tinyurl.com/6253v
Sec. 3.5, which pertains to the Central Business Zoning District, starts on
page 7 and lists "retail sales enterprises" specifically as permitted
principal uses.

While I'm at it, I'd also encourage folks interested in learning more about
NSA and its zoning problems with the City of Moscow to visit and explore:
http://www.zonemoscow.com/
Mike Curly, representative for the three individuals who filed the recent
zoning compliant, shared this site on V2020 awhile back.  Unfortunately, I
didn't have time to visit the site promptly, thus my comment wouldn't have
been timely.

I was, however, surprised to learn that NSA has run afoul of zoning
restrictions previously, which shot my whole theory out of the water that
perhaps they were just ignorant of zoning requirements.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke