[Vision2020] Buildings old and new + taxes

[Mark Seman]

Debbie,
Thank you for the resource listings.  I'm also encouraged by your outlook.

It's too bad that these "recent trends" have not taken hold in Moscow, Latah
County and the rest of the Palouse.  From what I have observed, the area
economic development groups tend to be of the mindset of mostly wanting to
attract a "big" business in to provide 30-50 "living wage" jobs.  I would
much rather see greater diversification in our economies by the "gardening"
(apparently an economic development term) of local businesses.  I envision a
much greater return to community by helping 15-50 area businesses to grow &
hire 1-2 employees.  Area businesses know the community, want to be here,
have a built-in interest and a host of so many other "advantages" over
bringing in a brand new big one.  In my experience during the five years
since my transition from employee to business owner, I have not seen much
agency effort to promote entrepreneurial development.  Maybe it is up to the
entrepreneur to venture ahead without a support structure, or maybe it is up
to the entrepreneurs to group together and develop their own.  This is a
concept Heather & I have talked about over the years (for home
occupationists, but could be more inclusive); if there are people interested
in developing such a group, please send me email or call.

As a member of the Board of Adjustment, I have attended hearings for home
occupations and I agree with Debbie that current Zoning has the potential to
be detrimental to many positive & low-impact businesses.  I have a difficult
time justifying a "right" decision just to follow the Code, when I
personally believe a specific situation to be entirely justified by common
sense and reason.  I look for answers from a variety of sources, and I have
yet to fully resolve how I can improve this situation while waiting for the
Code to be updated.  I can envision many great community and neighborhood
assets that could be developed within Moscow; much better that the poor
growth patterns brought about by the "single-use" Zoning model.  I would
love to see a more "open" ordinance that allows greater flexibility for
project-specific determinations to be made by the Board.  I would anticipate
this to also encourage citizen involvement - both by increasing the Board
size, as well as increasing hearing attendance.  Imagine a Zoning model that
encourages positive growth, rather than a model that tries to prevent
negative growth.  The processes for positive outcomes from these two
perspectives are vastly different and I think a model that is supportive of
desired efforts is better than a model focused on prevention of the
unwanted.

I thought it was interesting to see an article in the Daily News about
regional lawmakers lamenting the loss of tax revenues in areas surrounded by
large chunks of tax-exempt federal lands.  Butch Otter was quoted," If the
government can't be a good neighbor, it has no business being in the
neighborhood."  This is because of the US Dept. of Interior is not making
required cash payments to compensate local governments to offset losses to
the private property tax base.  Apparently the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes
(PILT) Program has tried to fix the tax-loss problem since 1976.  This
sounds very similar to the situation Moscow has with its tax-exempt
entities, but as yet, we have no PILT program.  This seems like something to
be worked towards.

Mark

Mark Seman, Architect
Heather Seman, Landscape Architect
1404 East 'F' Street  Moscow, Idaho 83843
v 208-883-3276 / f 208-883-0112



-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Debbie Gray
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 11:29 AM
To: Vision 2020
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Buildings old and new


It is becoming increasingly unlikely that rural areas can rely on only
attracting one or two big businesses to support a local economy.  Recent
trends are pointing towards local entrepreneurship, creating clusters of
smaller businesses that revolve around a specific niche (eg recreation or
service or medical), and identifying and supporting local and unique
assets. How does Moscow promote and support small, locally
owned businesses and promote entrepreneurial development? Look at the
limits on in-home businesses in Moscow. Resources available for small
business owners and those who want to start one, etc.

I'd like to recommend a few sites that look at poverty and rural
development, esp in the northwest. Disclaimer, I am partially funded by
the Northwest Area Foundation. However, they have a wealth of resources
and a strong focus on poverty reduction and population decline in the
rural northwest. Also check out the indicators website for demographic
data for the inland northwest (http://www.indicators.nwaf.org/)

Northwest Area Foundation http://www.nwaf.org/default.aspx

Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (Kellogg Foundation)
http://www.ruraleship.org/index_html

USDA Rural Development http://www.ruraleship.org/index_html

Economic Research Service: Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources
and Rural America (USDA) http://www.ers.usda.gov/

This is just a brief sample of resources but I think communities need to
shift their focus from looking for someone to come in and rescue the
economy (eg another Schweitzer Engineering Lab) and instead grow their own
entrepreneurial climate.

Debbie

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  Debbie Gray      dgray at uidaho.edu
  We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
  so as to have the life that is waiting for us." --Joseph Campbell
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