[Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan

Fri Dec 9 05:13:51 PST 2005

No, Ms. Kraut.  There is no new zoning problem.

What Joan is saying is that the city of Moscow should enforce the same
zoning code which was enforced in 2003, the code that forced some Moscow
citizens to relocate.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

*************************************************

"When people sin, everybody has to pay."

- Douglas Wilson of Wilson, Inc. (dba Christ Church) (June 7, 2002)

For more details:  http://www.tomandrodna.com/notonthepalouse

*************************************************

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Pat Kraut
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 9:47 PM
To: vision2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan

Did I miss something? Why are you posting this info about Mack? Is it
another zone problem?

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Joan Opyr <mailto:joanopyr at earthlink.net>  

To: Vision2020 <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>  Moscow 

Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 6:53 PM

Subject: [Vision2020] More on City Councilwoman JoAnn Mack's son, Dan

October 16, 2003
Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Moscow landowner has plans for new trailer park; Evictions will precede
construction.
By Hillary Hamm

Dan Mack doesn’t want to be a “slumlord.” Mack said he bought Renaissance
Park, a 15-space trailer park east of Moscow in 2001 as an investment. He
did not expect to pick up trash and maintain trailers that aren’t his. He
wants to demolish the park and start from scratch. “This park is going to
fall apart,” Mack said. “There’s a year or two years until this thing is
really going to be a problem. Some of these trailers really aren’t worth
anything.”

By next year, Mack said he expects to have 36 new two- and three-bedroom,
single-wide homes in place. In order to begin construction, Mack must first
clear the existing park by evicting all the tenants. “When and if this
development happens, these trailers have to go, whether people are living in
them or not,” he said. “Once we develop it, the lot they’re sitting on is
going to be worth more than it is right now.”

Thirteen of the park’s trailers are owned by independent landlords, while
the remaining two are owned by the people who live in them. As development
furthers, landlords will have 120 days to move their trailers off the
property. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Robin Eckmann said Mack is within
his rights to evict tenants. Mack has to provide tenants with a written
90-day notice that indicates he doesn’t want to renew the lease agreement.
He also doesn’t have to provide a reason for eviction. “I’m not aware of any
law violations based on my knowledge of this,” Eckmann said. “I’m not aware
of any illegal conduct.”

A number of residents of the park recently sent letters to Latah County
commissioners to voice their opposition to the future development. Residents
of the park and owners of trailers declined to comment to the Daily News.
Mack said he purchased the park with the best of intentions: to clean it up
and provide a better living environment for tenants. “It’s an investment
that I want to make. I think there’s a need for more family type housing out
here,” he said. “What I’m trying to do will benefit everyone.”

But Mack said the project has been frustrating because the park is located
in the area of city impact. The 10,818-acre impact area surrounds the city
of Moscow and is designated for future city growth. The city and county have
been in negotiations for the last six months regarding how the area is to be
governed. City codes will be enforced in the area, said Moscow Assistant
City Planner Bill Belknap.

Belknap said Mack went through the city process and his project has been
recommended to the county for approval. The recommendation comes with some
conditions. Mack must widen the internal roads of the park and provide a
stormwater detention pond, Belknap said. “It went fairly well,” Belknap said
of Mack’s discussions with the city. “It’s a pretty long process.”

Mack said he feels he is being given the run-around by the city and county
on what he can and cannot do on his property. “I’m trying to meet two
entities of governing that have two vehicles of governing that don’t mesh,”
Mack said. “I’m caught between two different things right now.”

Mack had his first meeting with the county Tuesday. Commissioners and county
planning and building officials will review Mack’s request. Also on Tuesday,
Mack approached commissioners about leasing a 1-acre parcel of county-owned
land. Mack would like to lease the parcel for $1 to meet city code and to
increase the aesthetics of the park. The parcel is adjacent to the park, on
the corner of Carmichael Road and the Troy Highway. Commissioners have not
made a decision.

The land, Mack said, would meet his requirements for a trailer park
recreation area and provide visitors to the Latah Trail a place to rest.
Mack said he would invest nearly $60,000 into the project for grass, trees
and maintenance of the parcel. “We want this to be a nice park,” he said.
“No matter what happens, if this is developed it would be a benefit to my
tenants.” Mack has begun to build a new pump station and replace water mains
to increase the water potability on the 5-acre park. The project has cost
him more than $20,000.

Mack said he intends to give both the landlords and residents ample warning
to move out, but because of a stop and start work schedule, he can’t give
them much more information. “We don’t have anything to tell them,” he said.
“I would like to tell them (to leave) and get moving on this. They’re going
to have to go sooner or later.”

Clearing the trailer park may not be easy. Under city code, trailers built
before 1976 must meet certain window, wiring and plumbing requirements
before being moved. Mack said many of the trailers in his park are old and
may pose problems. “I really don’t feel it’s my responsibility to take care
of these people after they chose to move there,” he said. “But I’m sure some
of them will figure out that it would be cheaper to leave their trailer. And
at what point do people feel sorry for the landlord who has to move all
their junk?”

Regardless, Mack said he intends to go ahead with the development and finish
the job. “We’re trying to fix these things, but we can’t do it with the
trailers there,” he said. “Something has to be done one way or another, and
I’d just as soon develop it than patch it up as it is. What we have now is a
dilapidated park. I’m getting nickled and dimed out of this.”

  _____  

_____________________________________________________
 List services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20051209/443933d5/attachment.htm