[Vision2020] NSA/Verizon/Zoning Trouble Timeline (was: Who startedit? Who cares?)

Sat Dec 17 11:19:41 PST 2005

I think that a subsequent post from Rose Huskey corrects, though not explicitly, the mistake in paragraph 3 below of Joan's recitation.  I believe that the City did give NSA an occupancy permit for the Skattaboe bldg.  What NSA failed to obtain was a "zoning certificate," which is also required.  That certificate has still never been issued (and can't be, unless the zoning code is changed, because NSA has been found to be an illegal use under current code).

The files available for review in City Hall plainly show that when NSA was being told about its various zoning violations in Fort Russell and that they had to leave Fort Russell (where they were operating illegally), that the City explained the requirement of the Zoning Certificate.  Nevertheless, NSA did not apply for a zoning certificate when it moved downtown.

Bruce Livingston
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joan Opyr 
  To: bill bonte 
  Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 6:33 PM
  Subject: [Vision2020] NSA/Verizon/Zoning Trouble Timeline (was: Who startedit? Who cares?)

  On 16 Dec 2005, at 16:31, bill bonte wrote:

    Speaking of who started it, what was the origin of the NSA zoning mess.  I have read vision2020 and the daily news for the past 2 years and I still am not clear on two points.

    1. Didn't the realtor who sold the building to NSA know that the planned use was a violation of the zoning ordinance?  Shouldn't she bear some (financial) responsibility for this mess?

    2. Why didn't the city intervene and forbid the use of the property as a college.  Did they know what was to be done with the property or was NSA's opening a surprise?   If I open a small grocery store in my garage, zoned R-2,   I'm sure I'd be issued a zoning violation citation and forced to close.

    I seems so simple to me:  the CBD is not zoned for a college, close them down!

    Bill Bonte

  Hi Bill,

  This is the timeline of events, as best I recall:

  1. The Verizon Building was sold by Bennett Realty, specifically by Shelly Bennett. (I may be spelling her first name wrong. Perhaps it's Shelley?) There was more than one bid for the building, and Doug Wilson's was the lowest, not the highest. Why NSA won is anyone's guess. A tax write-off for Verizon because they sold to a non-profit. (Yes, I know; that opens up another can of worms.)

  2. At the time of the Verizon sale, New St. Andrews was located -- illegally -- in the home of Chris Schlect on Polk Street. The City told Schlect and company that they could not operate a college in this residential zone. The college continued to operate in that location until the Verizon/Skattaboe Building was renovated and ready to be occupied.

  3. NSA moved into the Verizon/Skattaboe Building. They did not get and do not now have an occupancy permit.

  4. Three evangelical Christians -- two former NSA students and one ex-member of Christ Church -- filed a zoning complaint against NSA on the grounds that educational institutions are prohibited in the Central Business District. Why? Because the CBD was created to prevent the encroachment of the U of I on downtown retail space. This happened in the wake of the U of I's purchase of the old Murdock's Tavern and Cavenaugh's Hotel.

  5. Joel Plaskon ruled on behalf of the City that the complaint filed against NSA was without merit or some such. (Mike Curley, the attorney for the three plaintiffs, will perhaps supply the correct terminology.) 

  6. Plaskon's ruling was appealed. The City Council then voted 4 to 2 that NSA could not, in fact, be located in the Central Business District under current zoning code. 

  7. Someone or ones set in motion the current attempt to amend the city zoning code so that NSA could remain downtown. I attended several city planning and zoning meetings, ably chaired by Jerry Schutz, who earned my eternal respect for his exemplary conduct of those hearings, during which everyone was hot under the collar and pretty damned feisty. He never lost his cool or, more importantly, his sense of humor and proportion. (I think Jerry is a Republican, so coming from this Democrat, this praise is high praise indeed.)

  8. Planning and Zoning made a host of recommendations re: amending city code to allow NSA downtown. The City Council rejected those and bounced the whole thing back to P & Z, which worked again on this thankless task. The fight now seems to be about parking rather than a straight up-or-down should colleges be allowed in the Central Business District. 

  I say no; some say yes; others don't seem to give a tinker's damn. I envy the latter group because they're not tempted to kick one another's teeth down one another's throat over this issue. I'm sure they fight about other things -- whether or not Moscow needs a ring road; water mining; the proposed ball fields. Who knows? We're all different, and different things push our buttons. 

  (Mine are pushed by people who call my friends "simpering douche bags." I'm funny that way. I also don't much care for hectoring lurkers who get hold of the wrong end of the stick and then proceed to lecture me on bullying. I'm glad I don't have Kathy Sprague's nerve in my tooth.) 

  Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
  www.joanopyr.com

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