[Vision2020] Land use

[Art Deco]

All,

Without commenting on the merit of proposed changes to the Latah County Comprehensive Plan of which at present I am ill-informed, let me address one issue.

Various people who style themselves libertarians or freedom fighters often complain about assaults on their (and our) property rights.

Two observations:

1.    When I was the Boundary County Planning and Zoning Coordinator, 8 of the 10 most vocal opponents of P & Z (who called any supporter of such a communist) appeared in my office or telephoned me at home at least once, and in several cases, many times to complain about activities of their neighbors.  Many of these complaints did not even rise to the level of a zoning violation, but none-the-less, these super-patriots angrily insisted that I take some kind of action.

2.    Most importantly, we all have property rights!  The most important of these rights is the right to the peaceable, comfortable, hazard-free enjoyment of our property and homes.  This means the right of freedom from unreasonable, annoying, unhealthy, unsafe adverse impacts caused by inconsiderate, arrogant, ignorant, greedy and/or deliberately annoying neighbors and others.  

In short, we all have property rights; comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances are democratic mechanisms that attempt to balance the property rights, safety, health, and welfare of all.

I do not believe in leaving my safety, health, and welfare to the goodwill of my neighbors and others.  While almost all of my neighbors have been reasonable, considerate people in almost all the many places I have lived, some have not -- thank goodness for the zoning laws that protected my neighbors and myself against these assholes!

The other suggestion that opponents of P & Z often make:  If your neighbor is causing you grief, then sue him.  This is a most dishonest smokescreen:

1.    Without a P & Z ordinance as a statutory basis, most of such lawsuits are not winnable.
2.    The cost of such lawsuits would be prohibitive to most families.  Just ask those whose legitimate requests for county P & Z enforcement have been ignored what the cost of trying to legally solve the issue was and what success they had.

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Dredge" <sdredge at yahoo.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 11:32 AM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Land use


> Nice try, Carl, but you didn't fool me with your
> evasive answer.  Let's try this from the top...
> 
> "Are you now or have you ever been a card-carrying
> member of the Communist Party?"  "Do you know anyone
> who is a card-carrying member of the Communist Party?"
> 
> -Scott
> 
> 
> --- Carl Westberg <carlwestberg846 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hate to disappoint you, Faul, but I've never read
>> any Lenin, although I'm 
>> well versed in the music of John Lennon.  The only
>> Marx I know anything 
>> about is Groucho.  Not to mention Harpo.            
>>                         
>>                                                     
>>                         
>>                                                     
>>                         
>>                                                     
>>                         
>>           Carl Westberg Jr.
>> 
>> >From: "Faul Ottomaticks"
>> <faulottomaticks at hotmail.com>
>> >To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>> >Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Land use
>> >Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 17:42:55 +0100
>> >
>> >>"Idaho is a red state with a pocket of communists
>> in Moscow."  Communists? 
>> >>  Did you say communists?  Goodness gracious.  We
>> can't have this.  Where 
>> >>are they?
>> >
>> >Look in the mirror, comrade. Not too long though,
>> the proletariat views 
>> >vanity as a crime against the state. You must be
>> reeducated. Ooops, too 
>> >late. No malleable brain cells left.
>> >
>> >The Moscow reds attack our churches, undermine our
>> family values, advance 
>> >the collectivist agenda in the schools. Now the
>> land abuse ordinance is the 
>> >next step. I think Hillary needs help. Bill is
>> busy. Trailways goes to NY.
>> >
>> >Proud to call a red when I see one,
>> >
>> >Faul Ottomaticks
>> >
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________
>> >Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger!
>> Download today it's FREE! 
>>
>>http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
>> >
>>
>>_____________________________________________________
>> >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
>>
>>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
>> 
>> 
>>
> _____________________________________________________
>>  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
>>
> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
>> 
> 
> _____________________________________________________
> 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/20050125/d2d022dc/attachment-0001.htm