[Vision2020] Turnabout: Our Interest is Zoning, Not Religious Bias

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (January 30, 2005) Lewiston Morning Tribune's Editorial Section
with a very special "thumbs up" to Mike Curley:

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Turnabout: Our interest is zoning, not religious bias

By Mike Curley

In an editorial Tuesday, Jim Fisher focused his speculation on my clients'
motives for filing a complaint against New Saint Andrews College (NSA) for
violating Moscow's zoning code. He said nothing about the merits of the
request. No one attempted to judge the motives of NSA's agents who bypassed
city code when they occupied the old Verizon building in downtown Moscow,
because while the reason they are violating the ordinance is irrelevant,
that they are indeed violating the ordinance is not. 

Fisher complained that the city "apparently neglected" to include colleges
within the permitted uses downtown. A review of Moscow's comprehensive plan
-- the document upon which all land use in the city is founded -- and the
zoning code itself, reveals the opposite. 

The comprehensive plan says the city's goal for downtown is to maintain an
area that provides a pleasant environment for one of the city's major
shopping areas, provides an opportunity for socializing, and acts as a
"focal point for the community." Downtown is described as a primary zone for
the location of retail, personal service and public gathering places --
restaurants, art galleries, theaters, cafes and night spots. 

Moscow's zoning code defines three types of educational facilities: schools
-- prekindergarten to 12th grade; educational institutions -- colleges and
universities; and commercial schools. In some zones, all three types are
allowed. However, not just downtown but in five other business zones, all
public and private schools from prekindergarten through college are
prohibited. The ordinance wasn't written to target NSA -- or to restrict
expansion by the University of Idaho -- a far larger institution that is
also prohibited from holding classes downtown. 

Perhaps Moscow's city planners understood the dynamics of growth -- that
while colleges may start small they often grow incrementally to encompass
large tracts of land. For example, NSA's student body has consistently
doubled every three to four years in the last decade, and whereas five years
ago they met in the dining room of an instructor's house, they now meet at
the historic Skattaboe Block on Moscow's Friendship Square. 

It makes sense that institutions subject to such growth would be required to
operate somewhere other than the center of Moscow's most restrictive
commercial zone. This isn't a matter of diversity or tolerance. It's simple
economic logic. The more space consumed by higher education, the less
available for retail, personal service, recreation and amusement. 

Fisher observed that some activities currently permitted downtown might also
be incompatible with Moscow's comprehensive plan. We agree. But one
permitted use that might be incompatible with downtown zoning objectives
should not suggest expanding those incompatible uses. Rather, it suggests
the city should consider restricting the expansion of all other potentially
incompatible uses. One could imagine a large trade school locating downtown
as is currently permitted. Perhaps the law should restrict the size of
commercial schools allowed in the area. 

Regardless of other future changes, we are confident that if the city
council wants Moscow's primary pedestrian, open-air mall opened to uses
currently inconsistent with the intended use of the downtown area, such as a
college campus, then they will follow due process by amending the
comprehensive plan and the zoning code, both of which would require
extensive public hearings, impact-analysis reports, traffic analysis --
foot, auto and parking -- and a discussion of the cultural effects on the
community. Nevertheless, until NSA complies with the current zoning
ordinance, the law clearly states that their activities are illegal and must
be discontinued. 

Finally, my clients welcome Fisher's reference to "old-time religion," as
they are not liberal "intoleristas." In fact, they are evangelical
Christians who take seriously the Apostle Peter's words, "Obey every law of
your government" (1 Pet. 2:13). 

And because they hold to the Scriptures, they are surprised by NSA's
apparent unwillingness to voluntarily relocate to one of the many areas in
Moscow where they can operate legally. Quite frankly, if anyone is
"intolerant," it's the folks at NSA. After all, they're intolerant of the
law.