[Vision2020] Daily News: Petition refused by Council

[Michael Curley]

Dan:
I agree--the rules should be applied equally to everyone.  In this
case the city attorney advised the mayor of his opinion of the rules. 

 He was wrong in my opinion, but there was no discussion of his 
opinion--which by the way, had no case law supporting it, nor any
particularly good reasoning from a factual standpoint.  

A person who applies for a building permit has a right to the zoning
status at the time s/he files.  The city attorney reasoned that an
applicant is also entitled to the comp plan status at the time s/he
files, but then somehow jumped to the conclusion that no discussion 
of the comp plan (for the subject area) could be held by the city.  
That patently doesn't make any sense and, as I said before, there is 
no legal support for that position.  If, as the city attorney said, 
the applicant's comp plan rights are frozen as of the time s/he 
files, then any changes council might make to the comp plan simply do 
not apply to the applicant. If the rights aren't frozen, then changes 
might apply to the applicant.  Either way, there is no question that 
council could at least discuss the issue.

Additiionally, no application has been finalized, and the application 
that is in the process of being completed requests a rezone of a 
specific parcel of land.  The petition has nothing to do with zoning 
or the specific parcel and does not in any way mention or refer to 
any person or entity--it is a simple request to consider the 
comprehensive plan designation of a much larger parcel (that does 
include the specific parcel). The proposed consideration of the comp 
plan would not prejudice or be "ex parte" to any current or future 
applicant for a rezone under the current comp plan.

Yes, the rules should apply to everyone.  There should just be a
better process for determining what the rules are and how they apply
in a particular case.  

Mike Curley



From:           	"Area Man \(Dan C\)" <areaman at moscow.com>
To:             	<vision2020 at moscow.com>
Date sent:      	Thu, 19 Jan 2006 07:16:09 -0800
Subject:        	[Vision2020] Daily News: Big-box petition refused by
council

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Gotta follow the rules:  No ex-parte communications:
_____________________________________________

Big-box petition refused by council; Attorney for Moscow says the
561-signature document must wait for proper procedure

By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer

Mark Solomon just wants the City Council to hear his voice - along
with those of 560 other Moscow residents. 

His efforts hit a brick wall at Tuesday night's City Council meeting
after Randy Fife, city attorney, advised Mayor Nancy Chaney that the
council couldn't look at the petition. Fife said the issue is a
quasi-judicial matter, plus the council cannot hear testimony for
items pending before the city.

The previous City Council amended the city's comprehensive plan last
summer to allow big-box retail on the east end of town. Solomon is
circulating a petition around town contending that the changes made 
to
the comprehensive plan contradict the stated goals of the plan. 

The petition states the revised plan interferes with the objective to
maintain the downtown as the central business district, promotes 
urban
sprawl and the needless destruction of agricultural lands. It also
contends the changes will have general negative effects on the city
and create traffic problems. The petition also says the comprehensive
plan allows for amendments to be made as per public request. 

"We respectfully request the new council open this issue to a full
community discussion by accepting our petition and holding full 
public
hearings on this matter," the petition states. "Additionally, we
request that any proceedings for rezoning this property be stayed
until this underlying question is resolved." 

But Fife maintained the petition could not be presented in front of
the council. 

"There are rules that regulate information that comes in," he said.
"In my opinion, when an applicant files an application with the city,
after they pay the fee and the application is substantially complete,
the law on the date the application is filed is what applies to 
(their
application)," Fife said. 

He said Wal-Mart has submitted three different applications for zone
changing, preliminary plat and conditional-use permits under the
amended comprehensive plan. 

Those signing the petition say they want to change the existing
land-use designation from extensive commercial to low-density
residential for the eastern two-thirds of the property and to light
industrial for the western third adjacent to the Alturas Technology
Park. 

Fife said each of the applications will bring a public hearing, and
the city will hear testimony then. 

Solomon could present his petition during that time, he added. 

"It's inappropriate for a group to get information outside the 
hearing
process," Fife said. 

Solomon argued that the Wal-Mart issue is not considered pending 
until
a public hearing has been scheduled, and at this point a public
hearing is only anticipated. 

Chaney agreed with Fife. 

"It's inappropriate to discuss it," she said. 

Councilman Aaron Ament disagreed. 

"If 800 citizens could cause us to have a special election, 560
citizens have a right to be heard," he said. 

Chaney said that in order to maintain fairness and order, the council
couldn't look at the petition. 

"When the council receives an application, when does it receive
consideration?" Solomon asked. "When is it appropriate to hear
petitions from the city and when is it not?" he said. "It's just
flat-out wrong to adhere to the requirements and ignore the issues." 

Fife said Solomon has two options. 

"He could file an application with the city to change the
comprehensive plan or he could file a petition as an application and
it would be considered," he said. 

Solomon said he plans to discuss the matter further on Jan. 26 at 7
p.m. at the 1912 Center, Third St. in Moscow following a movie about
Wal-Mart and discussion of strategies to keep a super center out of
town. ______________________________________________

Even if it's Wal-Mart, we gotta be fair or we'll be paying big dinero
for legal fees.  And they can afford more lawyers than the City of
Moscow.

DC

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