[Vision2020] MCA position on county "big-box store" ordinance

[Bill London]

Dear County Commissioners Kimmell, Nelson and Stroschein:

 

The Moscow Civic Association ("MCA") is in favor of Latah County adopting Moscow's Large Scale Retail Ordinance ("LSRO") for the Area of City Impact.

  

The LSRO was written by a team of community members with the goal of mitigating negative impacts that retail outlets 40,000 square feet or larger ("Big Box Stores") would likely bring to our growing community.  Retail outlets of this size are cropping up all over the country with a variety of consequences involving traffic, noise, storm water, aesthetics, etc.  Communities across the country are recognizing the need to pass ordinances to eliminate or mitigate the adverse impacts of Big Box Stores.  For this reason, the MCA supported the city's efforts to mitigate these problems by adopting the LSRO.  

 

Planning and zoning are reasonable and desirable activities of local governing bodies.  We do not endorse the view that ordinances placing reasonable requirements on businesses represent an assault on the free market or discourage beneficial development.  We believe that the LSRO regulates development wisely, in a community-friendly and beneficial manner that protects the property rights of developers, adjacent landowners and the surrounding community.  We wish to encourage this type of development.

 

We believe it is not only justifiable but necessary in our role as responsible citizens and as community participants placing reasonable requirements on retail establishments larger than 40,000 square feet.  To mitigate the adverse spillover effects that come with great size is an absolutely appropriate protection of the property rights of the surrounding landowners and community.  We believe that the LSRO does that adequately by defining large scale retail outlets as conditional uses in the Motor Business zoning district and by placing specific requirements on such establishments to address the following areas of concern:

 

Site location

Noise

City Services and City infrastructure impacts

Storm water quality

Traffic Impacts

Building abandonment

 

We agree with the requirements provided by the LSRO.

 

As stated in the first five and a half pages of the sixteen page document, there are many reasons to adopt such an ordinance.  We would like to draw your attention to the following paragraph of the ordinance (p. 5), which highlights the beneficial purpose of the LSRO in protecting the property rights of the nearby property owners and the community itself:

 

Whereas, the City is currently without design review regulations or any discretionary

review and public hearing process specific to retail establishments in excess of forty

thousand (40,000) square feet which preserve  and/or enhance the general appearance

of building design and construction; preserve the historical character and significance of

the community; coordinate onsite vehicular and non-vehicular traffic circulation patterns 

within adjacent transportation systems; minimize visual impact; provide for and protect

existing light, air, solar access, and orientation, privacy, views, and vistas by the proper

and efficient location of building sites and design layout; provide adequate usable open

space in a manner appropriate to the development and uses of lands, and protect and

preserve wildlife, stream, natural topography and other desirable natural features and

qualities such as skyline, ridge tops, knoll ridges, established trees and shrub masses,

topsoil, streambeds and banks, drainage swales; promote aesthetic harmonizing with

the environment adjacent to development; enable requirements for traffic studies,

market studies, and impact studies; and enable imposition of mitigation measures;

 

Without the LSRO in place, the citizens of our community have no protection from the adverse spillover effects that unregulated large retail establishments will bring to nearby neighborhoods, to the detriment of residents' property values and quality of life.  This threat is something we can mitigate through the LSRO while preserving economic opportunity, enhancing property values and quality of life, and protecting and balancing developer's property rights with those of the impacted neighbors and community.  

 

We hope you will take these comments to heart and pass the LSRO for the Area of City Impact.  Please protect and preserve the quality of life for Latah County.

 

Sincerely, 

 

Bruce Livingston

President, Moscow Civic Association 

On Behalf of the Moscow Civic Association Board of Directors
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