[Vision2020] Boardinghouse Editorial Missed the Mark

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 18, 2007) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to
Barbara Wells -

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Boardinghouse editorial missed the mark

The most that can be said for the editorial, "Focus on behavior of
residents, not number" (Opinion, Aug. 11-12), is that it's consistent with
the editorial board's practice of expressing uninformed and wrong-headed
opinions on local issues.

As was pointed out at the Aug. 8 public hearing, dealing on a case-by-case
basis with the noise, parking and other problems created by having
single-family homes used illegally as boardinghouses does not solve the
problem. While this year's "party hardy" renters may be brought in line, a
whole new crop will move in next year and start creating the same problems
all over again. Should people really have to live with the phone number for
the Moscow police on their speed dial?

In addition, had any of the editorial board members bothered to attend the
hearing they also would have learned that owners of single-family homes used
as boardinghouses are not paying their fair share of taxes or city
utilities. If our zoning code is not written so that such usage can be
interpreted as illegal, how can the owners be forced to pay taxes and
utilities at the same rate as other legitimately owned and operated rental
properties?

Lastly, the editorial's straw man example of 12 quiet, clean, bicycle-riding
renters is just that, a straw man. Density is density and if someone buys a
home in an area that is zoned low-or moderate-density they should be
entitled to enjoy all the benefits that such zoning implies.

Barbara Wells
Moscow

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)