[Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow

[Craine Kit]

I agree with Aaron Ament. The City Council is conducting the people's  
business: making contracts, passing laws, and--most importantly-- 
spending our money. Just as a smart person takes time to read and  
understand the fine print in a contract before signing it, I expect  
our representatives to do no less when committing our community and  
our dollars to something.

Furthermore, we--the people--have a right to participate in our  
government. We should be able to review the same information the  
Council will see so we can make informed comments.

Neither the Council nor the people can do their jobs well when  
pertinent information is not available until just before a decision  
is made. That has nothing to do with the competence of the staff and  
everything to do with timing. When important information arrives too  
late to fit into the packet, perhaps the matter should be tabled  
until the next meeting.

Kit Craine


On Jun 5, 2007, at 4:12 PM, Saundra Lund wrote:

> Visionaires:
>
> No matter how you feel about the issue that was under discussion, I am
> absolutely appalled at John Weber's behavior during last night's City
> Council meeting  :-(  For him to publicly tell another Council  
> member with
> whom he disagrees to "shut up" is simply beyond the pale.  Stupid  
> mistakes
> like that do far more to harm our community than do honest  
> disagreements.
>
> What happened to your manners, Mr. Weber?  Did you not stop to  
> ***think***
> about your behavior being televised into homes in our community?!?   
> Even my
> 17-year-old knows it's incredibly rude and disrespectful to tell  
> another to
> "shut up."   She, BTW, was gleefully (I'm sorry to say) horrified  
> reading
> about your spectacle last night.  I had to explain to her I was  
> sure your
> mother *had* raised you better, but people sometimes make mistakes  
> in the
> heat of the moment or not, as she well knows, and that when you make a
> mistake, you apologize, learn from the mistake, and carry on.   
> "Where's his
> apology?" was her question.  It's mine, too.
>
> We're waiting for an apology, Mr. Weber -- one is certainly due  
> from you to
> all who witnessed or read about your rude and disrespectful  
> behavior last
> night.
>
>
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people  
> to do
> nothing.
> - Edmund Burke
>
> Moscow-Pullman Daily News
>
> Big-box changes nixed
> By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer
>
> Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM
>
> Tempers flared at Monday night's Moscow City Council meeting,  
> during which
> the council rejected any amendments to the large retail establishment
> ordinance.
>
> "We already have a dark-store ordinance in there that is stronger  
> than what
> planning and zoning brought us," Councilman Aaron Ament said. "I  
> want to see
> a cap. A cap would serve this community well. We have a big-box  
> shopping
> culture that's just about run its course in this country; we're  
> making sure
> they mitigate for problems they cause the community. Moscow would  
> be crazy
> to drop all the rest and just let them come into the city on their own
> terms."
>
> Ament went on to say he was frustrated that Moscow city staff  
> members hand
> him important documents just minutes before the start of a meeting.
>
> "I'm so tired of coming to sit down and have people flip papers for  
> me to
> read," he said. "I seriously read everything put in the packet, and  
> I find
> it insulting for them to expect me to read it in a couple of minutes."
>
> At that point, Councilman John Weber interrupted Ament.
>
> "We have pretty qualified people over here who do a very good job;  
> I don't
> need you running off on them," he said. "Why don't you just shut up?"
>
> Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney said Weber interrupted Ament at "the  
> appropriate
> time."
>
> "I hope we can retrieve a little civility on all sides,"  
> Councilwoman Linda
> Pall said.
>
> The amendments recommended by the planning and zoning commission  
> included:
>
> A large retail establishment would have to expand by at least 30  
> percent
> before it would be required to apply for a conditional use permit;
>
> Big-box stores between 40,000 and 65,000 square feet would be  
> subject to the
> design manual - which includes standards for the exterior and  
> interior of
> buildings - at the discretion of the board of adjustment;
>
> Any business requiring 140 or fewer parking spaces would not be  
> subject to
> the parking requirements of the design manual;
>
> Size be based on gross floor space as opposed to projected roof area,
> thereby eliminating outdoor storage areas from the calculated square
> footage.
>
> The planning and zoning commission also recommended a guideline for  
> stores
> that go dark in Moscow to follow.
>
> The large retail establishment ordinance, passed in February 2006,  
> requires
> retail stores with more than 40,000 square feet of gross floor area  
> to apply
> for a conditional use permit.
>
> The council heard public testimony on the proposed amendments May 7.
>
> Councilman Bill Lambert said the conditional use permit process  
> already
> gives the city enough control on which businesses are allowed to  
> locate
> within the city.
>
> "The big-box ordinance as it stands now is a tough enough ordinance  
> we're
> not going to need (amendments) like this to prevail," he said. "The
> dark-store issue can be dealt with at the time the conditional use  
> permit is
> requested."
>
> Weber agreed.
>
> "With the dark store ordinance, what we have done here is put in some
> verbiage that would make it almost impossible for anybody from the  
> city to
> enforce or get a handle on," he said. "We've choked it off to the  
> point that
> nobody really wants to come here anyway."
>
> In other business, the council reversed a board of adjustment  
> decision that
> granted a conditional use permit for a proposed a Dutch Bros.  
> coffee outlet
> with a drive-through window at 525 S. Jackson St.
>
> QUICKREAD
>
> WHAT HAPPENED: The Moscow City Council rejected amendments to the  
> large
> retail establishment ordinance recommended by the planning and zoning
> commission.
>
> WHAT IT MEANS: The large retail establishment ordinance will not  
> include a
> size cap. The original dark-store provision remains the same.
>
> WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The ordinance will remain as originally written.
>
> WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The ordinance affects businesses greater than  
> 40,000
> square feet that want to move into Moscow.
>
> Omie Drawhorn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e- 
> mail at
> odrawhorn at dnews.com.
>
>
>
>
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