[Vision2020] BOA meeting tonight

Tue Apr 25 12:36:52 PDT 2017

Once again the New Saint Andrews scheme machine is churning out the same
tired old ideas to recreate Oxford on the cheap (minus the authenticity and
breadth of knowledge in the celebrated British original) on Main St. in
Moscow.  I sent the following note to the BOA - which I would like to share
with V2020.  If you are planning to attend the hearing go early as you can
bet the entire student body of NSA will be there (probably not wearing the
silly Harry Potter gowns however.)  For those not able to join in the packed
room fun apparently the hearing is being streamed at:
https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/Pages/tvchannel.aspx

Integrity Matters

The commercial business district was never intended to be a venue for a
privately owned religious school to enjoy a seven hundred seat auditorium,
school offices, music practice rooms and a racket ball cum exercise area.  

Past behavior is often predictive of future actions. The NSA conditional use
permit expansion request comes with a history that should be considered when
assessing how New Saint Andrews administrators, leadership, and members of
the affiliated church have responded to previous Conditional Use Permit
requirements. 

The New Saint Andrews Admissions web page, under the subheading "Housing"
http://www.nsa.edu/admissions/housing/  includes, in part, the following
statement:  "Most students' board with Christian families."  Average costs
for boarding are described as at least $400.00 a month, which are presented
as less expensive than apartment living.  Twelve years ago eighty plus
students boarded with Christ Church families.  I have attached that 2005
list with addresses of boarding houses at that time.  Because the school has
grown and continues to encourage boarding as a first choice for students, I
am confident that that number has increased.  

The city of Moscow requires all boarding houses in Moscow to apply for
Conditional Use Permits.  Ten years ago the city addressed complaints
related to New Saint Andrews boarding houses.  The issue received a great
deal of publicity.  It is unlikely that any home owners who are allied with
New Saint Andrews are ignorant of the city requirement for boarding house
operators to obtain a conditional use permit.  In anticipation of tonight's
hearing I stopped by the Mann Building a few weeks ago to ask how many
boarding house CUPs and been granted in the last ten years.  The answer was
one - and it was unrelated to New Saint Andrews.  

Integrity matters, particularly when one applies to the city and by
extension the community for the special privilege of a conditional use
permit.  Why should the Board of Adjustment, or, for that matter the
community give any consideration to this current request when it has been
abundantly clear for over ten years  that the very group asking for this
conditional use permit is knowingly and willfully in clear violation of
other conditional use permit requirements.  

Given the history of violations of the requirement for boarding house
conditional use permits there is little doubt that these violations will
increase if NSA is permitted to more than double their enrollment.  It is my
hope that members of the Board of Adjustment are mindful of this history as
they consider the matter before them this evening. 

Fortunately, the recent purchase of a land in north-eastern Moscow offers
NSA a rare opportunity to visually reproduce their curriculum efforts to
recreate a medieval scholastic tradition.  Logos School has received a
conditional use permit for the site.  In addition to their plans for a K -
12 school, after securing the appropriate permission from the city  they
could also invite New Saint Andrews to join them. Perhaps they might
consider including student dormitories which would also mitigate their
tradition of non-compliant boarding houses.  New Saint Andrews now has a
golden opportunity to construct their very own version of a cathedral close
right here in Moscow thus finally putting to rest all their ambitious out-
of-compliance property notions in an appropriate, arguably, charming way."

Rose Huskey

>>>>>>>>>> 

In the note to the BOA I included a list of boarding houses from 2005 Christ
Church directory.  I will not attach that here because if some home owners
have moved from the homes listed in the church directory I would not want
some innocent family tarred by the previous owners brush.

It is also necessary to point out that since I sent the original list to the
city Christ Church  in 2005 Christ Church has stopped listing addresses for
NSA students - or conceals them on-line for members access only.  This is
strictly an undercover operation.  Do you suppose the revenue is accurately
reported to the state and federal revenue services? For example, based on
Doug Wilson's own blog site he has four borders (which he typically has had
for many years and at minimally $4,000 a head he's bringing in 16 K a year.
Multiply that  by church wide boarders and the annual take is several
hundred thousand dollars.

"Sabbath Dinner
One of the things that makes this all go is the fact that Nancy is amazing.
Every week we launch the Lord's Day at 6 pm Saturday night. We have the two
of us, three kids, their spouses, and seventeen grandkids. We bring my dad
over for sabbath, which makes us a cool 26. In the school year we have four
boarders who usually join us, which brings us to 30." from Doug Wilson's
blog:  <https://dougwils.com/personal/dont-get-everything-done.html>
https://dougwils.com/personal/dont-get-everything-done.html  [July 13, 2016]

"The College is a non-residential campus, meaning we provide no on-campus
housing.  Most students board with local Christian families or share
apartments with other NSA students. . . Costs for boarding with local
Christian families vary considerably, depending on the living and meal
arrangements. Two bedroom apartments typically rent in the $500-$600 per
month range, and duplexes and houses go for between $800 per month to $1,200
per month. On average, full-time students should expect to pay about $4,000
for room and board per academic year."
<http://www.nsa.edu/admissions/housing>
http://www.nsa.edu/admissions/housing

"Passed new zoning rules for "boarding houses" that do nothing to stop party
houses, but removes the freedom of owner-occupied family homes from showing
hospitality to students-especially NSA students-or missionaries-especially
Mormons, others."
<https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/no-incumbents.html>
https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/no-incumbents.html [10-27/07] 

These holy go pious jackasses really know how to represent Christianity in a
powerfully good way, don't they?

Rosemary Huskey

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