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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>From the Lewiston Morning Tribune, Aug. 10, 2006,
page 5C:</FONT></DIV>
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<H1>City lawyer warns against Proposition 2</H1><!--End Headline--><BR><!--Start Byline-->
<ADDRESS></ADDRESS><!--End Byline-->
<P><A name=story><!--Start Story--></A>If Proposition 2 passes in November,
Lewiston residents could have to pay someone every time a vote is taken on a
land use issue, Assistant City Attorney Jamie Shropshire said.
<P>If a landowner was denied the right to open an auto body shop between two
houses, the city would have to pay him.
<P>But if the body shop was approved, the owner of the house next door could
make a claim for lost value and win, Shropshire told the Lewiston Planning and
Zoning Commission Wednesday night.
<P>All it takes is the perception the value of a piece of property has been
altered, whether it's the person wanting a new use or the neighbor next door,
she said.
<P>"We pay one side or the other. It doesn't matter. ... It's our opinion this
would destroy planning and zoning law in the state of Idaho."
<P>A similar law in Oregon has resulted in $4 billion in claims from one side or
the other, she said.
<P>Supporters of the initiative are calling it a protection against eminent
domain, which is a government's right to forcibly purchase property.
<P>Idaho already has protections in place for that, she said.
<P>"It's not protection of property right at all. In fact, it's the opposite."
<P>The furor over property rights has been fueled by a widely publicized
Connecticut case in which courts said homes could be forcibly purchased to
provide land for private development.
<P>It's New Yorkers who are supporting the Idaho initiative, Shropshire said.
<P><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Idaho taxpayers will be the ultimate losers if it
passes, she said.</FONT> </FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=4>What analysis of Proposition 2 have Moscow and Latah
County officals made?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=4>Bruce Livingston</FONT></P>
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