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<DIV>Frankly, of all the businesses that might be lost to the corridor, the
automobile dealerships make the most sense, from a Moscow perspective.
Even with the dealerships located in Moscow, we get NONE of the sales tax
dollars on sales to Whitman County residents on our auto sales in Moscow; we
only get the sales tax on sales to Idaho residents. Conversely, Whitman
County auto sales in the corridor will not generate any sales tax for Washington
on cars purchased by Idahoans; Idaho will get all of the sales tax on
automobile sales to Idahoans at Whitman County dealerships. The
loss to us would basically be the convenience of going to James Toyota in town,
and instead having to go further. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But if the corridor is to develop, filling it with auto dealerships would
be one way of getting taxes back into Idaho from there. Of course,
aesthetically, it would be a tragedy, but that will be Whitman's call, not
ours. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Unfortunately, the tax benefit will be felt primarily in Boise, not
here in Moscow itself, since local sales tax is not tied to the community that
generates it. It all goes to Boise, and they kick a very small percentage
of the state-wide take back to the cities and counties. But that is also
why retail is not as significant a contributor to the local tax base as many
people suppose, even for the retail businesses that are located in Moscow.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bruce Livingston</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com
href="mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com">Donovan Arnold</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=kjajmix1@msn.com
href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com">keely emerinemix</A> ; <A
title=bevbafus@verizon.net href="mailto:bevbafus@verizon.net">Bev Bafus</A> ;
<A title=sslund@roadrunner.com href="mailto:sslund@roadrunner.com">Saundra
Lund</A> ; <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 29, 2007 8:55
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Dispel the
anti-growth myth</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Keely,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I believe that the current Wal Mart building and huge parking lot would
have served as the perfect location for James Toyota. But because Moscow
leadership rejected Wal-Marts attempt to expand their service to the
community, it prevents James Toyota, a local business, from also expanding his
service while remaining in the community. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Anti-business attitudes have ripple effects on the community. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan<BR><BR><B><I>keely emerinemix <<A
href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com">kjajmix1@msn.com</A>></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
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I disagree that the city has "lost" James Toyota as it plans its westward
expansion. <BR><BR>Moscow sits right on the Washington/Moscow
border. If James Toyota, located as near the border as it can be while
still being in Idaho, wants to grow, it will seek expansion on a highly
traveled corridor -- say, a newly widened four-lane highway from Pullman to
Moscow. It wouldn't want to locate at Steakhouse Hill north of Moscow;
there's not enough traffic from Potlatch to warrant it, and CdA has a Toyota
dealership. Maybe south of town on 95 would make sense, except that
the Lewiston-Clarkston area has a Toyota dealership -- again, no need for
them to travel to Moscow. You couldn't get enough traffic on the Troy
Highway east of Moscow to justify putting it there; it's true that Bovill
lacks a Toyota dealership, but they go west to buy -- Pullman residents
don't go east, generally, to shop. The only point on the compass that
makes sense for James is to go West on the Moscow-Pullman
highway.<BR><BR>Unfortunately, Moscow is bumped up right to the state line
-- I could barely park my (Toyota) car west of the westernmost building, the
Appaloosa Club, and still be in Idaho. Pullman, on the other hand,
gets to claim the eight miles from its eastern border to the state line, and
that does give them an advantage (an advantage that, while perhaps good for
them, deserves oversight and comment from our council). If Moscow
began eight miles east of the straight line, and that land were ripe for
development, my guess is that James Toyota would stay in Idaho, effectively
drawing customers from all over the Toyota dealer-deficient
Palouse.<BR><BR>I can't comment on a lot of the development on that
corridor, but I think it's inaccurate to say that Moscow "lost" James
Toyota. <BR><BR>keely<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:04:00 -0700<BR>From:
donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com<BR>To: bevbafus@verizon.net;
sslund@roadrunner.com; vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Subject: Re: [Vision2020]
Dispel the anti-growth myth<BR><BR>
<DIV>I think the image of Moscow being anti-business is an accurate
perception. And it isn't new, it has just gotten worse. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am sure that many businesses have come to Moscow, even in recent
years. However, we are also losing a lot of businesses and are blocking
many of them from coming into Moscow. We also prevent businesses from
expanding and hiring more people. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have attended few city council meetings, but many of them were
about blocking some type of business or another. I remember the city
council rejecting an entire expansion of businesses behind
the Palouse Mall. Many local businesses have been pushed out of
the Palouse Mall and the city has done nothing to protect them.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And as we all know, Moscow rejected a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Naylor
Farms, and Home Depot. Likewise it lost Toyota, Tidyman's, and several
wonderful restaurants, and a locally owned repair shop in additions to a
1/2 downtown and in the Palouse Mall. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I do agree with Alturas as being an example of doing "The Right
Thing" to get a business in. But as I recall Aaron Ament was against the
expansion of that building, and more tax dollars were put into that
building than we have received in return. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think the biggest anti-business incentives for Moscow are its
property taxes. Moscow's taxes make Moscow an unaffordable city that is
unfriendly to businesses. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Bev Bafus <bevbafus@verizon.net></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=EC_replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">Let's
add a few expanding businesses. Northwest Management, where I
work,<BR>is currently doubling the size of our office. Northwest River
Supplies took<BR>over the Tidyman's building.<BR><BR>Any other expanding
businesses?<BR><BR>Bev<BR><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From:
vision2020-bounces@moscow.com<BR>[mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com]On
Behalf Of Saundra Lund<BR>Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 5:26 PM<BR>To:
vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Dispel the anti-growth
myth<BR><BR><BR>The letter below appears in today's Daily News -- anyone
care to add more to<BR>Ms. Sullivan's list?<BR><BR>Also, do any of you
GMAers care to provide a list of new businesses that<BR>came to Moscow
during any two-year period of Comstock's reign and a list
of<BR>businesses that were denied?<BR><BR>I think it might be interested
to have a ***factual*** comparison rather<BR>than just rumors designed
to tear down the community.<BR><BR><BR>Saundra Lund<BR><BR><BR>"Dispel
the anti-growth myth<BR><BR>I agree that having the "perception" of
being anti-growth/anti-business is<BR>harmful to the city of Moscow, and
I was driven to find out why that<BR>perception exists when Wayne Krauss
expressed concerns and asked, "Why do we<BR>have this perception?" at a
recent forum.<BR><BR>Since the most recently elected council came into
office in January 2006,<BR>more than 35 new businesses have opened in
Moscow, including Old Navy, Bed,<BR>Bath and Beyond, Cramer's Furniture,
Dad's Diner, Marco Polo, Nectar,<BR>Lilliput, Sisters Brew Coffeehouse,
West of Paris, Palouse Scoots, Moscow<BR>Bagel and Deli, Anytime
Fitness, San Miguels, Sure Shot Sporting Goods,<BR>Subway, and
BioTracking just to name a few. Many businesses have expanded<BR>and
moved into larger spaces during this time. Only two businesses
were<BR>denied by the city and these were both handled in the way that
Walter Steed<BR>states he would address a pig farm wanting to locate
behind his property;<BR>they were denied in the specific proposed
locations in accordance with<BR>zoning regulations. Never did city
officials say they were not wanted in<BR>Moscow.<BR><BR>Back to the
question posed by Krauss: "Why do we have this perception?" For<BR>the
answer, I would look to recent advertisements in the
Moscow-Pullman<BR>Daily News for Krauss, Steed and Carscallen in which
the headline calls the<BR>current city leadership "anti-growth
politicians." I would pay attention to<BR>who is repeating this
anti-growth message over and over.<BR><BR>I believe Dan Carscallen is
concerned when he says, "Changing the perception<BR>is the thing that
needs to happen," and if we can all agree that this is<BR>harmful, we
should all agree to stop, to dispel this myth and to
promote<BR>Moscow.<BR><BR>Brandy Sullivan,
Moscow"<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List
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communities of the Palouse since
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communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net
<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>__________________________________________________<BR>Do
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