<DIV>Mark,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The City Council didn't approve the rezone when I was there. They might have changed their mind at a later date. Tidyman's is still in business, just not in Moscow. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>True, it was the County, not the City, that pulled the trigger on Naylor Farms, but I bet you $100 the City would not have ruled any differently and would have carried on the fight against them is they got approval from the County. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To a business, it doesn't matter if it is the actual city or county killing their business, it is still killing their business when they try to local here. 70% of the county is the City.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think sales tax is the problem with the state government, especially on food and OTC drugs and education materials. Moscow has to high of taxes because of school levies. I am not saying education isn't worth funding well, but there is breaking point for what
many people on what they can afford to give and the MSD has long passed it. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan<BR><BR><B><I>Mark Solomon <msolomon@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <STYLE type=text/css><!-- blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 } --></STYLE> <DIV>Donovan,</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>A few corrections: The City Council approved the rezone of the 40 acres behind the Palouse Mall; the county rejected Naylor Farms, not the city; Home Depot never applied for anything from the city when their internal corporate troubles caught up to them (they were negotiating with the UI to build on the UI land the city rezoned behind the mall, see first point); Tidyman's went out of business.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>I agree with you re property taxes. If the Idaho Legislature would do
something about the billions of dollars in tax exempt sales they've authorized, maybe there would be enough money to fund local government and schools without burdening the property tax payer. Or better yet, rescind Kempthorne's corporate income tax giveaway and the timber land property tax giveaway.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>m.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>At 7:04 PM -0700 10/29/07, Donovan Arnold wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">I think the image of Moscow being anti-business is an accurate perception. And it isn't new, it has just gotten worse.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">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.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">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.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">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.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">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.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">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.</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">Best,</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite">Donovan</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><BR><BR><I><B>Bev Bafus <bevbafus@verizon.net></B></I> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>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</BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>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 services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since
1994.<BR>http://www.fsr.net<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>http://www.fsr.net<BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><BR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"> __________________________________________________<BR>Do You Yahoo!?<BR>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around<BR>http://mail.yahoo.com</BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> __________________________________________________<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <br>http://mail.yahoo.com