[Vision2020] Alturas

[bill london]

    The government is meddling in private business again.  The City 
Council of Moscow is undermining the free market by creating a 
tax-supported office park that will drain professional offices and other 
businesses from downtown. 
    Now is the time for any local businessperson who owns rental 
property downtown or any Moscow resident who pays taxes to contact the 
Council and demand that the city get out of the office park business. 
    This should be a wake-up call to anyone who believes in the free 
enterprise system.  It's time to stop the gradual erosion of Alturas 
from a high-tech job creation  business park into a tax-supported office 
mall.
    The City Council has (again) ignored the recommendations of the city 
planning and zoning commission.  The Council has voted to expand the 
language in the zoning requirements to allow virtually any business or 
professional office into Alturas.  The planning and zoning commission 
wrote the requirements to allow professional offices that "support" 
high-tech businesses into Alturas.  Now, the Council voted to broaden 
that requirement to allow offices that "could support" 
high-tech--essentially, making it possible for anyone to get into Alturas.
    Whenever a business moves from downtown into Alturas, we lose in 
many ways.  The downtown property owners lose a renter.  The original 
mission of Alturas is corrupted, since there is no job creation involved 
in shifting a job from downtown to Alturas.  The taxpayers will have to 
pay more to expand Alturas if it fills with accountants and lawyers and 
an actual high-tech business wants to move there.  The move contributes 
to the sprawling growth of town into the wheat fields. 
    The Council is planning on discussing this change to the zoning 
requirements at the November 17 meeting.  Perhaps there is still time to 
contact the Council members and suggest that they reconsider this 
blatant attack on the free enterprise system.
BL