[Vision2020] Downtown Business District

[Tom Hansen]

I agree with you 100%, Mr. Huskey.

A law is only as good as the people that enforce it.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


>From: DonaldH675 at aol.com
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Downtown Business District
>Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 14:30:32 EDT
>
>I attended the hearing for New Saint Andrews' appeal of the Board of
>Adjustment ruling and was gratified by the result. The rule of law is still 
>in
>effect -- although just barely.
>
>What mystified me mostly however was the apparent lack of institutional
>memory about the strict definition of educational institution (colleges and
>universities), schools (K-12), commercial schools (trade schools etc) and 
>the
>omission of colleges and Universities and schools from the downtown 
>business
>district. Those omissions were intentional and the definitions were 
>specifically
>developed to keep the University of Idaho out of the downtown business
>district.
>
>In 1988 (or thereabout) the University bought Murdoch's Tavern which is the
>present location of UI Personnel and Purchasing. In 1989 (or thereabouts) 
>the
>University of Idaho bought Cavanaugh's which was a motel across from the
>current  location of Renaissance Mall, which includes Mailboxes Etc. and 
>Jack in
>The Box.  They also bought the office building at the southeast corner of 
>Third
>and  Jackson.  All of these tax-paying businesses were removed from the 
>city
>tax  rolls.  Additionally, negotiations were under way to purchase the
>building  that houses the UI Pritchard gallery and an analysis was being 
>made of the
>possibility of purchasing other vacant downtown buildings.
>
>This process was looked upon very unfavorably by the city administration at
>the time (1990) and the code was specifically modified to preclude any 
>further
>  purchases by the University of Idaho.  In order to exclude the UI, the
>city's legal advisor convinced city councilors that all "like  
>institutions" would
>have to be excluded or the ordinance would be challengeable  as
>discriminatory.
>
>In my opinion (I was employed at the time as the financial officer for the
>Facilities Department at UI, and involved in the property negotiations and
>involved with the city planning committee with the code rewrite), the 
>ordinance
>was justified then and is still justified today.  I heard a lot of
>justifications last night by various members of the city council for making 
>an
>exception someway, somehow so that NSA can be allowed to stay downtown.  My 
>  objection
>to that is that I do not see how you can let one college stay  downtown and
>continue to prevent the UI from moving back into the property  market and
>potentially destroying the downtown business district.  We  already have a
>University zone.  Expand it if necessary and keep colleges  and 
>universities out of
>the downtown.
>
>With their transitory populations, colleges eat up parking and create
>traffic problems.  If they are to be allowed downtown, then I would  
>strongly
>recommend that they be required to provide their own parking.  I  live 8 
>miles
>outside of Moscow, halfway to Troy.  When I drive into  Moscow's downtown, 
>I cannot
>find parking near NSA to access those  businesses nearby that I want to
>frequent.  Instead, I must find distant  parking, and walk to Bookpeople, 
>etc.
>This is inconvenient,  aggravating, and a deterrent to my shopping in 
>Moscow's
>downtown.  Is this  what the city council wants -- people not shopping 
>downtown
>because lack of  parking has made access difficult if not impossible?
>
>If this is repetitious to some old-timers on the list, I apologize, but I
>thought the rationale for excluding colleges, Universities, and schools in 
>the
>code rewrite of 1990 needed to be revisited and shown again in the  light 
>of
>day.   Some city council members claimed last night  to be unaware of the
>original rationale for the 1990 exclusion of colleges  from the downtown 
>central
>business district; this is a  reminder.
>
>Don Huskey
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