[Vision2020] Naylor Farms

[Daniel Foucachon]

Here's a letter that my father wrote concerning Naylor Farms. Please
consider writing the county commissioners, requesting them to reject this
CUP!  Thanks.

Naylor Farms: It's about Zoning--the Reasonable Kind

*Naylor Farms Open-Pit Mine Zoning Request, Moscow, ID*
**
It's about zoning--the reasonable kind that protects the welfare of people,
the kind that would protect you if a nuclear disposal site business was
about to be established adjacent to your residence or right outside your
town limits.

I'm a strong advocate of individual property rights, but there are limits on
what an individual can do with land that he owns. He is called to give up
his rights when they infringe on the rights of his neighbor. The justice of
this principle is easy to see in areas of life other than property rights;
an example is the issue of smoking in public places. One person's right to
smoke in the presence of his neighbor takes away the neighbor's right to
breathe clean air; the smoker needs to defer to the non-smoker. When it
comes to property, it is not right for one person to do something on land he
owns that will negatively affect his neighbors. Air space (of which peace
and quiet are a part), the condition of the soil in an area, view, and water
are all shared resources. One person can harm his neighbors' use of these
gifts by what he does with them on his land.

The land between Moscow and Moscow Mountain is a beautiful, peaceful part of
the Palouse. The Naylor Farms property lies in this precious strip of land,
and is actually one-and-a half miles from Moscow itself. It's unthinkable
that there should be an open pit mine so close to the town and in an area
where there are residences. The planned mining operations on the Naylor
property would involve excavations with tractors and other digging vehicles
that would be the source of LOTS of noise and that would, in the beginning
phase alone (according to the presentation given at the public meeting on
June 21), launch 50 round-trips per day of trucks going in and out of the
site.

Aesthetically, the effects would be terrible. The gravel mining near the
entrance of Pullman gives a little idea of the ugliness of such endeavors.
The residents of Moscow Mountain would look right down into these pits. The
Naylor Farms people say they want to return the land to farming and
agriculture when they are finished with their excavations--but they have
presented a 60-year project that will take away from the town of Moscow and
from the surrounding residents the beauty and peace of the area for more
than an entire generation.

I possibly would not be aware of the issues surrounding the Naylor Farms
application for a Conditional Use Permit if I were not in the process of
buying a house on Foothill Road, directly across from the Naylor Farms
property. I was horrified when I went to the hearing on June 21 and realized
the magnitude of the operation that is proposed and the obvious enormous
amount of money that these people have put into making this happen through
the hiring of legal help and specialists to testify. I am not a no-growth
person; I am for the growth of business and the creation of jobs. However, I
believe that it is a matter of common sense to see that this area of the
Palouse is not an appropriate place for an open-pit mining operation. There
are many more remote places where the mining would not bother anyone, nor
take away from the peace and beauty that near-by residents and the town
itself enjoy. The area could support less invasive businesses --but not
noisy mining in an area where the slightest noise is carried far by the
wind--not unsightly gravel excavations in an area that people move to and
drive to for the priceless visual beauty of the hills and the mountain.
There obviously has been thought given to protecting this region, because
restrictions already exist that limit the number of houses that can be built
on the land (one house per 40 acres. Even if someone disagrees with the
letter of the restrictions, he can easily see that the proposed mining
business would certainly violate the spirit of the current thinking about
the area.

There are many people who are strongly against the granting of a Conditional
Use Permit to Naylor Farms on grounds other than the ones I have mentioned.
They have done extensive research that brings to light serious concerns that
the proposed mining could create health hazards caused by the breathing of
the fine particulates sent into the air by the extensive dust that the
excavations would cause. On the night of the hearing, two physicians spoke
to me about their health-related concerns. Soil pollution caused by harmful
elements leeching into the ground is also an issue. Another huge issue is
the effect on the aquifers of the region in terms of quantity as well as
quality of the water.

Conditional Use Permits are granted when the requested activity will have a
positive effect on the surrounding neighbors and area. This is certainly not
the case in this instance. In addition to the most serious considerations of
health issues, of environmental, noise, and aesthetic pollution, and of
water issues, there is the significant issue of Real Estate values
plummeting if this mining operation takes place.

There are three factors that determine the value of real estate; they are 1)
location, 2) location, and 3) location. The real estate that is located in
the region of this proposed mining operation would drastically lose its
value. After attending the Public Hearing on June 21, my wife and I
considered backing out of the purchase of the house we had chosen on
Foothill Road, and actually forfeiting our large amount of earnest money. As
we heard the description of the Naylor Farms proposal, in our minds we heard
the noise of trucks, back hoes, and tractors during the proposed 4 AM to
midnight operational hours. What a nightmare this noise would be at any time
of the day! From Foothill Road, you already hear the traffic from Highway
95. How much more would the noise carry from this land that is between 95
and Foothill Road.

However, we have decided to go ahead with our plans to buy the house,
trusting that those who have decision-making power will exhibit plain common
sense and deny Naylor Farms this Conditional Use Permit. We ask the
residents of Moscow and the surrounding area to communicate to those who
have authority in this matter that they need to deny the requested CUP for
an open pit mine on the Naylor property.

--by Francis Foucachon.
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