[Vision2020] A Sad Night for Moscow

[Saundra Lund]

Visionaires:

No matter how you feel about the issue that was under discussion, I am
absolutely appalled at John Weber's behavior during last night's City
Council meeting  :-(  For him to publicly tell another Council member with
whom he disagrees to "shut up" is simply beyond the pale.  Stupid mistakes
like that do far more to harm our community than do honest disagreements.

What happened to your manners, Mr. Weber?  Did you not stop to ***think***
about your behavior being televised into homes in our community?!?  Even my
17-year-old knows it's incredibly rude and disrespectful to tell another to
"shut up."   She, BTW, was gleefully (I'm sorry to say) horrified reading
about your spectacle last night.  I had to explain to her I was sure your
mother *had* raised you better, but people sometimes make mistakes in the
heat of the moment or not, as she well knows, and that when you make a
mistake, you apologize, learn from the mistake, and carry on.  "Where's his
apology?" was her question.  It's mine, too.

We're waiting for an apology, Mr. Weber -- one is certainly due from you to
all who witnessed or read about your rude and disrespectful behavior last
night.



Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
- Edmund Burke

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Big-box changes nixed
By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer

Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM

Tempers flared at Monday night's Moscow City Council meeting, during which
the council rejected any amendments to the large retail establishment
ordinance.

"We already have a dark-store ordinance in there that is stronger than what
planning and zoning brought us," Councilman Aaron Ament said. "I want to see
a cap. A cap would serve this community well. We have a big-box shopping
culture that's just about run its course in this country; we're making sure
they mitigate for problems they cause the community. Moscow would be crazy
to drop all the rest and just let them come into the city on their own
terms."

Ament went on to say he was frustrated that Moscow city staff members hand
him important documents just minutes before the start of a meeting.

"I'm so tired of coming to sit down and have people flip papers for me to
read," he said. "I seriously read everything put in the packet, and I find
it insulting for them to expect me to read it in a couple of minutes."

At that point, Councilman John Weber interrupted Ament.

"We have pretty qualified people over here who do a very good job; I don't
need you running off on them," he said. "Why don't you just shut up?"

Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney said Weber interrupted Ament at "the appropriate
time."

"I hope we can retrieve a little civility on all sides," Councilwoman Linda
Pall said.

The amendments recommended by the planning and zoning commission included:

A large retail establishment would have to expand by at least 30 percent
before it would be required to apply for a conditional use permit;

Big-box stores between 40,000 and 65,000 square feet would be subject to the
design manual - which includes standards for the exterior and interior of
buildings - at the discretion of the board of adjustment;

Any business requiring 140 or fewer parking spaces would not be subject to
the parking requirements of the design manual;

Size be based on gross floor space as opposed to projected roof area,
thereby eliminating outdoor storage areas from the calculated square
footage.

The planning and zoning commission also recommended a guideline for stores
that go dark in Moscow to follow. 

The large retail establishment ordinance, passed in February 2006, requires
retail stores with more than 40,000 square feet of gross floor area to apply
for a conditional use permit.

The council heard public testimony on the proposed amendments May 7.

Councilman Bill Lambert said the conditional use permit process already
gives the city enough control on which businesses are allowed to locate
within the city.

"The big-box ordinance as it stands now is a tough enough ordinance we're
not going to need (amendments) like this to prevail," he said. "The
dark-store issue can be dealt with at the time the conditional use permit is
requested."

Weber agreed.

"With the dark store ordinance, what we have done here is put in some
verbiage that would make it almost impossible for anybody from the city to
enforce or get a handle on," he said. "We've choked it off to the point that
nobody really wants to come here anyway."

In other business, the council reversed a board of adjustment decision that
granted a conditional use permit for a proposed a Dutch Bros. coffee outlet
with a drive-through window at 525 S. Jackson St.

QUICKREAD

WHAT HAPPENED: The Moscow City Council rejected amendments to the large
retail establishment ordinance recommended by the planning and zoning
commission.

WHAT IT MEANS: The large retail establishment ordinance will not include a
size cap. The original dark-store provision remains the same.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The ordinance will remain as originally written.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The ordinance affects businesses greater than 40,000
square feet that want to move into Moscow.

Omie Drawhorn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail at
odrawhorn at dnews.com.