Kootenai County officials went back to the drawing board Tuesday after failing in their first attempt to hold planning commission hearings on the controversial Unified Land Use Code proposal Monday evening. "The meeting didn't go exactly as planned," Community Development Director Scott Clark told the board of county commissioners. "We had a big crowd, bigger than expected. It was a pretty busy place." Coeur d'Alene Fire personnel interrupted the hearing Monday night to inform the county planning commission that it was over capacity in its meeting room and said that many of the attendees would have to leave. Planning Commission Chairman Wes Hanson opted to adjourn and continue the Monday hearing "to a date uncertain" rather than asking half the attendees to leave. There will be no more hearings this week/Jeff Selle, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.'

• Larry Spencer: "Seems the property owners have come to understand that this "wonderful new code" is really just a transfer of control and use of their property to the planning department."

Question: Obviously, organized opposition is going to greet every meeting held to discuss the Unified Land Use Code. At this point, are these hearings an exercise in futility? What would you do if you sat in a county commissioner's seat?