Actions Add Up To Favoritism

A judge’s decision on a Cougar Bay subdivision last week should warn Kootenai County commissioners to quit playing fast and loose on planning issues.

District Judge Craig Kosonen ruled that former commissioners OK’d the Lake Coeur d’Alene development without proof that proposed water, waste and stormwater disposal systems would work. So, he sent McCormack Properties’ proposal back to the drawing board.

New commissioners will find themselves losing court decisions, too, unless they start respecting planning rules and listening to all their constituents - not just the powerful businessmen who bankrolled their elections.

Already, a former planning commissioner is suing the board for allowing machine shops over the Rathdrum aquifer, the region’s drinking-water source, without sewer hookup - in gross violation of the county comprehensive plan. And, recently, commissioners gave Interstate Concrete permission to mine gravel six days a week for 75 years over the same aquifer - after relaxing conditions sought by the former board.

Ironically, the approvals come at a time when Coeur d’Alene officials have found unacceptable levels of a cancer-causing solvent in a city well.

During its first five months, the new commission has shown promise - in financial and management matters. Chairman Dick Compton has been a leader in setting consumer-oriented courthouse goals, improving communication among departments, and urging department heads and other local governments to keep taxes down.

But those welcome improvements don’t eliminate the need to protect the environment and the county’s unique quality of life.

Besides the Rathdrum prairie controversies, commissioners agreed privately with a speedway owner to let motorcyclists and sprint-car drivers test their racers weekly. They withdrew that permission when angry Stateline residents protested.

Additionally, commissioners quietly circulated a revision of a proposed subdivision ordinance to a select group of developers and their representatives while an original version, studied by the planning commission, languished in their office.

Alone, each of these issues could be dismissed as poor planning or of concern only to affected neighbors. But taken as a whole they reveal a cavalier attitude toward Kootenai County’s unique environment and a tendency to favor powerful businesses.

Such favoritism and environmental indifference could haunt Compton and Commissioner Bob McDonald during the 1996 elections.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board