Sensible Planning Beats The Alternative

During election campaigns, it’s hard to find a local politician who isn’t for controlled growth. The issue punctuates political rhetoric as much as “less government” and “lower taxes.” Once election day comes and goes, however, controlled growth returns to the back burner as developers clamor successfully for more projects and subdivisions.

The cities of Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, for example, recently refused to help fund a consultant who would refine various planning ideas for the Rathdrum Prairie. Coeur d’Alene Councilwoman Nancy Sue Wallace typified the head-in-the-sand approach to prairie planning when she said: “It’s not a priority.”

She’s dead wrong.

Future development of the prairie should be of concern to everyone in the region, particularly those in neighboring cities. The prairie, 100 square miles of largely undeveloped farm land, sits above the region’s sole source of drinking water. Haphazard development on the prairie poses a pollution risk on both sides of the state line.

Rather than carve up the prairie with ambitious spheres of influence, Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls should join efforts to plan for its growth and expanded sewer, water and road systems.

The public seems more sensitive than its politicians are to threats to the prairie. That was clear throughout the 1990s and into this year, when Imsamet, Avista and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad encountered stiff opposition to proposals to build major projects. In each instance, public outcry forced local officials to impose costly conditions on the projects that made them environmentally safer. Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Panabaker, who cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the BNSF refueling depot near Hauser Lake, was lucky to survive his Republican primary race this spring.

The ostrich approach to prairie planning starkly contrasts with the historic leadership provided by the Panhandle Health District. In the 1970s, under the leadership of former director Larry Belmont, the district fought developers and local officials to protect the aquifer by imposing a five-acre minimum for septic systems. Later, the district was instrumental in eliminating septic systems in Coeur d’Alene.

Now, the health district and Kootenai County are key partners in the Rathdrum Prairie Project, a group of volunteers and elected officials who are developing a plan for prairie growth. Also, the county planning and zoning commission inspired the ongoing study of roadside development and future expansion of state Highway 41, which connects Post Falls and Rathdrum.

The end of grass farming on the prairie comes nearer every time a farmer, such as George Thayer of Rathdrum, sells out. It’s time to quit talking about growth and actually do something to guide it.