County leaders reject moratorium

The Kootenai County commission unanimously agreed Tuesday that stopping development on the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene is not a solution to the area’s growing pains.

The commission rejected the one-year building moratorium proposal presented Friday by Neighbors for Responsible Growth and declined to formally discuss the idea or have a public meeting on the request.

“A moratorium is not the answer,” Commission Chairman Rick Currie said. “None of us want a moratorium so there is really no sense in having a public hearing.”

The decision angered Bev Twillmann, the neighborhood group’s spokeswoman, who said that the next step might be getting the moratorium proposal on the ballot.

She thinks the commission is refusing to consider a moratorium on any requests for zone changes and any new building or development larger than a single-family home along the state Highway 97 corridor because of the influence of the building and development industry.

“I’m really stunned that they bowed to this kind of thinking,” Twillmann said.

The proposed ban would have temporarily stopped building on the nearly 30-mile stretch of highway that snakes along the lakeshore from Wolf Lodge past Harrison to the state Highway 3 intersection.

The idea irked builders, real estate agents and others who feared such a stop could hurt the economy.

Currie said a moratorium would send a “very negative” message, but that isn’t the reason for not taking up the proposal, he added.

He said the commissioners agreed that the building ban wouldn’t solve the area’s problems.

Currie said the county is working on solutions to growth pressure in the area by updating the comprehensive plan, the foundation of all land-use decisions.

The county also is looking forward to the results of a multi-agency study focusing on how much traffic the Highway 97 corridor can withstand in the next 20 years.

The neighborhood group wanted the break so the county and other agencies could finish five key studies. Twillmann said those conclusions would give the commission the facts needed to make “truly responsible decisions.”

She characterized many of the county’s previous land-use rulings as “reckless” and said they have made Highway 97 more dangerous and jeopardized wildlife, groundwater and the lake’s quality.

Commissioner Todd Tondee said most of the studies will take longer than a year to complete, so the moratorium would be useless.

“I don’t think it’s the right answer,” Tondee said.