* At 7 p.m., Wednesday, the Latah County Planning Commission will hold
a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Latah County Comprehensive Plan
adding a new property rights element and revising the remainder of the plan
to comply with it. This amendment is required by a new state law passed
last winter with little public notification or discussion, although counties
and cities have some discretion in writing language to implement the law.
There's some concern that the Planning Commission is moving too quickly on
this without full consideration of long-term implications; one response by
citizens might be to ask that the hearing be continued to allow more study.
This meeting is in Room 2-B of the courthouse.
* At 7:30 p.m. in the council chamber of City Hall, the Moscow Planning
Commission will discuss the second draft of policies for the Area of Impact.
This is not a formal public hearing, but changing the document will become
more difficult the closer it comes to adoption.
The juxtaposition of meetings is the result of the split of the County P&Z
into separate bodies for planning and zoning. The P is meeting on the
second and fourth Wednesdays, the Z on the first and third, which puts the
P in competition with its city counterpart.
Civic-minded individuals might attend the county meeting first to express
concern and ask for another opportunity to speak, then go to city hall for
the area of impact discussion.
Questions about the property rights amendment can be directed to Gerard
Billington, the county planner, or Doug Whitney, deputy prosecuting attorney.
The draft of the area of impact policy has been poseted on this list;
Dale Pernula, city planner, or Joel Hamilton, P&Z member, both subscribers
to this list, can answer questions.