Re: Moscow-Pullman Corridor

[bill london <bill_london@hotmail.com>]

JM-
Thanks for offering to respond to questions about the Corridor.
My question involves the Department of Transportation and their plans for 
the highway.  Why is this process going forward when the whole highway could 
be moved?
BL


>From: John and Michelle Murray <jmmurray@rocketmail.com>
>To: vision2020@moscow.com
>Subject: Moscow-Pullman Corridor
>Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 13:36:24 -0700 (PDT)
>
>July 2, 1999
>
>I have recently (today) joined the vision2020 mailing
>list.  I'm joining for a specific purpose: I'm the
>Assistant County Planner for Whitman County and I
>want to insure that unsubstantiated rumours and
>misinformation don't spread regarding the changes
>that are proposed for the Moscow-Pullman Corridor.
>I'm not sure I want to respond as a representative of
>the County.  However, we've received a lot of very
>bad press over other issues at the County and I want
>to make my work enjoyable rather than contentious.
>So, if anyone has a question regarding what's going
>on with the corridor please send them my way and I'll
>try to answer them.
>
>Some Important Facts:
>1. Whitman County designated the corridor an
>"enterprise area" back in 1995.  This means that the
>County identified it as about the only viable area to
>generate badly needed tax revenue.
>2.  98% of unincorporated Whitman County is
>designated (zoned) agricultural, and that means no
>retail, no housing developments, no industrial parks,
>etc.  Until 1996, no "long plats" (divisions of land
>for building more than 2 homes) were allowed.  Not
>even a gas station.
>3.  There currently exists no master plan for the
>corridor.  Instead, the County is proposing to make
>it easier for businesses to develop.  However, there
>are a lot of restrictions on development, primarily a
>requirement for 50% open space on the property and a
>250 foot setback from the highway right-of-way.  That
>means whoever wanted to build in the corridor would
>have to buy twice as much land as was needed for
>development and would have to provide a service road
>for access.
>4.  It would be virtually impossible to build next to
>Paradise Creek.  It simply wouldn't pass the
>environmental review.  However, no one has proposed
>that that area be taken off the table.
>5.  No water or sewer services currently exist in the
>corridor.  If sewer services were extended from the
>cities, Moscow would be a better bet to provide that
>service.  Water is a bigger problem.
>
>The politics of the situation is this:
>1.  City of Pullman hates the idea of corridor
>development.
>2.  We don't know what City of Moscow thinks of
>development.
>3.  The County Commissioners are being hammered by
>pro-development landowners to make the corridor even
>less restrictive for development.  One commissioner
>in particular is leaning towards opening the entire
>county up for development.
>4.  The universities want to insure that there's no
>increase in traffic on highway; student commuting
>time is a major concern for them.
>5.  Again, there is no master plan.  One might say
>there is no vision of what should happen in the
>corridor.
>
>Any questions?  burn 'em in here.
>-JM
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