Valley County has formed a committee of property owners and interested citizens charged with studying land uses along the Idaho 55 corridor and recommending guidelines for future development.
Any proposed guidelines or ordinances developed by the committee will be written to protect individual private property rights and property values while addressing community values such as views of the mountains, rivers, and lakes and beautifying the highway through landscaping and design guidelines. It is a delicate balance between protection of individual property rights and protection of the natural beauty and rural qualities cherished by residents throughout this county for generations.
"The issue is simple," said Valley County Commissioner Frank Eld, "but the solution is not. The issue is whether we, as citizens of Valley County, find it acceptable for strip
commercial and industrial developments to line the entire Highway 55 corridor."
While many citizens would agree that such a future may be undesirable, the solution to the problem is more elusive. The overriding question is "How do we prevent, mitigate, or regulate land uses that diminish or detract from the scenic quality of Valley County while protecting the rights of individual property owners?" That is the difficult charge laid to this committee.
At this point, the committee is working from a blank slate. There are no pre-determined outcomes or pre-defined regulations. A previous discussion draft of an overlay ordinance has been set aside to begin anew with a consensus-based group process.
The consensus-based process includes an expanded committee that involves citizens who own property adjacent to the corridor as well as citizens who advocate for additional
protection of scenic values along the corridor.
`As property owners, we are at the table and engaged in this process," committee member and property owner Tracey Kennedy said. "We are looking out for the needs of property owners to ensure viable options with their property."
Committee member Steve Millemann agrees: "We are looking for the shared values and the common ground we can all agree on. To be successful, any proposed ordinance must work for both protection of private property rights and for protection of scenic values along the corridor.
The key will be finding the common ground that does both."
The addition of several new property owners to the committee is a welcome one. We have tried from the very beginning to get property owners on the committee to ensure a balanced discussion. The results of this committee will be much better, stronger, and more likely to find public acceptance and eventual adoption if the committee's views are balanced.
The public will ultimately help decide whether the committee's recommendations are fair and balanced. No final decisions will be made until the committee's recommendations go through a larger public hearings process with both the Valley County Planning & Zoning Commission and the Valley County Commissioners. The committee meetings themselves are also open to the public.
Once the committee prepares their recommendations, they will betaken forward through the public hearings process. The county commissioners will want to know what citizens think about the committee's recommendations before a final decision is made.
(Steve Siddoway works for Parametrix, Inc., and serves as facilitator for the Valley County Scenic Byways Committee.)
