Developers Have the Upper Hand in Idaho
Written by Dr. John Livingston.
Seldom does one find in political arguments of the extreme, opponents actually listening to the points made by the other side. During this most recent legislative session several bills have been offered and one passed regarding the relationship between developers—including out of state developers and financiers, and property owners and city fathers, to each other. Citizens’ rights are slowly being eroded by developers (and their attorneys) who influence our legislature and by developers who sit on city councils and municipality ruling bodies. Over the past several years we have been involved in an issue regarding a land division and rezoning of the Plantation Golf Course now called The River Club. The issues that I thought were merely local and germane to Garden City, are now becoming statewide issues.
Both sides in our community—the agent for an out of state investor and developer, and the neighbors who reside in the neighborhood see themselves as being “good stewards” of valuable open space.
The developer and agent—(we still don’t know who the owner is), claim to be nobly motivated toward being “good stewards” of a property that they will be “upgraded and made into a community asset”. They have contributed to the political campaigns of city fathers including our Mayor in Garden City. They are indeed masters of the political process as they obsess to control the process of rezoning and land divisions. Neither the agent for the developer or the City Fathers, have approached the neighbors through the Homeowners Association (HOA) or through neighborhood groups, though years into the process. Idaho District Courts and one recent Idaho Supreme Court ruling appear to strongly require such engagement.
The property rights of the ownership group—(whoever that may be), needs to be respected by all parties especially the courts and city fathers. The contractual rights of the homeowners via their Master Declaration Contract (MDC) and the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R’s) as memorialized in the (MDC) likewise need to be respected by all parties—including the ownership group. These documents define and guard the property rights of all home and landowners and protect their quality of life into the future.
Issues specific to the development including flood plain mitigation and flood plain planning and the impact of such planning on existing homes have yet to be addressed by the City Fathers or the developer.
The differences between the two parties in this case appear to mirror development tensions that are occurring throughout our State of Idaho between developers and landowners and neighborhoods. We hope that the (HOA) and the neighborhood objectors’ positions will be addressed appropriately by the City Fathers and developers and mystery owner—whoever that may be, before the Courts have to be involved.
Alternately, by answering the simple question “Does the Master Declaration Contract apply to all parties in the Plantation Neighborhood”, discussions about future land divisions, rezoning, and flood plain issues will be closer to being resolved.
Our legal team and neighborhood group which includes many attorneys, several who made detailed legal pleadings before the City of Garden City, believe the answer to the Master Declaration Contract (MDC) issue is—YES—it does apply to all parties.
We believe that issues between FEMA and Garden City need to be addressed before permission to extend development in an existing flood plain via an “executive opinion” are enforced.
We believe that both sides now understand each other’s positions, and that by going on the record today regarding these issues, we can move forward more quickly in clarifying and resolving our differences.
We also call on our legislature and City Councils and other municipal entities to become allies with the citizens who elected them and reexamine their symbiotic relationship to developers who if left unchecked are turning Idaho into California or Oregon.