Status Update and
Correction of an Idaho Statesman Report*

December 15, 2007

Attn; Kathryn Sosbe
The Idaho Statesman
Boise, Idaho

Subject: Kastera Article by Joe Estrella
___________________________________

Dear Ms. Sosbe:

In the December 15, 2007 Idaho Statesman there was an article about a downsized Kastera real estate development on Highway 55 northwest of Boise. In that article the Author, Joe Estrella, made the following statement:

"Kastera's planned community application was one of nine the county received last year. Just one proposed since 2006 has been approved - The Cliffs.

Of all the planned communities proposed in recent years, only The Cliffs, a 1,350-home project, and the 684-home Avimor community have actually begun construction."

The first sentence is, at best, premature. The second sentence is false.

First, in late 2006 the Ada County Board of Commissioners approved The Cliffs with several conditions. Perhaps the most stringent condition is that the developer needs to secure the rights to locate their entrance road on State property. For a variety of legal and financial reasons the developer's ability to locate the entrance road in the specified location will be at least difficult, and perhaps impossible. At this point in time, The Cliffs has not made application to ITD for the necessary access privileges. Since the development's conditions of approval have not been met the development remains less than fully approved and construction cannot begin.

Second, following the Commission's conditional approval of The Cliffs three plaintiffs, SaveThePlateau.org, Anthony Jones, and Mike Reinick, petitioned Fourth District Court to review Ada County's handling of the application. Two parties, Skyline Development and Ada County defended the County's handling of the application. Briefs have been filed and oral arguments have been heard. The judges decision is still pending. Depending the judge's ruling any of the five parties are free to appeal the matter to the Idaho Supreme Court. Litigation of the County's approval of The Cliffs will likely take several more years. Construction cannot begin until the legal issues are resolved.

Either way, construction of houses on Hammer Flat not only has not begun, it cannot begin until all of the obstacles have been removed. That day, if it ever happens, and the thousands of people working to preserve Hammer Flat have reason to believe it will never happen, is still many years in the future.

In my mind, the Idaho Statesman article gives an incorrect impression regarding the status of the application to develop Hammer Flat and needs to print a correction.

Regards,

Anthony Jones

*Copy of letter sent to Idaho Statesman requesting a printed correction of incorrect statements pertaining to the development of Hammer Flat

Supreme Court Confirms:
Commissioners Guilty of Violating Open Meeting Law to Discuss Development of Hammer Flat

(The following is a copy of the Idaho Statesman Guest Opinion authored by Tony Jones.)

The recent press release by current and former Ada County Commissioners Tilman, Yzaquirre, and Peavey-Derr concerning their 2005 open meeting violation (recently deemed illegal by the Idaho Supreme Court) shows no remorse and even less ownership for their errors.

First, some background.  In 2001 Boise voters passed the Foothills Levy by a 60% to 40% margin.  The Levy was the funding mechanism for a multi-agency compact called the Foothills Policy Plan.  This Plan was the culmination of years of negotiations between the Forest Service, BLM, Idaho State Land Board, Fish & Game, Boise City, Boise County and Ada County.   These seven agencies agreed that the eastern foothills, including Hammer Flat, were “the highest priority area for open space acquisition.”

Even though they actively participated in negotiating the Foothills Policy Plan--and went so far as to prod Boise City to codify it--Ada County reneged on its obligation to enter the plan into its own code.  As you’ll see, Ada County breached the public trust by operating behind the scenes to subvert the very plan they helped create.

In 2005, when the commissioners convened the illegal meeting, there was a lot more at stake than city-county relationships and a pending application to develop Hammer Flat. Like the tip of an iceberg, this illegal meeting was the first clearly visible portion of a much larger problem.  This meeting was the first concrete evidence of Ada County’s unilateral decision, contrary to the wishes of their constituents, to undermine the entire Foothills Policy Plan.

Recently acquired documents show that, for about a year prior to the illegal 2005 meeting, senior Ada County Development Services staff members (Development Services is directly supervised by the Commissioners.) were secretly encouraging one or more developers to target the eastern Boise foothills.

Remember that time and again, valley residents list undeveloped foothills as one of the most important aspects of Treasure Valley quality of life.  Plans, secret or otherwise, on the part of any politician to degrade this feature and violate the Foothills Policy Plan insult and injure the public who voted to protect it.

Most people agree that democracies function effectively, efficiently, and in every one’s best interests when they operate in a fair and open manner.  Businesses, including developers, need to know if other businesses are getting preferential treatment.  Citizens need to know if their wishes are being followed, or flouted.  Businesses should not be afraid to speak up at peril of being blackballed by the very agencies upon which they depend. Citizens should not view the entire system as corrupt and quit participating in their government.

In what was effectively a plea bargain arrangement, the Supreme Court let the commissioners slide on two of the three counts associated with the open meeting violation and affirmed a third count.  In doing so, the conviction stands.  Contrary to all their bluster, the Commissioners violated the law.

And, in the court of public opinion, the Commissioners are guilty of much more. 

They are guilty of spending nearly $20,000 of taxpayer money to avoid a paltry personal fine of $150. 

They are guilty of trying to justify secret meetings when every thinking person wants more openness in government. 

They are guilty of playing favorites with some developers, at the expense of other developers, businesses, and the public. 

And, they are guilty of circumventing the enormously popular Foothills Policy Plan they helped construct.

Citizens of Ada County deserve more than press releases and posturing from the Commissioners.  We deserve an apology and better representation.  The County also needs to codify and enforce the Foothills Policy Plan it actively helped create.

On November 17, 2006, Rich Wright, spokesman for the Board of Commissioners, received an email from one of Skyline Development's contractors. Attached to the email was a copy of an STP newsletter. The newsletter he received on that date summarized the first Board of Commissioners’ (November 15, 2006) public hearing on The Cliffs. Mr. Wright then forwarded the email to, among others, each of the three County Commissioners, as well as Messrs. Gerry Armstrong, Mark Pecchenino and Dean Gunderson of Ada County Development Services.

Mr. Wright’s email states:

“I thought you all might find the letter below from Tony Jones entertaining.
Rich

Perhaps some good clarification from Staff or Legal regarding the ‘incomplete app[lication]’ issue Jones and his followers seem to think they have us nailed on would be appropriate prior to testimony at the 12/6 meeting?

Someone again needs to outline that there is no requirement in the ordinance for F&G to ‘signoff’ on the mitigation plan. An additional explanation of what’s required to deem an application complete might be another clarification we should consider making, especially since we’ll likely hear another volley of testimony from people who think the access road issue is something that should have prevented the application from progressing forward.

Just a suggestion, but it would be time well spent.
Rich”

(It is STP's guess that Mr. Wright does not find his new found notoriety nearly as "entertaining" as he did the Dec. 17 STP newsletter.)

Development services did as they were told. And, when yours truly spotted the ruse and stood up to protest, Commissioner Yzaguirre would not allow me to speak. Skyline and staff would be the only ones allowed to rebut documents and testimony.

That was one of the more glaring instances of our county government acting to deprive opponents of The Cliffs of their right to due process.

With that in mind and other issues in mind, on January 30, 2007, STP filed a petition in Fourth District court for judicial review of Ada County’s approval of The Cliffs.

The plaintiffs listed on the petition are SaveThePlateau, Anthony Jones, and Mike Reineck

Without going into detail, the grounds of our appeal are that the County,

A. Violated STP and other's Constitutional due process rights;
B. Violated the Local Land Use Planning Act, Idaho Code
C. Violated the Ada County Zoning Ordinance, Ada County Code
D. Violated the Ada County Comprehensive Plan;

A copy of the complete petition can be downloaded by clicking this link: STP Petition for Judicial Review.

I would like to make special notice of our STP's attorney, who did a marvelous job of making sense out of a very confusing legal process, made even more so by the hide the ball, cheat the system, tactics of Ada County. If you need the services of a great attorney, her contact information is,

Judith M. Brawer, Idaho State Bar No. 8532
1502 N. 7th St.
Boise, Idaho 83702
(208) 871-0596

The Run Away
Ada County Commissioner's
Approve The Cliffs

If you believe in democracy, the evening of December 20, 2006, was not a pretty night at the Ada County Court House.

In a perfect marriage between developmental zeal and political arrogance, Skyline Development said, "Trust me," and the Ada County Board of County Commissioners said, "We do.?"

The same three commissioners who are guilty of discussing The Cliffs in an illegal closed-door meeting last year, deliberated (and I use the term very loosely) for about 90 minutes before giving the project a rubber-stamp approval.

In doing so, the commission violated the state Land Use Planning Act, the Idaho Fish and Game founding act, the Ada County Comprehensive Plan, and the Blueprint for Good Growth. The application is still so incomplete that there is not a hint of what they intend to use for an entrance road.

Perhaps the most egregious thing of all is that the commission ignored the sentiments of the more than 3,300 people such as yourselves who took the time to tell them your concerns.

Realistically, given the likes of the current development services staff and the current Board of County Commissioners, the outcome was never in question. However, like so much that this commission does, this is not the end of the road. Like their illegal meetings, like their decision on Avimor, and like their recent decision on the associated with Emergency Medical Services, this decision is destined for judicial oversight. The only real question is who will be the first to file and upon what grounds.

It is sad that that it has to be this way. However, that is what the courts are for. When governmental agencies fail to follow their own rules and regulations, the courts supply the justice that commissioners like Tilman, Yzaquirre, and Peavey-Derr abuse.

So, in conclusion, it was not a good night for STP but not the end of the game. Not by a long shot.

In coming days, SaveThePlateau, various governmental and non-governmental agencies will be reviewing the record of decision and related legal options.

Stay tuned.

Conditions of Approval.

The Conditions of Approval are a list put together by the county in a pretense that they are did things legally. They did not. At the same time, some of the conditions may be very difficult, perhaps impossible to achieve. To read the list, please click on the following links.

Exhibit 249, Exhibit 250

Regards,

STP

Save the Plateau's mission is to promote and coordinate activities designed to maintain and preserve the Hammer Flat Plateau as a viable habitat for deer, elk, eagles, and the variety of other species that inhabit this area in such abundance and rely on it for their winter survival.

Sincerely,
SaveThePlateau.org