When the County Commissioners have to make a decision on a subdivision based on which lawsuit will cost the least, you have a broken system that needs fixing. This has become a major criteria for subdivision approvals including the latest one to hit the news, Legacy Ranch. While I am sure there will be much discussion about the merits of the case, the ongoing issue is that the taxpayers are simply dumping money into the pockets of lawyers because the system we have now is broken.
No one’s needs are being met, except maybe those of land speculators: developers need a predictable process; citizens need to know that what they care about will be heard; the water and resources, on which we all depend, need a process so they can thrive.
My company has done a couple of developments in the Hamilton city limits. While some of the rules and regulations are burdensome and can be improved, at least I knew when I developed a building that I could look at the zoning regulations ahead of time. I could at least have confidence that I could gather up the money and make building plans without having to endure a political football game and legal fees to find out if it could go forward.
While my projects have been small compared to the large subdivisions that make the news, I think it is a good analogy. Certainly, someone who builds a home or business is doing good, honest work. Certainly, a company who hires people to build homes and businesses is doing good work. Certainly, we all want good clean water, farms to grow our food, and the beautiful landscape and wildlife that defines the Bitterroot Valley.
When neighbors begin rubbing shoulders with neighbors, one neighbor’s activities inevitably affect their neighbor. Their neighbor’s right to a peaceful and healthful pursuit of their happiness now becomes an issue. When this happens, as it has in our valley, the idea of unrestrained private property rights must give way to some community agreement just as citizens who would be just as happy to preserve every blade of native grass must give way to some community agreement. Certainly, an agreement ahead of time will serve all of the neighbors and provide a way forward to manage the resources on which we all depend.
The people of the Bitterroot Valley have tried and failed to reach this agreement before. It is time to try again. Let’s give the lawyers something else to do other than collect our tax money simply because we can’t figure out how to agree ahead of time how development will proceed in this valley.
James Olsen
Hamilton