De-annexed Priest River properties see zone change, end to land-use moratorium

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

Bonner County commissioners repealed a moratorium May 23 against land-use actions on property de-annexed from the city of Priest River.

A moratorium was placed on the approximately 875 acres in December 2022 because, upon de-annexation, the property lacked a zoning designation. Bonner County Planning Director Jake Gabell explained at an April 18 planning commission hearing that, without official zoning, Bonner County’s planners could not regulate what happened on the property. Because of that, a moratorium was placed.

At the April 18 hearing, the commission voted to recommend designating the land “Rural Residential” and zoning it to five- and 10-acre minimums. The planning department collaborated with landowners, Gabell said, to settle on the R-5 and R-10 zoning. Bonner County was the official applicant requesting the changes.

Bonner County commissioners voted unanimously May 10 to approve the planning commission’s recommendations.

With the county’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning maps amended to reflect the changes, a moratorium was no longer needed in order to mitigate the “risk to the health, safety and welfare of neighboring residents” should property owners opt to take land use actions the county could not legally regulate without zoning in place. Gabell proposed an end to the moratorium at the commissioners’ May 23 business meeting, and the motion passed unanimously.

The property — located off Highway 2, Eastside Road and East Settlement Road just east of Priest River city limits — features flat, open areas as well as some sloped, timbered land, and is currently used mostly for agricultural purposes. At the April 18 hearing, landowner John Conolly said he did not have plans to develop the property, but was working with the county to “make it where it makes sense.”

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

With the end of the COVID-19 health emergency, Americans for Tax Fairness examined the wealth impact of those years: 700 billionaires saw their cumulative wealth go from $2.95 trillion to $4.65 trillion. Jeff Bezos gained $17 billion, while union busting; Elon Musk became $153 billion richer while also union busting and Warren Buffet gained $47 billion while denying rail workers sick leave.

According to an opinion piece in The New York Times by writer Ezra Klein, the debt ceiling may be our “single dumbest” feature, since Congress decides how to spend money and later votes on whether to pay those debts. Even a short-term ceiling breach could cause a recession, with 1.5 million lost jobs, the stock market falling and much higher long-term borrowing costs. Potential cures include following the 14th Amendment, which states that the public’s debt “shall not be questioned,” indicating the ceiling itself is unconstitutional. The other is to mint a large-sum platinum coin. The problem with either one: likely litigation, with the Supreme Court at this time a wild card slanted to favor Republican causes.

Klein concluded by saying the House Republicans are the ones creating the default scenario, and “they are pulling the pin on this grenade.”

Under the Republican-dominated Donald Trump presidency, The Week reported, the nation’s debt rose by $7.8 trillion, with three different votes to raise the debt ceiling. Biden’s plans to reduce the debt by $3 trillion, such as letting Medicare negotiate drug prices and taxing the ultra-wealthy, are adamantly opposed by Republicans in Congress. According to Newsweek, the debt is currently more than $31.5 trillion. The media source reported that Biden did reduce the national deficit between 2020 and 2022 by $1.7 trillion.

The BBC reported that House Republicans seek not only to sink Biden’s legislative priorities, but to increase spending on the military and border security. Meanwhile, the debt stand-off has “rattled” financial markets.

Social Security Works reported that the Biden administration has been examining selling some federal lands, selling gold reserves, halting Social Security checks for the first time ever, and delaying payments to veterans and active-duty military personnel. Stock market responses could include wiping out an estimated $12 trillion in household wealth, including retirement accounts.

According to SSW, partisans opposed to raising the debt ceiling aren’t concerned about the deficit; rather, they have targeted the poor and elderly for cuts, while protecting wealthy donors and defense contractors.

The U.S. has never defaulted on debt, and Biden says it never will. He won’t agree to “protect” the oil industry with Republican plans for them getting $30 billion in tax cuts (the sector made $200 billion last year), will not protect wealthy tax cheats with IRS funding cuts, and will not cut jobs for 100,000 school teachers and 30,000 law enforcement officers, which he says the Republican plan would initiate.

One of the demands made by House Republicans for raising the debt ceiling is to increase work requirements for food benefits, Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Experts, according to CBS, find scant evidence that works. Arkansas in 2018 instituted work requirements, which resulted in 18,000 people losing health care coverage, leading them into medical debt or skipping medications. The Congressional Budget Office reported it did not increase employment. Republicans want to change food benefit rules, but the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities argues their plan could result in loss of benefits for 1 million older adults. Those not working are typically providing unpaid care for children or older family members, attending school or have health problems.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said his party’s proposed policy will help people get a job. The CBO’s research has not shown that to be the case. Data shows 97% of people receiving food benefits are already working.

“House Republicans have decided to hold the economy hostage to slash assistance for low-income Americans while protecting tax cuts for the wealthy. That’s a factual statement, not a partisan complaint,” wrote E.J. Dionne, of The Washington Post.

Blast from the (recent) past: Alexei Navalny, who challenged Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidency in 2018, has since had several “mysterious” poisonings. After his latest recovery in a German hospital, he returned to Russia, knowing it did not matter where he resided: Russian agents would find him. He was immediately arrested and wrote a friend: “Everything will be alright. And even if it isn’t we’ll have the consolation of having lived honest lives.” Recent reports indicate Navalny continues to suffer from his last poisoning, which appears to be slow-acting and “rotting his insides.”