Reform effort stagnates

In a fusillade of paper, criticism from all sides has blasted the Blaine County Commissioners’ unanimous decision on Sept. 3 to delay adopting changes to the county subdivision ordinance.

Even Commissioner Len Harlig, who was chairing the meeting, lamented on "how badly the meeting was conducted."

Harlig made his charge in a mea-culpa letter to the planning and zoning department, the county prosecuting attorney and his fellow commissioners.

Through a somewhat murky reference to the extirpation of alligators from swamps, Harlig excoriated the board for not, by God, doing its job and passing something.

Two notable southern Blaine County denizens, Katie Breckenridge and Rob Struthers, snapped at Harlig’s reptilian analogy, writing in a letter to the editor that "the final insult came…when he referred to 40,000 acres of farmlands in Blaine County as swamps and over 100 farmers and ranchers who spoke on their behalf as alligators."

Blaine County Recreation District executive director Mary Austin Crofts was next to wade into the quagmire, contending in a letter to the board that the proposed amendments are soft on developers who should all contribute to Blaine County’s recreation needs.

Last week, a public watch-dog group called the Blaine County Citizens for Smart Growth likewise harangued the commissioners, charging dereliction of duty for allowing a moratorium on new subdivision applications to expire without passing a new ordinance.

The failure to do so was apparently behind the cryptic saying that headed Harlig’s letter: "When you are up to your hips in alligators, it is hard to remember that your job is to clean out the swamp."

Harlig contended the board erred by agreeing to make as many changes as it did.

"We knew there would be objections from some of the developers (and their consultants)," Harlig wrote. "We were certain that some well-organized agricultural land owners, who want to create residential subdivisions, would object even though the proposed amendments mirror the Agriculture section of the comprehensive plan.

"We knew that certain attorneys would attack the various sections of the amendments as either too general, or too specific, or both. There were no surprises Thursday that should have kept us from our job of adopting the amendments."

"Were there just too many alligators for the board to remember that our job was to clean out the swamp?" he asked.

He continued, "The board needs to work together to avoid such poor hearing outcomes in the future."

Perhaps it was poor hearing on the part of Breckenridge and Struthers, as well, that caused them to believe they were being dubbed alligators. Or perhaps they can be forgiven for misunderstanding Harlig’s off-beat analogy.

Breckenridge and Struthers had led the charge to organize a constituency of 216 people representing about 40,000 acres of agricultural land. The two wrote that the board was right to listen to those present, make the changes it did and delay a decision.

"We have become very concerned that the portion of the agriculture industry that is composed of farmers and ranchers whose sole source of income is the farm and livestock was not being heard...people did not understand the financial crises facing over 50 percent of these operations," they wrote.

"The ability to sell portions of this land is one of the major criteria that banks look at when approving the annual operating loans for our operations."

"The commission constantly talks about a residential subdivision but these are agricultural subdivisions. We want agricultural subdivisions."

The bickering changes the situation little. The board is still left with amendments to the subdivision ordinance that it must, at some point in the near future and in some incarnation, pass.

Any philosophical or moral objections to the document--mostly alleging over-regulation of private agricultural property and a lack of understanding about the needs of rural landowners--are not likely to dissipate by then.

The next meeting to consider the proposed amendments is Monday, Oct. 5., at 6:30 p.m. Perhaps that meeting will serve to clear the air of the bad feelings bubbling up from the grass roots. Or perhaps not.