The recent zoning complaint against the Moscow Food Co-op has just been rejected, and the obvious question for Nathan Wilson and Aaron Rench (the gentlemen who filed the complaint) is whether they will appeal. The following is a press release that they issued this morning.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2005
Moscow Men Have Zoning Fever: Appealing One and Adding Two
Aaron Rench and Nathan Wilson have lost the first round of their complaint against the Moscow Food Co-op, but they are neither surprised nor discouraged.
“I think we all knew this was going to happen,” Wilson said. “We’ve been told that we should take the weekend to consider the merits of an appeal. But we’re not sure what merit has to do with it. Other greats have gone before us, and shown us the path. Mike Curley for example. Did he let Plaskon’s level head get him down? No. He filed an appeal, broke new ground, and remade the world of zoning interpretation. His shoes are small, but we’re standing in them.”
Aaron Rench agreed. “We have to ask ourselves what Mike would do. Besides refusing to represent us, I think the answer’s obvious. He’s a model to us. We wanna be like Mike.”
But Rench and Wilson are not limiting themselves to an appeal. They’ve been looking at the code, and they believe they’ve spotted some other major violators: The University of Idaho, and the Moscow School District.
“Before Curley, we never realized how zoning code should be applied. Now, in what we like to call the Common Era, we know that if a use is not specifically permitted, then it is prohibited,” Wilson explained. “That might just go for religious schools, but we’re pretty sure it’s universal. The University is in the University zone (designated on city maps with a U). But don’t let that fool you. We need to take a closer look. Assumptions can be deadly. Nowhere in the code are educational institutions listed as a permitted use for the University zone. And the Moscow School District has been operating the Palouse Creek Regional High School in the Neighborhood Business zone (NB), which also neglects to list schools as a permitted use.”
“You know,” Aaron Rench said. “I never really understood why people filed complaints, and appealed and got all wound up. It just seemed so petty. But now that I’ve tried it, well, the buzz is amazing. I’m pretty sure that if I don’t seek professional help, I’ll just keep filing.”
Wilson assumed that people would accuse him of filing frivolous complaints.
“Frivolous?” he said. “An enormous organization is existing with flippant disregard for the law, and we’re frivolous? Just because we like them doesn’t mean they can flout the law. Just imagine if they were big tobacco, or Jesuit, or a small religious school downtown. Would we be frivolous then? No way. I think we’d have a shot at city council.”
Both men wanted to express their gratitude to Mike Curley.
“He’s amazing,” Rench said. “Hammurabi had nothing on him. It’s an honor to be in the same town. When he’s on city council I’m sure we can expect great things. Hopefully Friendship Square will include a large rock inscribed with permitted uses. The nice thing about rock is that it’s harder to change.”
“I think his future is bright,” Wilson said. “I think he easily has the potential to be as big as the Women’s Temperance Movement.”
As for the men’s motivation? It hasn’t changed.
“For the love of the code,” they agreed.
Contact: Aaron Rench, Nathan Wilson