The Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency is discussing a plan to construct a short road connecting East Seltice Way with Spencer Street. The connection would involve a roadway less than 1,200 feet in length, but would include an additional railroad crossing and an additional stoplight on Seltice Way. The land through which this road will pass is currently vacant with no potential to create either jobs or address blight or deterioration. Indeed, the landowner, whose land is proposed to be improved is not even willing to donate the right of way for the connector road, and wants to be paid, which will add to the cost of the project and use taxpayer dollars to improve access to vacant land owned by a private party.

Preliminary estimates for the cost of the proposed improvements, per the URA, are in the range of $1,600,000 or more. That works out to be about $1,334 per linear foot of roadway!

These improvements are being proposed in an Urban Renewal District that the City Council has voted to close. When asked why the URA would undertake such a costly and unjustified project, the Director of the URA, Tom Lien, said "This is one of the projects identified in the Renewal Plan." When asked how the agency can justify the expenditure of $1.6 million in property tax dollars when the improvements will not create one job or address one aspect of blight and deterioration, Mr. Lien replied that it "improves transportation by relieving pressure on the intersection of Ross Point Road and Seltice Way."

The Urban Renewal Plan that is cited as justification for this gross misuse of taxpayer funds was created more than 10 years ago. Since that time, the city has built a connector street called Herborn Place which is just three-tenths of a mile east of the proposed road that the URA is proposing to build.

Herborn Place is fully improved with center turn lanes, stop lights at Seltice and a railroad crossing. The road was not only designed to relieve pressure on the Ross Point intersection, but to also provide access to commercially zoned property adjacent to Seltice Way. Herborn Place provides access to Third Street to the north and is not heavily used. Additionally most of the commercial property on both sides of Herborn remains vacant land.

Finally, the proposed road would dump traffic seeking to avoid the Ross Point intersection into a residential neighborhood with two-lane residential streets which are primarily used for residential activities such as on-street parking, families walking and children playing. That's good planning isn't it?

This is yet another instance of extremely poor planning on the part of the Urban Renewal Agency, and an embarrassingly callous misuse of the public tax dollars entrusted to that Agency. I am hopeful that bringing this matter to light will cause those serving on the URA Board and the City Council to take a hard look at how this independent agency, which is sitting on more than $5 million taxpayer dollars, is wasting our money.

LEN CROSBY

Post Falls