COEUR d'ALENE - A proposed Unified Land Use Code for Kootenai County has led to the formation of a new group of 25 rural property owners.

The Rural Property Owners Committee hopes to meet with and possibly influence the Kootenai County commissioners and the county's planning commission as those officials work on land use regulations, said Brent Regan, one of the committee members.

"The proposed ULUC is foundationally flawed because it doesn't respect the primacy of property rights under Idaho law," Regan said.

The group also wants to "publicize and act upon landowner concerns" regarding the ULUC, developed by a consultant, Texas-based Kendig Keast Collaborative. The proposed ULUC should be set aside, according to a position paper signed off on by all the committee members.

There are 27 committee members total, two of whom are not rural property owners in Kootenai County.

Regan, speaking for the group on Wednesday, said the current land use codes and zoning are imperfect, but can be improved.

"Efforts should be focused on addressing specific problems in existing code, not a wholesale replacement that squelches private property rights and destroys private planning and investment," said committee member Art Macomber.

Land use codes must be understandable to the average rural landowner, he said.

"What part of 'keep it simple' was so difficult for the consultant to understand?" said Larry Chmura, another committee member.

One of the group's recommendations is a "land-use judicial function should be created in the judiciary branch to help resolve land-use disputes. This venue would function similar to a small-claims court, where plaintiffs could pay a small fee and appear with the defendant, both without counsel, to plead their case to a final judgment."

County land use codes apply to the roughly 30 percent of the county's population that live outside cities.

"Because the county codes only apply to the rural residents, it is only fair that the rural residents have the greatest input on reformed codes," the position paper said.

Kootenai County's planning commission on Monday voted to write a new land use code without the help of Kendig Keast.

The Kootenai County commission will meet in the afternoon on Monday, Oct. 28 to discuss the planning commission's recommendation.

Who's on the committee:

Members of the newly formed Rural Property Owners Committee are:

Bob Bingham

Bob Brooke

Larry Chmura

Brad Corkill

Gerald Dale

Leslie Damiano

Greg Delavan

Mark Eberlein

Courtenay Ellison

Joe Gaines

John Green

Joa Harrison

Bill Jasper

Jennifer Locke

Art Macomber

John McFaddin

Ron Mendive

Gary Mitchell

Jeremy Morris

Neil Oliver

Brent Regan

Dave Stewart

Luke Sommer

Jeff Tyler

Jeff Ward

Joe Whipple

Mary White