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  Save Hayden September Newsletter

  Sep 6, 2022

  SAVE HAYDEN NEWSLETTER -- SEPTEMBER 2022

  Save Hayden is a group of area residents who oppose Hayden’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan and are working to prevent the densification of our community.  We oppose globalist influences and are working to make the Hayden city government more responsive to the concerns of its citizens and less beholden to stakeholders and developers.

  The Save Hayden group seeks to provide information about political developments, especially those related to planning, zoning, and growth.   The following topics are addressed in this Newsletter, and a printable copy is available. 

  Problems with 2040 Comp Plan       R-MF to MR City wide Rezone        August 15  Meet-up and Public Hearing      Unfair "Standards of Approval"       Law Enforcement Levy

  UPCOMING EVENTS

  Tues., Sept 13	City Council Meeting, Public Hearing on City-wide R-MF Rezone
  Mon., Sept 19	Joint P & Z/CC Workshop to discuss "Standards of Approval"
  Tues., Sept 27	City Council Meeting, Vote on City-wide R-MF Rezone

   

  OVERVIEW: Problems with the 2040 Comp Plan

  In the Spring of 2021, Hayden adopted a new “2040” Comprehensive Plan that envisioned a denser, more urbanized and congested  city with almost all future development being apartment complexes rather than single family homes.  To give a rough idea of what city planners are preparing for, they envision a population increase of over 1000 new residents a year with a final “buildout” population of over 75,000.  (Current population about 18,000).   To give you an idea of what we are up against, the following chart is from the ACTUAL 2040 Sewer Plan.

  Most residents oppose this type of ultra-aggressive growth and in November 2021 they elected two new "Responsible Growth" city council members by wide margins.  Then, within a few months of the election, three city leaders who were responsible for the unpopular Comp Plan,—the Mayor, the Planning Director, and the City Attorney,—had all resigned.   For a brief moment, things looked promising.

  Yet eight months later, almost nothing has been done to reign in growth.  The adjustments made to the Mixed Use zoning designation failed to correct serious problems with the Future Land Use Map, and the city still has not addressed a multitude of problems with the newly adopted Zoning Regulations.  

  It is harder than most people realize for elected representatives to make significant changes. City Council members only meet a few times a month and their agenda is prepared by city employees.  The whole system is set up in expectation that the City Council will take guidance from the city staff.   It is difficult to turn the ship around when city officials prioritize the concerns of stakeholders and developers over those of residents.  And it becomes almost impossible when residents who oppose the densification of their city fail to speak out. 

  It was because of the difficulties in bringing real, significant change to the Hayden city government that the Save Hayden group was formed.  There is no magic fix.   The plan to destroy Hayden is long term, so the plan to save it must also be long term, and it must involve education, citizen involvement, and a sustained effort to make Hayden a city governed for the benefit of its citizens rather than developers and globalist corporations.  The following articles provide an overview of some of the major problems with Hayden's pro-growth 2040 Comp Plan. 

   Problems with the 2040 Comp Plan    Repeal the 2040 Comp Plan

  The Zoning Documents page of the Save Hayden website provides background and links to Hayden's Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Regulations, past and present. 

   

  R-MF to MR City wide Rezone

  If it was up to us, we would fix Hayen's zoning problems by repealing the entire 2040 Comp Plan in one swoop. However, there is no feasible way to do this at the current time.   We do not set the city's agenda, so the only way to be effective is to focus on the issues brought forth by the city administrators, and make sure that Hayden residents understand how these issues will affect them.  

  The reason that we have been focusing for the last few months on the proposed elimination of the "Residential Multi-Family" (R-MF) zoning category, is because this city-wide rezone is a high priority of city planning officials.  The R-MF rezone is a priorty because it would establish the newly defined "Mixed Residential" (MR) zone as the preferred "medium density" zoning code throughout the city.  throughout the city.  MR allows higher density development in existing neighborhoods and is an important step towards implementing the disastrous "Future Land Use Map."   

  One problem with the new MR zone code is that city administrators have consistently claimed that the MR zone only allows 8 dwellings per acre, but this limit flatly contradicts the city's zoning regulations and is unenforceable.   This and other misleading claims about maximum densities have been repeated by city officials for months and have been presented to both council members and concerned residents as facts.  In other words, the city's decision to rezone these R-MF parcels has been based on false pretenses.

    The following articles discuss problems with the proposed citywide rezone of the R-MF zoning code. 

  Objection to the R-MF to MR Rezone     Promised Density Limits are Unenforceable

  Residents who are concerned about the R-MF rezone should try to attend the upcoming City Council meetings on September 13 and 27.  Or they can email the citiy council and let them know they are against the rezone. 

  August 15th Meet-up and Public Hearing

  The Save Hayden group scheduled its second meet-up immediately before the August 15^th P & Z Public Hearing for the city-wide "Residential Multi-family" zone change.    The meet-up itself, which only lasted about thirty minutes, was positive and the turnout was very good, especially for a summer afternoon on short notice.   We met some terrific people and only wish we had longer to answer questions and discuss topics of interest.  

  Unfortunately, the P & Z Public Hearing that followed the meet up was very disappointing.  Many residents who attended went with the intention of speaking against the zoning change, but the hearing itself was a complete waste of their time. The city planner spoke for almost two hours before allowing any public comment and by that time, much of the audience had left bored, frustrated, and angry.  Then, after a three hour filibuster, the P & Z  commission rubber stamped the zone change, as they were compelled to do by the outrageously rigged and unfair "Standards of Approval."

  The R-MF Rezone "Public Hearing" was such a colossal waste of time that it required, not one but two articles to critique.    The first part discusses the inherent problems of doing such a complicated all-in-one zone-change.   The second part focuses on the unjust "Standards of Approval" that rendered the entire meeting futile and a waste of time for all concerned.   

  Public Hearings are a Sham, Part I   Public Hearings are a Sham, Part II

  Nevertheless, in spite of the negative outcome of the failed August 15th, R-MF Rezone Public Hearing, a few good things came out of it.  First, the high turnout was unexpected by city officials and it proved that many people are concerned with and displeased with the attempted rezone. City officials now know that if they go ahead with the rezone (almost inevitable), there will be repercussions.  Second, the hearing brought attention to the extremely unfair changes made the Hayden's Zoning Regulation, that effectively cut off any way for citizens to oppose zone changes, due to the entirely bogus new "Standards of Approval." 

  UNFAIR Standards of Approval 

  The most important outcome of Hayden's August 15th "Public Hearing", was that the city’s rigged and unfair, newly-revised “Standards of Approval” for Zoning changes was thoroughly exposed.  The problem is not obvious and most people,—including some city council members,—were entirely unaware.  But the fact is, the Zoning Regulations that currently define what P & Z  Commissioners are allowed to consider when voting on zoning changes ignores resident input altogether.  This was not always the case.  

  In early 2021, at the same time the City adopted the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, it rewrote the zoning ordinances to remove every single “Standard of Approval” that related to actual concerns of existing residents.  The ONLY relevant standard of approval is whether or not the zone change conforms to the FUTURE LAND USE MAP.   The P & Z commission is now an entirely pointless, automatic rubber stamp for anything the City Planners bring before it.  This change was made for the benefit of investors who do not want Hayden citizens to be able to object to their plans for future development, and all the P & Z Commissioners who were involved in approving of these change 18 months ago are complicit. The whole affairs is explained in some detail in the Public Hearings are a Sham, Part II series listed above

  Everyone at the August 15 P & Z hearing except the residents knew that it was a foregone conclusion that the Zoning Change would be approved, so the two hour delay before citizens were allowed to speak was all for show.   Most recognized the hearing as a scam within the first half hour, and left bored and frustrated rather than waste their time.

  The whole spectacle was so ridiculous, and the standards of approval are so biased in favor of developers, that when the issue was brought to the attention of the City Council at the August 23 meeting, council members agreed to schedule a workshop to discuss the issue, tentatively set for Sept 19^th.    Save Hayden will keep you appraised of future developments. 

   

  Hayden's Law Enforcement Levy

  Save  Hayden was not originally focused on Law Enforcement issues.   It seemed indisputable that Hayden has been underfunding L.E. for some time, but since every city official has spoken in favor of increasing funding, we did not consider it a controversial issue.  When the city convened a task force to discuss funding levels, we stopped paying attention.   That is, until the task force made its report, and demanded that a permanent increase in the city's property tax be put on the November ballot.  WHAT?   

  How could a task force called to consider crime statistics know whether or not the city could provide the needed funds from their existing revenues?   Who gave a task force the authority to insist on a tax increase?  Why not just recommend funding levels and leave financing to the City Council?  And why make the request at the last minute, just head of the November ballot deadline.  The short timing forced the city council to vote on a 30% increase in property taxes without having time to consider alternatives. 

  The apparently rigged timing of the request and the coordinated effort to tie tax increases to support of law enforcement got our attention.   And the more we investigated, the more suspicious the whole affair appeared.  We recently completed our first article on this subject, Hayden’s “Law Enforcement Levy” Gamble and are continuing investigations.  More to come on this subject.

   

  Ways to Help Save Hayden

  Many Hayden Residents are concerned about out-of-control growth but are not sure what can be done to regain control of their government.  "Growth and Development" issues are complicated and it is frustrating to try to influence matters that are directed by hard-to-understand laws and well-connected “insiders.”  

  But the alternative is to allow our city to be handed over to corporate interests who will run it to suit themselves, and steamroll existing residents.   Here are a few suggestions:

  • Keep Informed:  If you are reading this newsletter, you are already doing something.  The first step towards solving a problem is understanding it.
  • Speak Up:  Letting your representatives know the issues that concern you most helps them govern better.    Short, to-the-point emails to your representatives are effective.   
  • Inform Others:  If you are active on in civic groups, or on social media, you may have an opportunity to inform others about issues that you have invested some time in learning about.  You can strike up a conversation with others about growth, or use social media to post articles about growth and development from the Save Hayden news blog, or other sources.  
  • Attend City Council Meetings:  Council meetings are a good way to meet the people running your city, and see first-hand what is going on.  If you can’t make it twice a month, go twice a year.  If you can’t stay for two hours, stay for an hour or attend “online”.  Seeing your local government in action will give you insight into how the system works.
  • Be Persistent:   Taking back our city government from special interests who have controlled City Hall for decades will take time and persistence.  It’s a step by step, election by election process.  If you read one relevant article per week, or talk to one neighbor, or attend one CC meeting, or email your council member, or post a comment on a local board, you are keeping informed, getting involved, and saving your city.   Keep it up.  Live  your life, but never stop paying attention!

  If you would like to be on Save Hayden’s Email list, and receive newsletters and notifications, sign up on our website at, or contact us at  savehayden@proton.me.

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