Four the Future - January 26

Today: Real estate default, Phosphorus fertilizers, transportation connectivity, and animal control.

• N.Y. Housing Complex Is Turned Over to Creditors
  Source: New York Times; January 25, 2010
  Summary: Four years after the most expensive real estate transaction of its kind in US history, the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village have turned them over to their creditors. The owners owed $3 billion after purchasing the 110 buildings and 11,227 apartments but could not collect enough rent to pay the mortgage. The development was built after World War II for middle class families, and it stayed affordable until the latest purchase. The new owners performed expensive upgrades to the apartments and attempted to rent them for higher prices, to no avail. The owners had been warned that their plans were risky by tenant advocates and urban planners.
  Opinion: Another part of the real estate bubble bursting. Clearly they had too much money on their hands and needed to purchase something. They depended on highly speculative instruments and their willingness to move out middle class renters caught them with their pants down. There is way too much irrational speculation in America.

• No P on Grass
  Source: The Inlander; January 21, 2010
  Summary: Washington State Representative Timm Ormsby and Senators Lisa Brown and Chris Marr are sponsors of a bill which would ban the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers. The purpose is to reduce the amount of fertilizer entering the Spokane River. Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District banned phosphorus several years ago. However, the Washington Friends of Farms and Forests opposes the measure, as it does not think it will help. The State of Minnesota banned it years ago, and the City of Ann Arbor banned it and phosphorus pollution in the river went down by 28 percent. Marr and Ormsby say that Costco and Wal*Mart are amenable to stocking low phosphorus fertilizers.
  Opinion: One of the ways this region will become compliant with future limits on phosphorus in the Spokane River, not to mention cleaning it up so we can eliminate unnatural algae blooms, is to reduce what is called non-point (or "not-from-pipes") sources of pollution. The soil in Spokane County is naturally rich in phosphorus, and needs no amendment past the first year of growth for lawns. The City of Liberty Lake took the initiative to stop using phosphorus for regular use on the golf course, and there were no complaints. It's simply not necessary. (However, it must be noted, that the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District's ban is nothing but talk. They don't have any authority to any such thing. Even if they did, to be effective the ban must be region wide.)
• Complete Streets needs you
  Source: Down to Earth; January 24, 2010
  Summary: Spokane County is updating its subdivision ordinance regarding transportation connectivity. Connectivity is a measure of how "connected" the community is--how many ways there are to travel from one place to another. Connectivity is important for cars, bikes and pedestrians to get around, is more compliant with other jurisdictions' street plans, and saves taxpayer dollars for emergency management, transit, and cooperation with other jurisdictions. The Spokane County Planning Commission approved of the change, but Commissioners Mielke and Richard don't find their work valuable. However, the commission receive no opposition and the Cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, the Inland Northwest Trails Coalition, Futurewise and the Neighborhood Alliance all approved of the change. Details, and the letters of support, can be found in the planning commission report.
  Opinion: People who like gated communities and long commutes are not going to like this change. I'm all for it. Having multiple routes to where you're going means that you're not going to be forced onto as many congested arterial roads. Additionally, vehicle accidents are less frequent on connected roads than on unconnected roads. Then add that this will make the routes our children take to schools safer, and it's a home run.
  Update: Heard from Kitty Klitzke. She says, "In the face of overwhelming public support two commissioners want to...extend the public comment period." I guess Mark and Todd didn't want the public opinion they got, so they're ordering new opinions.
• Animal control options limited
  Source: The Spokesman-Review; January 23, 2010
  Summary: The City of Spokane asked voters to support funding to expand the regional animal control facility to allow the entire region to have a single animal control authority, but didn't get the funding. They have now asked Spokane County to ask for $14 million for the region to build the facility. Such a tax would cost $14/year for a $200,000 home for 6 years. Commissioner Mielke says we should look at building a new facility, but Commissioner Richard says he can't support a new tax. SpokAnimal is raising rates by 5% a year, but wants to get out of the animal control business.
  Opinion: I have advocated a regionalized animal control policy for years. This is something that just must be figured out. Some of the readers' comments that are on that page show that not everyone understands that this is a service to everyone, though I do support the idea that animal owners do have a greater responsibility. Ultimately, the real problems that we face are not caused by animal owners, though, as there is also a feral animal population which we all have responsibility to manage.
  Postscript: The City of Spokane did renew the SpokAnimal contract.