Where do we go from here? The Pend Oreille county commissioners voted down the rezone amendment that would have paved the way for the smelter. That was quite a surprise to us. For once in the past two years of fighting this monstrosity there is light at the end of the tunnel. We can see it, but it’s going to take some hard work by all of us. To get to that light and ultimately win this fight, we have to participate in the Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Plan Rewrite. All along PacWest depended on the county to rezone the property for them. As we’ve said all along; No Rezone = No Smelter. Everything has been contingent on the rezone of the proposed site in order to build the Smelter and it still is. The County Commissioners decision to reject the rezoned amendment had to have been a huge setback for PacWest. It proves the County has done a little research on the project. It also proves the County can see what we see. That PacWest is not to be trusted. They’ve proven to break every single promise made and follow through with nothing. CANSS thanks the County Commissioners for finally seeing PacWest for what they are. Due to this recent decision to reject the rezone amendment we’ve had several group members ask if the fight against the Smelter is over and if not what’s next? This fight is far from over. As long as PacWest owns that property, they are a threat. Our two areas to watch for future issues are the city’s South Bench project and the rewrite of the comprehensive plan. The South Bench project to promote light industry and commercial use is in and of itself is a very good idea and worth our support. The thing that we need to be wary of is that PacWest and or the county may try to find a way to use this beneficial idea to drag their smelter in where it isn’t wanted. We will be watching this closely. The other item to watch out for is the re-write of the comprehensive plan. This is another important and necessary thing for the future of Pend Oreille county but it could easily be abused for the benefit of PacWest. The Planning Commission is doing a very good job of due diligence but we must remember that their recommendations are just that, the County Commissioners have the final say in this. It is obvious that the Public land use designation is going to go away, it will most likely be replaced by a rural designation. We need to make sure that nobody takes this opportunity to designate PacWest’s property in a way that makes it directly usable to them. We have had a very good week but we must still be diligent and be ready to strike at the first miscue.
Looking to the future