Mark Your Calendars!!

The 8th Annual Meeting of
The League of Kentucky Property Owners

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Triple Crown Clubhouse
Directions: I-75 to exit # 175, go west to Triple Crown Blvd.
Turn right - proceed 1.25 miles to Clubhouse on the right.

6:30 p.m. - Social Hour
(Cash bar and plenty of hors d'oeuvres)

7:30 p.m. - Featured Guest Speaker:
Henry Lamb, Executive VP, Environmental Conservation Organization

We are honored to have as our featured speaker Mr. Henry Lamb. Mr. Lamb is a Nationally Acclaimed Speaker and Property Rights Advocate. He is the founding Chairman of Sovereignty International and the founding CEO of the Environmental Conservation Organization. He is publisher of eco-logic, a widely read on-line, and print magazine and he writes a weekly column for WorldNetDaily, and other publications. He is a frequent speaker at conferences around the country and is a regular guest on dozens of talk radio programs. He has provided testimony for the U.S. Congress, as well as State Legislatures, and has served a a consultant to FOX News on U.N. affairs.

Admission is Free - Don't Miss This Event!!!

Reservations are not required.

Note: Dress Code enforced - No jeans, shorts, or tennis shoes.

President's Message

League members have an annual opportunity to counsel fellow constituents about how our organization can best serve the Commonwealth. This year that exceptional opportunity arrives on the 25th of September - date of our Annual Meeting.

The League Board members value your guidance in addressing Property Rights issues - and we want your voices heard!

Come to the gathering. Bring a potential member with you.

Look forward to seeing and talking with you there!

william h adkisson,
President
League of Kentucky Property Owners

Smart Growth Coalition for Greater Cincinnati

After studying the publications and materials presented by the Smart Grown Coalition for Greater Cincinnati as presented at their Burlington, Kentucky forum on May 29, I believe some important points must be considered.

First, I was not surprised to learn that this coalition tries to stop the building of roads since they work so closely with the anti-growth Sierra Club. And their promotion of urban growth boundaries leads to higher costs and hardships for low and moderate-income families as has been proven in Portland, Oregon. These are reasons why it is so shocking for one to hear in the "Smart Growth" coalition's presentation that they are proud to be partnered with the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Second, why would Boone County ever want the regional planning of this coalition? We all know that land use involves tough issues but these need to be decided on the local level with county officials and planners who reside in our community. We don't want bureaucrats or ideologues from outside our community coming in and exercising undue influences in the process--- thereby disenfranchising local property owners.

Third, "Smart Growth" has been proclaimed as the cure-all, one size fits all solution that will transform our communities into more livable and sustainable places. Remember the last major urban planning fad? It was the nationwide urban renewal efforts of the post World War II era. This plan was sold to the public with the promise of dramatically reinvigorating cities and improving urban life, but the actual result was the wholesale destruction of vibrant urban neighborhoods and the large-scale stifling of economic opportunities in the inner cities. So, it is not unreasonable to be wary of this latest planning fad of "Smart Growth" especially when so much is at stake for our families and communities. This "Smart Growth" crowd may be well intended, but their plans will have a disastrous unintended consequence on people's lives and livelihoods.

Fourth, urban sprawl is not the problem that the "Smart Growthers" claim Boone County residents have an average household income that is higher than most of Greater Cincinnati. Although the "Smart Growth" Coalition is against the widening and building of roads, most citizens understand that growth has been good for Boone County. Our wisest citizens are planning for more growth by encouraging the widening and building of roads and the improvement of the rest of our infrastructure.

In conclusion, it needs to be understood that if we allow the regional planners of "Smart Growth" to close off development, we will be allowing the economic downfall of our community by pricing out our children and preventing them from attaining the American dream, i.e., owning their own homes.

Submitted by:
Bernie Kunkel

Update from the Al Yelton Chapter in Grant County

The Al Yelton Chapter of the LOKPO Grant County is working on a presentation to the Grant County Fiscal Court for our agriculture zone of five acres. Our argument will take 3 lines of reasoning:

(1) The surrounding counties have 5 acres or less for an agriculture zone. Kenton County has 1 acre for their A-1 zone. Boone, Gallatin and Scott Counties have 5 acres for their A-1 zone. Harrison County has a 5-acre average density A-1 zone that makes a lot of sense to us. Owen and Pendleton counties have no zoning ordinance in place at this time.

(2) Farm land preservation should be a concern to everyone. Tobacco is still important to the economy in Grant County. The livestock industry is growing. John Malone and I visited a Cattlemen Association meeting and several of their members signed our petition for 1 - 5 acre agriculture zone. The farmers market business is growing and that means we are producing more food crops.

(3) Dr. Jeff Edgens is gathering the statistics on Grant County. We want to know if we are losing agriculture land and if so to what.

We have our work cut out and we need your help. If the members of the Grant County Chapter will take a few minutes to call your magistrate and Judge Executive Darrell Link to let them know all Grant County needs is 1 - 5 acre agriculture zone. Below are the contact names and phone numbers:

Judge Link - Home phone 428-3277, Work phone 823-7561
Dick Austin - Home phone 824-7240
Pat Conrad - Home phone 824-6519
Ken Messer - Home Phone 428-1189

Please take a minute to call your magistrate or all the magistrates and Judge Link to let them know we only need 1 agriculture zone in Grant county

Our annual meeting held on May 19 was a big success. About 65 people attended and we had several new people join at the meeting. If you haven't paid dues for 2003, please mail your check to LOKPO, P.O. Box 396, Dry Ridge, KY 41035.

A special thanks to our speakers, state Senator Damon Thayer and Dr. Jeff Edgens. Senator Thayer impressed me with the statement that his duty to keep unnecessary and frivolous laws off the books was important. Several people had good comments about that statement. Dr. Edgens is so knowledgeable about Property Rights. He has a mission to help keep property rights a part of our heritage.

Don't forget to contact the magistrates and Judge Link about 1-5 acres agriculture zone in Grant County.

Submitted by:
Charlie Phillips, President
Al Yelton chapter in Grant County
824-6501

The Nature Conservancy

A series of articles written about The Nature Conservancy by the Washington Post has caught the attention of Congress.Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Finance Comm., and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), sent a letter to the Conservancy Chairman, Steven J. McCormick, asking for records of their financial dealings over the past ten years. The committee even wants social security numbers of people "who received loans and land from the nonprofit group." The Senators wrote that the Post's articles triggered "serious questions about TNC's practices regarding land sales, purchases and donations; executive compensation; and corporate governance…" The committee is particularly interested in sweetheart land deals TNC made with current or former trustees.

The committee will also seek information about The Conservancy from the Internal Revenue Service. The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit organization, although it has assets estimated in the billions of dollars. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it is conducting an investigation of whether TNC has illegally used EPA grant money "to subsidize the purchase of lands for the benefit of Board members, trustees, or employees." The investigation is a result of a complaint filed by the Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest legal group located in Washington, D.C.