Downtown area must be revitalized

Dear editor:

I have read several letters in the editorial section of the paper complaining about growth in the downtown area.

The county assessor's office shows that the downtown corridor property is owned by private companies and individuals and not the city of Mountain Home. According to the information that I have seen on building permits, none of the landowners who own property downtown have proposed major projects downtown that will employ hundreds or thousands of people such as a mall with Macy's or Dillard's as an anchor, or office buildings that will bring in state or federal employees such as the Social Security Administration or the Idaho Department of Agriculture.

Because the property downtown is too expensive and does not provide enough parking, large businesses and new employers that came to Mountain Home voted with their money and developed property on the outskirts that was less expensive per square foot, so that they may provide parking for their customers and employees.

I don't want what happened in Boise to happen in Mountain Home, where you have to pay for parking to do city and county business. Obviously, neither do the businesses that developed property on the outskirts.

It is easy to complain about downtown growth, but it is harder to do something about it when the parcels are privately controlled and owned.

I believe Mayor McNeal and the city council would do everything within their power to approve any viable economic plan for downtown development that is presented to them in accordance with the comprehensive plan.

Bridget Reid