Public records library › 26-555
Internal communications on Ordinance 2026-04, seven custodians
Closed, 136 files Filed July 23, 2026 · closed October 12, 2026 · 136 files in two productions
A proposed code change, enforced before anyone voted.
Why it matters
- Rule by memo. City staff put new rules into force by memo in November 2025 and applied them to building plans before and after the Council vote on July 6, 2026. In Moscow, the City Council makes the law. In 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court ended Chevron deference, the doctrine that told courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable reading of an unclear statute. The same principle belongs at City Hall: elected officials write the law, and staff carry it out.
- Sold as life safety. The Planning and Zoning Commission minutes state that the purpose was “to address life safety concerns.” Life safety in single- and two-family homes is set by the state building code. The City’s own memo to the Council says cities are “not allowed to adopt stricter standards” that would require fire sprinklers or alarms. What the ordinance changes is definitions, room counts, laundry limits, and parking. It is about control and parking.
- The cost falls on the people with the least. Since October 1, 2025, builders filed 18 duplex permits in Moscow. As of September 30, 2026, the City had issued three. Seven were withdrawn by the applicants, seven are still pending, and one is ready to issue. Every duplex that is not built is a home a student, a young family, or a worker cannot rent. The rule makes the most affordable new homes harder to build, and the people with the least pay the most.
How it happened
In November 2025, City staff wrote up the duplex rules in an outline titled Potential Code Amendments for Duplexes. The outline proposed limiting each unit to “one washer/dryer combo.” On November 21, Planning Manager Mike Ray sent City Administrator Bill Belknap and Community Development Director Cody Riddle the draft code text: “one (1) washer and dryer set per dwelling unit.”
A memo from Community Development Director Cody Riddle dated November 15, 2025, copied to Belknap, already made “Only one washer and dryer is allowed per unit” effective immediately, “until adoption of a code amendment.” On December 1, Riddle sent his edits on Ray’s draft amendment. A second memo dated December 1 made the rules “Effective immediately.” The Planning and Zoning Commission had not reviewed them. The public had not seen them. The Council had not voted.
Staff applied the rules to building plans before and after the vote. Plans filed on February 17, 2026 were still reviewed under the memo; the City offered a review under the new law, and the applicant asked to stay under the old rules and disputed the washer limit. On July 6, 2026, the Council passed the actual law, with a looser rule: two washer and dryer sets per dwelling unit.
Sources: Staff outline, Nov. 2025 (request 26-554) · Ray email, Nov. 21, and Riddle reply, Dec. 1 · Riddle interim memo, Nov. 15, 2025 (request 26-598) · Riddle memo, Dec. 1, 2025 (request 26-598) · Falcy email, Aug. 4, 2026 · P&Z minutes, Feb. 11, 2026 · Staff memo to Council, June 2026 · Ordinance as adopted (request 26-554) · City permit portal, as of Sept. 30, 2026
★ Highlights
Exact quotes from the City's own records. Tap a source to open the record.
1. The Council was told the wrong text.
The written staff memo to the Council, dated June 17, 2026, prints a kitchen definition as the text “presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission on May 13, 2026.” The May 13 hearing packet shows different text. The memo’s text matches a draft that Director Nichoel Baird Spencer emailed to Planning Manager Mike Ray on June 3, three weeks after the hearing.
“following changes presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission on May 13, 2026”
“Any room or area with a combination cooking (i.e. Stove, oven, hot plate, burner, and/or microwave oven), food storage or assembly (i.e. counters, cabinets, storage, and/or refrigeration), sinks or plumbing stubs, above counter outlets, natural gas stubs, and/or 220-volt electrical wiring is a kitchen for the purpose of this code.”
“Any food preparation area with cooking facilities (i.e., stove, oven, hot plate, and/or microwave oven, refrigerator, or sink) or with a natural gas stub or supply or a 220-volt electrical outlet/wiring is a kitchen for purposes of this Code.”
“Here is where we start.”
2. Enforced as a rule while the Council was told it was a proposal.
The washer and dryer limit began as proposed code language and was put into force by memo in November 2025, before the Planning and Zoning Commission, the public, or the Council saw it. City Administrator Bill Belknap received Ray’s November 21, 2025 email with the draft text and was copied on Riddle’s November 15, 2025 interim memo. On June 3, 2026, Ray approved plan-review language applying the one-set limit. Two weeks later, his memo told the Council one set was only what was “Initially” proposed.
“Like kitchens, clarify that one washer/dryer combo is allowed per unit.”
“All, attached is an outline of what I would suggest changing as part of the duplex code amendments.”
“Only one washer and dryer is allowed per unit.”
“I had a few suggestions on the attached.”
“Effective immediately, all new proposed two-family dwelling units shall be prohibited from having independent housekeeping facilities…”
“Per December 1, 2025 Code Interpretation, dwelling units are limited to one washer/dryer set per dwelling unit.”
“Initially, the number of washer and dryer sets per dwelling unit were proposed to be limited to one.”
3. The City Administrator was in the loop from the first draft.
Before the public saw a single draft, staff ran the duplex law past City Administrator Bill Belknap. Two days before the Commission’s first review of the draft, Ray wrote that he needed to make one change after talking to Bill. On May 26, 2026, writing from a personal email account, Spencer told staff when Bill wanted the duplex hearing. Five days before the Council vote, staff were still checking “what you and Bill are looking for.”
“Yea, I need to make one change after talking to Bill, so I’ll send it over tomorrow in the am.”
“After talking with Bill he would like Rusty’s appeal on June 15th and the Duplex code on July 6th.”
“Can you please review and see if that is what you and Bill are looking for?”
4. Staff rewrote the kitchen rule after the public hearing.
The public hearing was May 13. Three weeks later, staff rewrote what counts as a kitchen. The Council’s slides show both versions, one labeled “(P&Z)” and one labeled “(Council).” The Council adopted the version written after the hearing.
“Go forward with our last iteration.”
5. Staff said the current code already covered the new rules.
On November 14, 2025, Community Development Director Cody Riddle sent six staff the first draft of an interim policy for duplex reviews. He wrote that the current code could already apply the new rules. The attached memo put the rules into force until a code amendment passed.
“From my perspective, the current code can be interpreted to apply the items listed.”
“effective immediately, and until adoption of a code amendment”
6. The kitchen rule was written as new code in November 2025.
On November 21, 2025, at 3:14 PM, Planning Manager Mike Ray sent City Administrator Bill Belknap, Cody Riddle, and Justin Goodwin a draft of duplex code changes. The draft strikes the existing kitchen definition and inserts new text. The second sentence of the new text is the text the Planning and Zoning Commission saw on May 13, 2026 (highlight 1), word for word.
“Any rooms used or intended or designed to be used for cooking and/or preparation of food.”
“That portion of a dwelling unit devoted to the preparation or cooking of food for the purpose of consumption by residents of the dwelling unit. Any food preparation area with cooking facilities (i.e., stove, oven, hot plate, and/or microwave oven, refrigerator, or sink) or with a natural gas stub or supply or a 220-volt electrical outlet/wiring is a kitchen for purposes of this Code.”
The strikeout and underline show on the page image of the original PDF. The extracted text does not show them.
7. A folder location was redacted as critical infrastructure.
Five emails black out one item: the place where staff kept the duplex drafts. The redaction follows the words “It can be found here:”. The redaction log cites the exemption for critical infrastructure.
“I.C. 74-105(4)(b) records related to existing critical infrastructure”
8. What the City has not handed over.
The City withheld emails from this request and has not said how many. It produced zero text messages. No record in Production 1 says what change Ray made after talking to the City Administrator. The City redacted email addresses under an exemption for law enforcement investigatory records, and released the same addresses unredacted in request 26-554.
What was asked
Emails, text messages, and other electronic communications since June 1, 2025 that reference Ordinance 2026-04, the bedroom, kitchen, dwelling, duplex, or multifamily definitions, the Section 3.4 parking calculation, or the properties reviewed for the amendments, from seven City custodians.
What the City did
- Jul 23, 2026 Filed.
- Jul 27, 2026 Seventh custodian added.
- Jul 30, 2026 City gave notice under Idaho Code 74-103(2) that it needed more time, “up to 10 working days.”
- Aug 5, 2026 City sent a cost estimate and asked for a deposit. Fee waiver requested.
- Aug 18, 2026 City denied the fee waiver.
- Aug 25, 2026 Petition on the fee waivers sent to the Council.
- Aug 27, 2026 Deposit of $324.55 paid.
- Aug 28, 2026 The Mayor denied the petition by letter.
- Sep 30, 2026 City billed the balance: $671.27 in staff time, less the deposit. Balance of $346.72 paid under protest. The City released 120 files (949 pages) dated December 1, 2025 to August 26, 2026, and withheld some emails as attorney work product. About 2,445 emails dated June 2 to November 23, 2025 remain under review.
- Sep 30, 2026 City sent an estimate for the remaining review and stated that processing will take more than 10 working days. Deposit paid.
- Oct 12, 2026 City released Production 2: 16 files (51 pages) dated November 14 to 21, 2025. The City closed the request the same day: “All non-exempt records have been released, and your request has been fulfilled.”
Related: Let builders build: the housing fight · Related request 26-554: the documents · Request 26-598: the December 1, 2025 memo
Documents and files (136)
The City’s September 30 invoice said about 2,445 emails, dated June 2 to November 23, 2025, remained for review. From that review, the City released 16 files. All 16 are dated November 14 to 21, 2025. No email in Production 2 is from the City Administrator. File names are the City’s own, except that the email addresses of private people are replaced with labels (for example, public-comment-1). The same addresses are withheld in the extracted text. The original files are posted as the City released them.