
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 2, 1994                   TAG: 9410030031
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JEFFERY SCOTT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GROWTH BRINGS WITH IT BOTH GOOD AND BAD|

For some time, we Virginians have been enjoying the blessing and coping with the curse of growth. Virginia is one of the fastest growing states in the union. Growth brings us jobs, money and opportunity, but it also brings congestion, loss of the rural landscape and new development that often is intrusive and sometimes just plain ugly.

We seem to take it for granted that this is the way it has to be. We accept the garish signs, the look-alike shopping centers, the treeless subdivisions and the overloaded highways as though development were an inexorable and uncontrollable process. Development happens.

Of course, we know that our local governments supposedly exercise control over land use, but, under our current system of every-county/city/town-for-itself, local governments are forced to compete for the jobs and tax revenue that are provided by industrial and commercial development. This makes it pretty tough for a small town to negotiate with a big developer for the environmental controls, amenities and neighborhood protection that ought to be built into a major project.

Also, the lack of mandatory regional coordination means that a town's commercial strip may back up against a county's residential suburb. Dealing with some of the more highly technical issues involved in development, such as ground-water pollution or transportation planning, is beyond the capabilities of the smaller jurisdictions. And there are a few jurisdictions that don't even make the attempt - 13 counties in Virginia still have not adopted zoning ordinances.

The net result is poorly planned development that is gobbling up land at an incredible rate. Land consumption is expected to increase at twice the rate of population growth over the next decade. This means that we can expect to see fields and forests disappearing at an even faster rate than they have been.

There is an alternative. Some states have adopted land-use legislation to ensure that local planning meets minimum standards and to guarantee regional cooperation. Having just returned from a visit to Oregon, where such legislation has been in place for more than 20 years, I can tell you that it works. Oregonians have done an excellent job of maintaining the beauty of their landscape, the productivity of their farms and the quality of their cities, and they have done it all without sacrificing economic opportunity.

The Portland area enjoys a strong economy and a growth rate of about 1.4 percent per year, but still remains more livable than any big city I have ever visited. Intelligent planning has saved money, too. Instead of playing catch-up with developers by trying to extend water, sewer and other services to scattered pockets of growth, cities and counties have been able to focus growth in areas where services can be efficiently provided.

It's not a perfect system, but they're working on that - all the time. In Oregon, thousands of citizens participate in the land-use decisions that will shape their future. Contrary to what some people feared, state legislation has not eliminated local control. If anything, it has enhanced the ability of a community to control its own destiny, by requiring all local governments to adopt adequate comprehensive plans and to enforce them with appropriate regulations.

How did this come about? In 1973, Tom McCall, a governor of unusual vision, put together a bi-partisan coalition that passed the legislation. To make sure it worked, he also founded a nonprofit "watchdog" organization, called "1,000 Friends of Oregon." 1,000 Friends continues to promote sound statewide land-use planning.

Compare this to Virginia, where last year, after two years of public hearings and hard work, the Commission of Population Growth and Development approached the legislature with a very modest proposal to make a start toward statewide land-use planning. Naturally, there was opposition from narrowly focused groups who felt threatened, but the real problem was that there was no widespread support. The proposal died. It died because homeowners, hikers, farmers, fishermen and all the rest of us who love Virginia remained silent. It seems that we aren't ready to make any changes - even though all that really means is that, when change occurs, we will have no control over it. Development happens.

Virginia, do you have 1,000 friends? Do you have any?

Jeffery Scott, zoning administrator for Montgomery County, lives in Pearisburg.

by CNB