THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501280090
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
At long last, Chesapeake's difficult struggle to gain control of its own destiny by managing growth has made it over the threshold of the State Capitol.
Del. J. Randy Forbes, reluctantly and half-heartedly, introduced a bill in the General Assembly that would give the city the authority to impose impact fees on people planning to build new homes here. The money would be used to offset the cost of schools, roads, utility lines and other services the new development necessitates.
The effect of the impact fees would be to place the burden of paying for public services more squarely on those who profit from the city's mushrooming growth and less on the backs of taxpayers. What could be more fair and equitable than that?
Realistically, though, the introduction of this legislation doesn't get us a bit closer to effective growth controls than we have ever been. The measure doesn't stand a prayer of becoming law.
None of the local delegation, not even Del. Forbes himself, is prepared to fight for it. The notion that property-owners have some inalienable right to make as much money as they possibly can, whatever the cost to the community as a whole, is still too deeply ingrained in them. They can't get past it.
Del. Forbes said it is less important whether the bill actually becomes law than it is to stimulate debate over the issue of growth-control. He anticipates that his bill will force developers and state and local officials to ``grapple with the sprawl and the solutions that will work to fix it.''
To those of us who have been grappling with the issues for years, while suburban sprawl continues to envelop us, Del. Forbes' response is disappointing.
If it were possible to talk this problem away, we would have rid ourselves of it long ago. There has certainly been no lack of jawboning about it.
What is needed is not more talk between the city and developers, as Del. Forbes suggests, but more genuine leadership from him and his colleagues in Richmond.
The situation demands that the city be armed with substantive growth-control mechanisms, not simply more forums in which to repeat words that have been said time and time again.
While the dialogue that Del. Forbes has encouraged rages on, the city continues to fall further behind in meeting the needs of its citizens - millions of dollars worth of unbuilt schools, unbuilt roads, unbuilt utilities.
The longer the legislature waits to act, the more certain it becomes that when the bill for uncontrolled growth comes due, the taxpayer will be the one stuck paying it. by CNB