THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
In the mid-'80s, Chesapeake residents repeatedly pledged, ``We'll never be another Virginia Beach.''
Superiority dripped from their lips as they swore that growth would never sprawl out of control in their community.
Now in the mid-'90s, Chesapeake is the fastest-growing Virginia city, and Suffolk residents pledge, ``We'll never be another Chesapeake.''
Who knows? Some day, as growth works its way west, Isle of Wight residents may say, ``We'll never be another Suffolk.''
What's clear now is that the Chesapeake City Council took a giant step back from controlling growth when it voted 5-4 last Tuesday against having a November referendum on growth.
Had the referendum been held, a substantial majority of voters surely would have favored asking the General Assembly for authority to institute ``adequate public-facilities'' legislation.
As staff writer Francie Latour noted, ``Such legislation would halt all new residential development until schools, roads and other services were in place to meet the demand of new homes.'' Or if a developer sought to build before the city could make needed improvements, the developer would have to pay for those improvements.
In most states, cities can take the steps required to make and keep themselves habitable, but in Virginia a city is empowered to do only what the legislature specifically allows. And developers and Realtors have had powerful lobbyists in Richmond to oppose limits on growth.
Ironically, the same Chesapeake City Council that voted Tuesday against the referendum on growth repeatedly has requested that the General Assembly grant it powers to control growth - with no luck.
Two council members favoring the referendum said a voter mandate might have pushed state officials into granting the city such powers. To date, the sole Virginia locality to obtain ``adequate public-facilities'' legislation is is Fairfax County.
Citizens attending Tuesday's meeting were shocked when the council voted against the referendum on controlling growth, for in this city - whose population has exploded from 114,000 in 1980 to 181,000 today - the words ``controlled growth'' rank up there with ``motherhood'' and ``apple pie.''
``I'm just in a state of absolute amazement,'' said Bea Hudson, president of the Mill Creek/Elm Wood Landing Civic League in Deep Creek, after the vote. ``They sided with business against the citizens.''
They'll look stupid the next time they ask the legislature for powers to control growth. Why should the legislators pay them any mind?
Growth is good - except when a city falls way behind in providing roads and sewerage and schools. Then growth can make urban life miserable.
In the years ahead, Chesapeake drivers might want to take along good books to read. Traffic backups will get worse before they get better. by CNB