THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190263
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Ronald L. Speer
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The future is now for the growing communities on the Albemarle.
That's the warning that was spread at last week's gathering of Dare County officials, and another meeting of Currituck commissioners.
Decisions, they were told, must be made now if we're to be ready to cope with the increasing stream of people who seek brief or permanent refuge on or around the Outer Banks.
If you think that the Outer Banks will always be quiet and peaceful and enchanting, take a drive to Virginia Beach and Chesapeake this afternoon.
Virginia Beach, when I moved there in the '70s, was a vacation paradise, featuring family entertainment, lovely beaches, safe neighborhoods and uncluttered highways carving through forests and swamps.
Chesapeake in '82, when I opened a newspaper bureau next to a strawberry field, was a bucolic collection of small towns, with low taxes, adequate roads, no hotels and few businesses or attractions. Popular gathering places were the cafeteria at Roses and the Nautical Inn.
I loved 'em both. Roses moved. The Nautical burned and was never replaced, although dozens of watering holes have sprung up.
Spend a few hours in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach on a weekend and you'll agree that times have changed.
And I think you'll agree that most of the changes aren't exactly what most of us have in mind for the future along the Albemarle. Their taxes have skyrocketed, traffic is a nightmare, water is scarce, and schools are overcrowded despite continuing building programs.
Most of us don't like to think about it. But it CAN happen here.
Dare County Planning Director Ray Sturza pulled no punches at the Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Be quick, or be dead was the message.
If we don't act decisively, we could be overwhelmed by folks in the Chesapeake Crescent, a slice of urbanity stretching from Hampton Roads through Richmond, Washington and Baltimore.
The invasion could be beneficial if we're ready for it by the beginning of the 21st century.
If we're not prepared, Sturza says, we'll be overcrowded, overdeveloped and dull - and unable to escape because the roads will be a round-the-clock parking lot.
What do we need?
Better roads, Sturza says. More medical facilities. More moderately priced homes, affordable by the natives who provide the color and the character and the traditions of the community.
We need more planning for our water needs - so we don't run into the problems that have frustrated Virginia Beach for more than a decade.
We need to speed up action on readying our schools to ensure that our kids get up-to-date educations.
Currituck officials know that trouble lies ahead - because the county is getting the refugees from burgeoning Chesapeake who tell horror stories about changes there.
But it will take bold leaders in coming years to get action rather than talk, to convince taxpayers that their money is being spent wisely. Chesapeake and Virginia Beach saw what was happening - but no great leaders emerged to turn tragedy into triumph.
Political squabbles between entrenched Democrats and emerging Republicans became the symbol of Chesapeake's goverment. Virginia Beach's growth was so rapid that environmental and common sense controls were shoved aside and developers took over that Garden of Eden, putting up homes faster than schools and roads.
I hope Albemarle leaders will take at look at what has happened to our northern neighbors.
And I hope they'll hang an ``URGENT'' sign every time they talk about needs of the 21st Century. by CNB