THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604270016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
MacArthur Center has survived another challenge. The real question is why development in Norfolk and Hampton Roads generally is so often a series of hurdles instead of a sprint to the finish line.
A lawsuit complained that support by the city for the center is illegal because it would damage existing businesses. Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr. dismissed the suit.
Judge Morgan said development may or may not be a good idea but is fully within the law. To develop or not to develop is a political question, not a legal one.
He's right, of course. Governments choose tomorrow over yesterday all the time. They make development decisions that benefit some private interests and damage others. The only way to cause no pain, disruption or change is to do nothing. But the long-term costs of stagnation far outweigh the short-terms pains of progress.
MacArthur Center is a gamble. All change is. But if it comes to fruition, it promises immense benefits to Norfolk and the region. Those who disagree are free to do so, but Judge Morgan said the place to do so is in the political arena.
When change is proposed, debate is natural. But Hampton Roads has a curious inability to make a decision and move on. Whether it's securing water resources, developing adequate transportation or planning redevelopment, the process often bogs down in dispute and confusion.
Progress stalls. Instead of moving forward, the region dithers and divides. Meanwhile, competing cities are taking a victory lap.
Part of the reason is a pervasive us-against-them mind-set. The assumption about any project seems to be that it is a zero sum game. If someone wins, someone else must lose. But that assumes everyone is competing for slices of a pie of fixed size when the very point of the project is often to increase the size of the pie.
The Tides baseball team has been a boon for all of Hampton Roads. The amphitheater will be another. Water for Virginia Beach will make the region bloom. And if MacArthur Center succeeds, all of Hampton Roads will have a share in its success. by CNB