To limit congestion, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to let local jurisdictions deny rezonings if roads are inadequate. (By Steve Helber -- Associated Press)
Posted on 01/18/2006 7:50:33 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
RICHMOND, Jan. 17 -- Developers on Tuesday launched a rapid-response campaign to undermine Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) just hours after Virginia's new chief executive called for broader controls on growth to reduce traffic.
Members of a suit-and-tie posse gathered in the morning a few blocks from the Capitol, ate doughnuts, sipped coffee and were deputized as lobbyists for a day in what developers see as a must-win battle with Kaine over his proposals to let localities deny rezonings if roads are inadequate.
"We've already learned that we can have a handshake and be smiled at and have exactly the opposite happen," warned Anthony Clatterbuck, president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, as the group set out to meet with Virginia's lawmakers. "We can't be naive."
The hastily assembled crowd of more than 100 home builders, real estate agents and civil engineers marched to the nearby legislative office building, where they hoped to persuade lawmakers to oppose Kaine's proposals
If they succeed, they will hand the governor a major blow on what so far is the centerpiece of his plan to reduce congestion on the state's roads, bridges and rails. If they fail, Kaine, who has been governor for only four days, will become the first state leader in recent years to push through growth controls.
"What the governor has done is really thrown a big political hand grenade into this session," said Sean T. Connaughton (R), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "The question is whether they will watch it explode or throw it back."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
To limit congestion, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to let local jurisdictions deny rezonings if roads are inadequate. (By Steve Helber -- Associated Press)
Seems sensible to me. Furthermore, the developers et al seem like pigs at a trough.
So you think developers and home builders should pay the price for governments shoddy road construction? IMHO roads usually expand following the addition of more housing and businesses, not the other way around. What city or state can afford to build roads before the tax base is their to support them. This is pure anti-growth a leftist/liberal policy.
No, but if the growth can't be sustained by the infrastructure then it is folly to push ahead anyway. This is why you and I have to sit in unending traffic every commuting day of our lives, and why in PA there are potholes bigger than a VW Bug. Unplanned growth, much like unchecked immigration will hurt the US in the long run.
Virginia has a history of doing poor-quality road construction. All you have to do is cross the Maryland or North Carolina state lines and the road surfaces are of a much better quality. I think the state uses road repair as an employment booster. I'm from VA originally and live there now. Of the half-dozen states I've lived in and the 39 states I've visited, Virginia's roads rival Alaska's for being the worst.
The whole development issue aside, they need to fix the roads we've got and upgrade the quality before building more substandard highways.
First let me thank you for not bashing the their, that should have been a there. Secondly, I am grateful you are in the unending traffic and I am not, however, I do have sympathy. I got a small taste as we drove from South Dakota to Al to PA right through the middle of DC from Richmond on the 27 of Dec just past. It wasn't too bad considering we didn't have to do it every day.
I tried real hard not to be the out of state Road Block with my South Dakota plates. I will admit that unchecked growth without infrastructure is a real problem in urban America, and can be a political football for those who are impacted by what appears to be government coming down hard on folks for what government should have P L A N N E D for long before the situation arrived at the door.
City Planning is actually something people study in Universities. Too bad city planners plans are controlled by the city government or one could blame the planners instead of city government.
Worse than Pennsylvania?
What city or state can afford to build roads before the tax base is their to support them.
You've got to be kidding. North Carolina roads are horrible. Maybe they were good at one time, but since we've lived in Virginia, every time we have to travel through North Carolina, hubby complains about the roads. The worst part about living in Virginia is not the quality of the roads but the quantity. Too much traffic!
This is true, but this will mean NIMBY's rule.
The main problem is the development that is already there is not planned well with regard to traffic.
That's not the developers fault, that is the locals fault for not demanding better design from the get-go.
Sir, you live fifteen hundred miles away from us so perhaps you aren't fully aware of the situation here. Our difficulty in the DC area--particularly in Northern Virginia--is that there are very few pieces of uninterrupted, undeveloped real estate left on which roads could be built that would ease our horrendous traffic. New road construction in many cases would require government condemnation of existing housing and commercial development.
In addition, we constantly see developers building projects that place a huge burden on the community, and then walking away. The new developments require new schools, roads, health care, police and fire protection, water and sewer service, health care, etc. etc. etc. Taxes go up for everybody, schools and roads are unspeakable, and social problems increase, but the developer has his pockets full. If the citizens of a county want to have some say over all this, should the large government of the state force them to accept it against their will? That is not the position of a conservative, who should favor local control of local issues.
That's been happening for the 45 years I've lived in No. VA.
Additionally they joke that they would benefit by cutting us out of the State!
But the biggest current problem is that NO. VA voted Kaine in in the first place.
How did that happen?
Bingo!
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