Sunday, May 11, 2008
Editorial: Make sure The Ridges has enough water
Montgomery County shouldn't rezone land until it's sure resources are in place.
Developers ask governments to rezone land all the time, so the Reese Family Limited Partnership's request that Montgomery County rezone 228 acres is typical.
The board of supervisors must decide whether putting more houses in that rural part of the county makes sense. Supervisors should not rush to a decision given serious questions raised about whether there's enough water in the ground to support the development.
The request will go before the board at its meeting on Monday. The partnership hopes to build 67 houses as the next phase of The Ridges subdivision. Each would sit on about 1.5 acres.
The 228-acre site in the northeast part of the county is fairly remote. Public water and sewer lines do not reach it, so each home would have a private well and septic tank.
And that's where supervisors must tread carefully. The surrounding homes also use wells, and there is only so much water in the ground. An engineer for the project acknowledged that they could go dry.
If that happened, dozens of county residents would suddenly find themselves without water. With the developer long gone, homeowners would demand the county fix things. All taxpayers would pay to extend water service.
The pipes currently end more than a mile from the site. The cost of extending them to The Ridges would be particularly high because they would have to cross Interstate 81.
One of the reasons localities zone land is to ensure that development takes place where it is appropriate. Supervisors should not open taxpayers to future liability unless they are convinced there is sufficient water in the ground.
There is no harm in delaying action on the rezoning request and studying the situation in more detail. No doubt the partnership would like to start building, and perhaps there are people clamoring for homes even in this down market, but government must serve the entire community.
If delay is not an option, the supervisors should require the partnership to guarantee that taxpayers will not be stuck with the bill if the wells run dry. Place future responsibility on the homeowners association. Better yet, have the developer pay to extend the lines now.
Supervisors have the power to support orderly growth dictated by availability of resources. Once the land is rezoned, it will be too late.
