Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Editorial: Communities need tools to guide growth
Kaine's plan shows an understanding of the link between land-use policy and transportation.
From the RoundTable blog
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Gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine's latest proposal to help ease Virginia's mounting transportation woes -- by giving localities the power to reject rezoning requests for development that would clog nearby roads -- recognizes that communities need some authority to prepare rationally for the future.
Democrat Kaine has not provided a great deal of specific detail for his plan, which was touted in a series of radio and television ads that began airing in congested Northern Virginia earlier this week.
Essentially, the idea is to clarify that inadequate traffic capacity is a sufficient reason for a locality to turn down a rezoning request.
Currently, the law does not specifically state that. Some communities, like Chesapeake, have made a policy of rejecting requests that would overburden traffic capacity because it creates a public safety hazard.
Overcrowded thoroughfares can undoubtedly cause public safety concerns -- making it more difficult for emergency vehicles to reach their destinations, for instance -- but local governments shouldn't have to make even so small a stretch to turn down rezoning for a development that is clearly not in the community's best interest.
Kaine's proposal was met with predictable skepticism from the development community, which said it "would be a silver bullet to the heart of the housing industry."
But Kaine has hit on a vital principle: the absolute need for local communities to have some sort of control over their own destiny.
Community leaders should not simply place their fate in the hands of developers and hope that growth will happen in an agreeably sustainable way.
The state should give localities the tools to guide growth in a cooperative fashion. The $25 billion in unmet transportation needs is a clear indication of Virginia's stake in the issue.
As Kaine told The Roanoke Times Editorial Board Tuesday, land-use planning and transportation are inseparable issues.
The future of Virginia depends on the ability of state lawmakers to absorb that truth, and to act upon it.
