I happen to be the Chair of our Government Affairs committee and was impressed with the candidates and our process.This election is an opportunity for our organization (~1200 strong) to speak with one voice that we want our County to grow wisely and efficiently…. Three candidates running for election to the House of Delegates (Robert Bell and Steve Koleszar from the 58th district, David Toscano representing the 57th District) and five candidates for the Board of Supervisors (Christian Shoenewald and Dennis Rooker running in the Jack Jouett District and David Slutsky, Gary Grant and Tom Jakubowski running in the Rio District) were present and answered questions generated by the public…. He believes development should be directed into the growth areas and that the county needs to provide more specific instruction to developers regarding the Neighborhood Model…. Schoenewald: The community is not served by expansion of the designated growth areas at this time, need to create side corridors, would favor a western bypass, especially now since there is so much development in Crozet.
Browsing Category Politics
Eminent domain roundup
Wow.On May 24, the five-member township committee voted unanimously to authorize the municipality to seize Segal’s land through eminent domain and name its own developer.”They want to steal my land,” Segal said…. Centex, a nationally known developer with projects in Middlesex, Morris and Monmouth counties, would then build 100 townhouses on Segal’s property….Florio and Capodice [the mayor and deputy mayor] said they preferred AMJM because it is a local company.”I’ve never heard of Centex,” Capodice said…. If this is not the impetus one needs to get involved in politics, I don’t know what else would provide that motivation.And here is another perspective on eminent domain.A NYTimes eminent domain article showing the merits of eminent domain in some occasions – With local government officials throughout the nation struggling to defend themselves against the storm of criticism unleashed by the Kelo decision, the International Economic Development Council, a professional group based in Washington, cites the Best Buy headquarters to illustrate why eminent domain is sometimes a crucial tool in combating urban decay and sprawl.A WSJ eminent domain article showing the same merits – when was the last time the NYTimes and WSJ had such similar stories?Situations such as this, rather than those in which people are pushed out of their homes, make up a large percentage of cases in which St…. Louis if the Supreme Court hadn’t upheld eminent-domain rules in its Kelo v. New London decision, Ms. Geisman adds.
Reading today
Regardless, here are a few of what I was reading today.PROPONENTS OF limitless growth in Loudoun County keep inventing new ways to railroad their designs into law. (WashingtonPost) The similarities between Loudon and Central Va are frightening sometimes.A NYTimes eminent domain article showing the merits of eminent domain in some occasions – With local government officials throughout the nation struggling to defend themselves against the storm of criticism unleashed by the Kelo decision, the International Economic Development Council, a professional group based in Washington, cites the Best Buy headquarters to illustrate why eminent domain is sometimes a crucial tool in combating urban decay and sprawl.Another WSJ eminent domain article showing the merits – Situations such as this, rather than those in which people are pushed out of their homes, make up a large percentage of cases in which St…. Louis if the Supreme Court hadn’t upheld eminent-domain rules in its Kelo v. New London decision, Ms. Geisman adds.Study it again!The Albemarle supervisors will join Charlottesville in sharing the cost of a road study…. prior studies show 40% of the Pantops traffic coming into and leaving Charlottesville uses East High Street.Well, golly, that makes sense …
Albemarle County BOS elections
Tonight marks the first of several candidate forums highlighting the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors elections…. In no particular order, but under the sub-heading of Growth: Affordable Housing, the environmental impact of growth, infrastructure, planning and development, water, jobs and last but not least, taxes.Make no mistake, this is an opportunity to change the direction of our County in a positive way; the status quo is not always the best direction. I encourage all to educate themselves, attend the candidate forums if possible, listen to any available podcasts …… One of the primary complaints that I hear from the public is that they hear about changes in the County only after they have been voted on. Speak up now.
Growth, politics and the market (morning reading)
Tom McCrystal has a nice post.Conserve energy.The NYTimes causes a stir this morning with a report on the housing market.Greene faces its future with their Board of Supervisors elections.Development issues in Louisa and Fluvanna.Everything in this region always comes down to money, politics and growth.
Urban transit and the monorail
This discussion over at Slashdot sheds some light on why the monorail project in Seattle appears to be coming to a crashing halt.Is mass transit economically feasible?… As a result, these cities tended to emphasize a “build up, not out” approach to development resulting in more compact cities realtive to their size.Then came the concept of Suburbia….country living for everyone…. It also means that unless it’s a fairly comprehensive network (even more expensive) it’s ridership will be relatively low.We’re not ready yet to address mass-transit or the requisite land-use policies and issues that are involved. Urban sprawl and all that it entails ensures that urban transit will be expensive, whether using fossil fuels or mass transit.This and this are two of the more interesting parts of the discussion.
Roundabouts and the Meadowcreek Parkway
The merits of roundabouts seem to be gaining traction in the Charlottesville area, thanks in part to efforts of groups such as the Free Enterprise Forum, and a few in Loudoun County. On the other side, however, is a Supervisor in Loudoun County – from a Leesburg Today article by Dusty Smith – Snow seeks to defund the project, asking supervisors to send letters to the county’s congressional delegation and to the state, suggesting that the federal money be redirected to hurricane relief in the Gulf states and that any state funds earmarked for the projest be shifted to improve Rt…. “Other people have needs.â€Efficient transportation is not a mere convenience, but one of the primary responsibilities of government…. The Free Enterprise Forum’s Review of Reasonableness states that Our brief assessment suggests that the 2/3-lane hybrid roundabout concept is the preferred grade concept: it can accommodate future traffic volumes, likely can be built within existing right-of-way, and is compatible with the 2-lane Meadowcreek/McIntire and 4-lane U.S. Route 250 roadway configuration.Again from the Leesburg Today article – “analysis indicates that at locations where single lane roundabouts have been installed there has been a 68 percent decrease in the total accident rate/million vehicles entering the intersection, 100 percent decrease in the fatal accident rate/million vehicles, an 86 percent reduction in the injury accident rate/million vehicles and a 41 percent reduction in the property damage†as a result of accidents.How does one argue with these results?