In Herald reporter Warren Cornwall’s Nov. 21 article titled, “Surface water fee plan hits the skids: Money alone won’t address concerns, opponents warn” Steven Holt is credited with saying that adding more to the list (of required infrastructure prior to development) could tip the balance away from the need for affordable housing and being able to accommodate people moving here.
At the present time, we have neither the required infrastructure to support development nor affordable housing. Quite simply, this means that we cannot accommodate people moving here. How hard is this to understand?
Imagine for a moment that this area is one large apartment complex. Here’s our situation: all the units are filled, the parking lot is overflowing, the sewer pipes are getting clogged and some downstairs units are being flooded from leaks upstairs. The on-site daycare is overcrowded. The playground has room for five children. There is seemingly no room for expansion.
So what happens? “People need affordable housing” – so the management hires contractors to split three-bedroom units into three one-bedroom units. “We need to accommodate people moving here” – so the management puts out “Vacancy” signs and make plans to convert the playground into another three-story unit. Meanwhile it takes an hour to get out of the parking lot in the morning.
How long do we allow this insanity? We don’t need to add anything to the list to “tip the balance” – it’s already tipped! It now points to the “add infrastructure” side of the scale, not the “add residents” side.
If the current county council and executive can’t see that, maybe it’s time for new management.
Everett
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