I wish to respond in general to your recent attack on annexation in Peachtree City and various other attacks on the residential construction industry. I will disclose that I am a builder. These opinions are my own and are not necessarily shared by others in residential construction.

For the past few years builders and developers have been vilified. We have been blamed for everything from traffic problems, destroying the environment, to the breakdown of community spirit. I am tired of being a scapegoat and wish to dispel some myths that are now accepted as fact.

1. If builders would only stop building houses people would stop moving to Atlanta.

Well, people move here to get good jobs or warm weather, they don't move here because we have better and less expensive houses.

2. Builders and developers are greedy.

We are no more greedy than bankers, grocers, software engineers, or other business people who also wish to make a good return on their effort and capital investment. Margins in construction are much lower than in many other industries. So why is our money considered dirty? We are business people who are meeting a market need. We attempt to build what people want to buy at the price they are willing to pay or we go out of business (just like other businesses).

3. Builders and developers are responsible for growth.

The world's population will likely double in the next 50 years. Due to immigration and large families, our country will likely double in population over the next 100 years. I for one have only two children, favor drastically reduced immigration, and favor the elimination of preferential tax treatment for large families. Do you?

Population is the root cause of growth. Why do your editors and others in our community complain about growth but show no willingness to attack the root cause? I guess scapegoating me instead of shutting the door to poor starving immigrants is easier on your conscience.

Assuming the population does go up, where will these people live? We could stop all single-family construction and force the newcomers into apartments. But wait, the N.I.M.B.Y.'s (not in my back yard) types don't want apartments either. They cause crime and crowd the schools. So I suppose we will have to force the newcomers to double or triple up in inner-city tenements or live under overpasses.

Nothing angers me more than hypocrisy. How can we fault others for wanting the lifestyle we have? Why does everybody who moves to Peachtree City or Fayette County say “Okay, I'm in the boat, you can pull the ladder up now,” the moment we move here? I have read far too many letters to the editor by last year's newcomers complaining about traffic caused by this year's newcomers.

I have lived here for five years and believe that others should be able to move here unhindered, provided that someone will sell them the land or a home. In other words, I believe in the free market. I used to think most Americans also supported the free market system. I am no longer so sure.

4. Builders cause sprawl and thus cause traffic problems.

Builders build a product to meet a market need. The houses we build do not drive cars, people do. Especially when they need to go all the way across town to run errands. The fact is that city and county commissions, and the N.I.M.B.Y.'s, soccer moms, and special interest groups that regularly attend their meetings, restrict where we can build with zoning regulations and master plans. What right has the government to tell one guy he can have high density zoning with its obvious economic benefit, and then turn around and tell another guy he has to “farm” his land regardless of the market demand for his land for other uses?

In the good ol' days of traditional development, housing, retail and work were located in close proximity to each other so that most tasks could be accomplished on foot. This was done with little government influence. The higher density was due to the lack of personal transportation options prior to the widespread use of the automobile.

This changed in the 1950s. Today, zoning requirements force us to place all of the houses in one part of town, the retail in another, and the offices in yet another. These stupid rules brought about by irrational concerns about property values and growth on the part of a vocal minority, have forced all of us into our cars and onto the roads.

Builders and developers would be more than willing to return to traditional development patterns if the government would let us. Again, we are business people attempting to make a living by meeting a market need. Would we all not be better off if the invisible hand of Adam Smith's marketplace and not the government determined where we can and can not live?

Neo-traditional development will work if given a chance. Take a trip to Europe and check out their development patterns. They have much higher density than we do, but most of their cities are walkable.

5. Builders and developers destroy nature.

The people who came up with five-acre-lot zoning have done more to destroy the natural beauty of this county than the construction industry ever could. If five-acre zoning stands, this county will rapidly be covered with a house every 200 yards covering every vista in the county. With higher density, at least the process is slowed.

Again, why should the government be able to tell people how big their yard must be without compelling, scientifically based standards and justifications, i.e., septic system standards? Can our local governments honestly say that they have logical, objective criteria for accepting or rejecting land use proposals?

In general, we as free people should be wary of government's and their fellow citizens' ever-increasing intrusions in their lives. If they are telling you how big your house or lot must be, where it can be, or how many of your trees you may remove today, they will be telling you when you can cut your grass, walk your dog, or blow your nose tomorrow.

In summary, when in doubt, let's err on the side of liberty and less intrusive government, avoid hypocrisy, and rationally seek out the true cause of our problems instead of scapegoats.

William M. Gilmer
wmgilmer@mindspring.com

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