Wednesday, August 7, 2002
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Wednesday, August 7, 2002 |
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Wheat: County should update land use plan We saw only one attack letter on Mike last week, but our opponent did offer his position on preserving our county's historical assets. We learned that city foot-dragging forced Mike's opponent to bulldoze the Dorsey house rather than take any action or offer to work with the city to save it. We wonder if he removed the Dorsey house from the paper inventory as quickly? Our issue of the week is managing our growth. Mike believes this issue starts and ends with the land use plan. The land use plan should represent our collective vision of future development for our county. Our current county land use plan has not been updated in any significant way in years and Mike believes it does not represent the best thinking available now on issues like density management or traffic mitigation. The land use plan also represents a sort of pact between the elected officials, the developers and the public on how zoning decisions will be made. So it is essential that elected officials stick to the land use plan. Mike pledges to call for an update to the county land use plan to bring it into the 21st century. Professional planners should be retained to assist the county staff and citizens in creating new ways to deal with density. This may enable us to reduce the total population of the county at build-out. The current land use plan indicates our population will end up at around 200,000 people, up from 100,000 people today. The plan also indicates the vast majority of this growth will take place in the unincorporated county areas, not in the cities as the annexation fear-mongers would have you believe. The five cities in Fayette may grow another 25,000 people. But the unincorporated county will grow another 75,000 people under the current plan! That's why this update is crucial. The land use plan update should also include professional input on changes to our development standards that can mitigate traffic. We may find that access roads, other development requirements or land use changes can help the traffic situation. Mike also pledges to make his zoning decisions based on the approved county and city land use plans. The first question each commissioner should ask when dealing with a zoning decision is, "What does the land use plan recommend?" Only then does the land use plan become meaningful and enforceable. Historically, this has not happened. Mike's opponent violated his pledge to stick to the land use plan when he approved commercial zoning in the south end of the county. This only weakens the land use plan. Remember, the land use plan is the key to our future! Meredith Wynn Communications Director Mike Wheat Campaign
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