WaPo: Va. House Puts Onus on Counties for Road Crisis

[Penndems]

By Michael D. Shear and Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 28, 2006; Page A01

RICHMOND, Dec. 27 -- Virginia House Republicans on Wednesday blamed county supervisors, particularly those in Northern Virginia, for the state's transportation crisis as they proposed laws to shift responsibility for neighborhood roads to the local officials who approve subdivisions.

The House GOP offered the proposals and the tough rhetoric as lawmakers prepared to do battle again next month over how to fix the state's transportation crisis. In the process, they laid out the main debate for elections next November, when all 140 lawmakers and most of the state's local officials will face voters: Who's to blame for the traffic?

Speaking in blunt terms, House leaders said an eagerness by local officials to approve development was "an abdication of responsibility" to plan for the impact on traffic, and that supervisors in growing counties "have done a less-than-stellar job" in planning for the future.

"The easiest job in the world is to be a supervisor approving subdivisions," said Del. C.L. "Clay" Athey Jr. (R-Warren), who leads the House GOP effort to design land-use legislation. "You can approve it, and as soon as it's over and done with, you can say any impacts to the roads you don't have to consider at all and you can just start blaming the state."

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701124.html
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What are your viewpoints on this issue?

[underpants]

1. My viewpoint is that the House Repubs are a bunch of loons

The whole thing was their contrived doing for purely political reasons and now they find themselves painted into a corner.

[Penndems]

2. You mean the Dillon Rule was contrived for political purposes?

If so, I tend to agree with you. The House Repubs like to have power centralized in Richmond.

[Eurobabe]

3. I guess in a way they are right, in Central VA

despite a good campaign, the morons in the 5th district (red & purple zones) elected Republican county supervisors who have proceeded to tear up the countryside around Albemarle Co. We warned them this would happen, but they elected these fools anyhow, the one guys claim to fame is that he is an NFL referee and an engineer. Big woop. No training in urban planning or density issues.

Now Scottsville and areas north and west of C'ville have become unmanageable because of the unbridled growth. You'd think someone would get a freaking CLUE in Crozet area and move to put a light rail connection into C'ville, for crying out loud there are tracks in use by the University of Virginia to move coal to their generating plant near the Hospital. It would be so easy!