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Senate candidates take on congestion
Senate candidates discuss transportation issuesDate published: 10/7/2007 BY CHELYEN DAVIS Both of the candidates for the 28th state Senate district say their top transportation priority is relieving congestion. They just differ slightly on how to do it. Republican Richard Stuart and Democrat Albert Pollard Jr. both advocate improving VRE service, controlling growth, extending HOV lanes south through Stafford, requiring developers to pay for more Their differences lie chiefly in how they believe growth should be controlled. Growth and developmentPollard believes that localities should have some "adequate public facilities" powers. That's legislative short- hand for laws that let local governments tie permission for new developments to available infrastructure. Under APF laws, localities could reject development if they believe they do not have the roads, schools, water lines or other infrastructure to support it. Adequate public facilities legislation fails annually in the General Assembly, but in supporting it Pollard joins several local lawmakers of both parties who have proposed some form of APF bills in recent years. "I believe a locality should have the ability to turn down developments if there are not adequate roads, schools in place," Pollard said. He also believes growth should be "compact and contiguous" and that a combination of APF laws and greater use of a "transfer of development rights" program would encourage that. Transfer of development rights means someone could sell the right to develop a house on his land, but still keep the land as open space. Pollard said this transfers density within a county, and focuses it on areas that have infrastructure and transportation. Pollard also wants to get rid of "stale zoning"--subdivisions that were platted 10 or more years ago and are still on the books, but were never built. And he thinks localities should have more flexibility in imposing impact fees on developers. Stuart disagrees with adequate public facilities legislation, one of the differences between the two candidates on transportation. He calls it "anti-growth" and instead favors concentrating growth through zoning, although he does think developers should pay for access roads from their developments. "APF legislation is too subjective," Stuart said. "What I believe in is requiring landowners to go through the zoning process so localities can control what's done. That is the most effective way to manage growth."
Date published: 10/7/2007
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