Supervisors dissolve roads panel HOW STAFFORD SUPERVISORS VOTED

By KELLY HANNON

Controversy is swirling around a Stafford Board of Supervisors quick vote to disband a volunteer transportation advisory group.

Byron Hinton, chairman of the Stafford Transportation Commission, said last week's 4-3 vote "was totally out of the blue."

The board split mainly along party lines with Democrats Harry Crisp II, George Schwartz, Bob Woodson, and the board's sole independent, Joe Brito, voting to dissolve the group. Republicans Mark Dudenhefer, Paul Milde and Cord Sterling opposed the measure.

In interviews this week, Democrats said the Planning Commission is better suited to grapple with road and transportation planning, since development and zoning decisions affect traffic.

They point out that the Virginia General Assembly has empowered counties such as Stafford to impose traffic impact fees on developers.

"The Transportation Commission was not in a position to view transportation and land use in the overview. This is a better organizational management plan for transportation in the county," said Schwartz, board chairman.

Residents still have forums to air transportation concerns, he said.

"They can come to board members. They can come to the board. They can come to the Planning Commission," Schwartz said.

Milde said transportation matters require a separate advisory group, and the shift will burden the Planning Commission.

"In a county where transportation is our main issue, our main problem, I think it sends the wrong message to dismantle the Transportation Commission," he said.

Milde said supervisors should have looked at other options before getting rid of the commission.

"You don't just hear about an idea to disband a transportation commission and vote to do it two minutes later," Milde said.

Woodson made the motion to dissolve the Transportation Commission at the Jan. 15 meeting.

Woodson said the Planning Commission will elevate the consideration of transportation needs, not diminish them.

"It's all about being under one body, using a comprehensive effort toward planning here in Stafford," he said.

Dudenhefer said transportation involves safety issues and quality of life issues.

"Transportation is not about land use. There are some ties to land use, but what about people who live here now, who live in Garrisonville, that have to fight traffic every day?" Dudenhefer said.

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The Transportation Commission was created on Dec. 7, 2004, and had eight volunteer members, a resident from each election district in Stafford, and one member of the county Planning Commission.

Nonvoting members attended from the Stafford Sheriff's Office, the school system, fire and rescue organizations, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the county's planning department.

In 2004, several Stafford teens died in vehicle crashes. One of the victims was Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer's daughter Emily, 17, a senior at Colonial Forge High School. A task force formed after the deaths called for improvements to winding, rural roads that lead to county high schools.

The Transportation Commission took up improving those roads as part of its mission.

The group held a comment period at monthly meetings, where residents could ask for traffic signals or signs in their neighborhood.

Transportation Commission members then recommended safety measures to the Board of Supervisors. Also, the commission gave supervisors a prioritized list of secondary road projects.

Byron Hinton, chairman of the Transportation Commission, said members spent 10 to 15 hours a week responding to residents and working with county staff. The commission refused to spread projects evenly across election districts, Hinton said.

"We looked at the betterment of the county as a whole," Hinton said.

--Kelly Hannon

Date published: 1/24/2008

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