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Stafford may adopt a policy that would have the county responsible for maintenance of some of its own roads
by Jonas Beals
Depending on your point of view, Stafford County is on the verge of becoming either a trailblazer or a guinea pig in an attempt to better regulate growth and transportation. Last year, the Virginia General Assembly gave high-growth localities the right to assess road-impact fees on new commercial and residential development. A slightly more obscure provision allows six counties--Chesterfield, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania and Stafford--to create Urban Transportation Service Districts. Counties have until Dec. 31 to begin implementing the UTSD and a possible impact-fee program. Stafford is the only county pursuing the option. The impact fee was a topic discussed during a special Planning Commission meeting last night, where the commission approved an ordinance for public hearing by a 4-2 vote. The public hearing will be held on Oct. 15. WHAT IS A UTSD? Essentially, UTSDs are designated areas within a county that the Virginia Department of Transportation treats as if they were a city or town. The county becomes responsible for road maintenance inside the UTSD, while VDOT retains its maintenance role on interstates, primary roads and roads outside of the UTSD. In exchange for increased responsibility, the county receives the urban payment rate for roads within the UTSD, which can be considerably higher than the typical county rate. Also, the county can impose a "comprehensive impact fee" on new development outside the UTSD. The funds can be used for a number of public projects, not just transportation. HISTORY Virginia counties have always had the ability to bring road maintenance in-house, via the "devolution" process, but few have taken the leap. In theory, it would give a county more autonomy and control over its roads, but until now, there has been little incentive for a local government to take on the responsibility. "It's a huge undertaking," Fredericksburg VDOT administrator David Stanley said. "It's about the county having direct control and the ability to manage their own system. But it's a lot more than filling potholes and trimming tree limbs." Although it has never been tested in UTSD form, devolution of road maintenance could solve a problem that has plagued high-growth areas. Counties would be forced to more closely consider transportation issues when making development decisions. State legislators hope that responsibility would lead to smarter growth decisions and better county infrastructure. THE COSTS
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 9/25/2008
I highly doubt that a 90K fee is going to impact the developers, nor will it benefit the couty residents either. $90K won't buy you a traffic light. Heck, it won't pay for the study required prior to placing a traffic light.
Supervisor Stering sits on the CTB (Common Wealth Transportation Board) and this body is responsible for reviewing our application for this program. He will not be voting on the issue with the other (6) Supervisors.
came from the professed republicans. Attaching the 90k is clearly coming from the no-growthers who want to prevent by-right development. I don't think they want devolution so much as they want to stop by-right development. This is a way to do that--they know how bad some want their transportation projects. It will be interesting to see who supports this.
The Transportation Commission is gone...history. The Planning Commission runs Transportation now and i believe they are moving forward with this whole mess. I just hope when the County runds out of funds transferred from the state to maintain the roads that the planning commissioners, and supervisors who support this ill-conceived idea get out there with there shovels and start shoveling snow and filling pot holes.
article--are we talking about construction devolution or maintenance devolution? There's a huge difference between the two. The article suggests maintenance, which does nothing to address the transportation issues in this county.
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