When I’m out speaking with Lee Hill residents there always seems to be general concerns about County development, particularly that infrastructure upgrades are not keeping up with the rate of new homes. In my observation, part of this issue is that each re-zoning appears to occur in isolation and not in the context that close to 14,000 homes have already been approved.
An appropriate response would not be to continue to approve re-zonings with little regard for future impacts. Likewise suggesting a moratorium on re-zonings is also unfair to new developers and businesses that have nothing to do with the current state of the county. The response should be to rededicate ourselves to evaluating projects on how they impact the community and help to promote the future vision for Spotsylvania County. While a new developer cannot be expected to pay for impacts caused by previously approved projects, evaluating their new projects in a broader context on how they impact the overarching goals will benefit the entire community.
What could be helpful to achieve this outcome? If elected, I will advocate for the County Planning Department to develop a map overlay as part of the strategic plan, that will highlight previously approved developments, their estimated time of construction, applicable proffers, and approved road or infrastructure improvements, all of which would provide a more holistic picture for each rezoning application reviews. This would allow the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to observe areas 5, 10, and 20 years into the future and better envision the service and infrastructure improvements the county will need to make to maintain the current level of services and its cost.
This will not only help the county officials and staff, but also provide county residents with a blueprint to better grasp the upcoming impacts to the community and the necessary work that will be needed to meet the future demands of the community.