To the Editor:
It was reported in local newspapers that the city government is considering a new policy of reducing the parking requirements for developers of new projects. A lady who was identified as a city planner described the proposal as a change of the “paradigm” to accommodate “more efficient use of land,” the code words for more dense development. The paradigm in this city government is obsession with, and subservience to, real estate developers which is the very thing that is caused the parking issue in the first place, along with increasing levels of traffic gridlock, huge financial demands for infrastructure to support the increased density, increased taxes on our citizens, and many other problems. We need more parking, not less. Less available parking for residents already has resulted in increased confrontation among residents as well as confrontation between residents and non-residents visiting or working in our city.
The stated objectives of the City Council and city planners, in allowing almost unlimited development was to create growth of our economy and expand the tax base to allow for more revenues to support city obligations. Unfortunately for our citizens, this plan has failed miserably. We are now presented with excuses as to why the plan failed to meet expectations. The commercial sector did not expand as planned and residential values did not increase as expected. In other words, the financial projections were flawed and were incorrect. In all likelihood, the projections were skewed to justify the enormous density that developers were allowed to pursue.
One thing seems for sure, if the mayor, City Council and city staff cannot balance a budget in a non-inflationary economy with a historically low cost of credit for years, we are headed for a train-wreck. Both inflation and interest rates are going to rise in the relatively near future and as the cost of real estate and interest rates rise, the real estate market will be negatively impacted. Under those circumstances, an additional tax increase is likely. The two tax increases in the past two years are already putting a strain on homeowners and renters, especially those with fixed-incomes.
The proposed solution of the City Council, Mayor Euille and candidate Kerry Donley is to continue pursuing the same plan of rapid development, only faster. To keep doing the same thing and expect to get a different result is the classic definition of insanity. This is even more pronounced when there are economic uncertainties on the horizon. The citizens of this city have suffered enough from inept planning and voodoo economics. Albert Einstein was once asked the difference was between stupid and genius. He responded that “genius has its limits”.
We need a mayor who is willing to push back against unwise development, require developers to pay a fair and equitable share of infrastructure costs necessary to support their projects and be more sensitive to quality of life issues for our citizens. For that reason, I will vote for Allison Silberberg for Mayor and hope a majority of our citizens will do the same.
Etta Martin
Alexandria