Great letter to the editor

by Jim Duncan on March 28, 2007

In the Daily Progress. Read the whole thing.

Crozet was the same as it had always been, that is until recent years when developers came in and changed the entire area – just as they have done in other places that were labeled “the best place to live.”

If they continue to remake Crozet, will the town have to give way to favored stores and businesses?

Are we to face even more taxes and regulations, crowded living, heavy traffic, and poorer schools as a result of this overgrowth?

Will this still be “the best place to live?”

The people I see in Crozet do not have time to sit on benches. They like their independence and rural way of life. The real answer to our problem is reduction of the size, cost and scope of county government and the limitation of taxation.

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  • Z

    My question is, where is the land that is being developed “coming from”? Does the county own the land and is selling it to developers, or are ordinary citizens having money flashed into their faces and selling to the developers? My feeling is that ordinary citizens are the ones selling their land to developers (and they have the right to do so). While government (federal, state, local) is surely to blame for not have stricter laws in place to help against the by-right development threat (laws that make sure the proper infrastructer is in place, such as schools, roads, public services, etc.) , aren’t these ordinary citizens (if this is the majority of what’s happening) the ones to blame for selling their land?

  • http://www.realcrozetva.com Jim Duncan

    Z – the land that is being developed is coming from private landholders.

    For one perspective on this, read
    this discussion on cvillenews and this comment in particular:

    … if rural residents want property rights that’s OK by me as long they pay at the same assessment rate as the lowest income homeowner, who doesn’t have the option to sell off land to pay the tax bill. No one in county government has ever been able to provide a cost benefit analysis that shows land use as a benefit to those who pay for it.
    If its rural protection that the people want then the money is much better spent by investing in the ACE program, which has averaged protecting about 1,000 acres per 1 million spent. In the last 4 years if the money wasted in land use was put into ACE approximately 40,000 acres would now be protected. Much better to invest in permanent protection rather then renting until the land gets sold to developers.

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