The question was asked at the Public Hearing on the Comp Plan, why a reference had been made to The Opposition as “forces of darkness.” The reference was, of course, intended as a bit of humor but one aspect of it rings truer than humor.

Absent the position, that for a dissenting opinion to be valid, it requires some statement of a position, The Opposition’s statements come from the Dark and returns to the Dark just as quickly. They have neither body nor soul, projecting simply an ephemeral fear. One can object for the sake of objecting but credibility of a dissenting opinion requires expression of a clear alternative.

THE FAILING OF THE OPPOSITION

Herein lies the failing of The Opposition. The specious claim that a plan is too complicated to understand or the even more questionable claim that “…the public can’t understand the plan” belie a position that deliberately fails to grasp what the Plan tries to do or what it actually says. It fails also to grasp the notion that it is the obligation of the dissenter to offer an alternative.

Residents of Accomack County might wonder why a supervisor thinks they are not capable of understanding this plan. Are we not sufficiently intelligent or are we simply not blessed, as this individual is, with the capacity to comprehend complicated ideas? The answer of course, is neither. We DO understand what this Plan says because we have studied it. We have the right to be heard and we will continue to exercise that right in an open and hopefully constructive dialogue. We will offer ideas and alternatives. We will engage the issues NOT the personalities.

A transplanted real estate agent from New Jersey, who has been an outspoken critic of the plan from the beginning, spoke again at the hearing. This person has been a consistent presence in the many meetings of the Board and Commission so she has had an opportunity to develop an informed opinion. In her remarks, she said the plan was “difficult to digest.” She was concerned that “middle income people need to be able to afford a home.” She expressed dismay at the acreage reserved for all forms of development as being too small and said “we need to increase acreage for residential development.”

With all due respect to dissenting opinion, we take issue with all three of these notions. The plan is not difficult to understand at all. It is a planning document so, perhaps if you are not familiar with what planning documents say, it may be a bit intimidating at first. It is detailed but it is not particularly difficult.

We agree with the idea that there must be affordable home sites for all economic groups, including of course, middle income people, as the agent pointed out. We agree wholeheartedly with this and our purpose would never be to disenfranchise the young or middle income residents. We have spoken for the need for small lots near established towns from the beginning. The plan confirms this idea and makes adequate provision for such lots to be platted and sold.

CONSTANCY OF IDEAS

The notion that these home sites won’t exist is as preposterous as it is deliberately false. The plan specifically attends to this very point and additionally addresses “Affordable Housing” (which has a specific legal meaning in the Commonwealth) and small lot subdivisions near the towns. From the very beginning, SONs has firmly and consistently stated that we believe lot sizes should be graduated in size from smaller lots around the established towns and villages to larger lots as one approaches environmentally sensitive areas. We have never wavered from that thesis. This goal is addressed by the Plan.

DO THE ARITHMETIC

Lastly, regarding the acreage issue, the plan reserves 16,964 acres for non-agricultural purposes. The reserve for residential uses is 14,080 acres in 57 locations throughout the county. Virtually ALL this acreage would be on small lots, that is, 10,000-30,000 square feet in and around the towns and villages.

Let’s do the arithmetic: At an average lot size of even 30,000 square feet, this equates to nearly 20,000 NEW lots. The plan projects population growth in the county over the next 25 years between 7,500-15,000 people. At 2.5 people per household, that is a requirement for 6000 new homes. When the 20,000 new lots are added to the huge existing inventory, our favorite real estate agent has almost 100 years of inventory to sell. Somehow, that seems ample.

INEVITABILITY OF CHANGE

Another speaker at the hearing made the argument that places change and that there is no reason for the County to compel new development to occur near existing towns. This is apparently an extension of the anything goes anywhere philosophy. We are sorry, we do not agree with this last concept.

Certainly places change and evolve, sometimes they become better, sometimes worse. But the job of both the planners and the people who live in these locations, is to voice their opinions so that the best options are considered.

A supervisor claimed that the process of the last two years was “not a public process for everyone. The public process was only for those who had time to attend the meetings.” Bravo, Mrs. Supervisor. You have grasped the essential component of government: People participate, politicians react, dialogue is joined and results are produced. We spoke in public and took positions because we cared enough to be identified with the ideas.

JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM

What we did not do was criticize every plan or study that has been presented. We did not attempt to reject out of hand anything we didn’t agree with. And we certainly did not falsify conclusions or make up facts to suit us or to inflame various constituencies.

It is inconceivable that any individual in this County, desiring to be heard on a matter important to him or her, would not have had the opportunity to voice that opinion at some time during this lengthy process. To fault the process because people participated is an ignorant and arrogant statement. It is a rock thrown from a dark alley.

WE STILL STAND FOR THE SAME THINGS

SONs has articulated a clear plan for concentrated residential uses near towns and villages, for graduated densities as one moves away from those areas, for low densities anywhere near environmentally sensitive areas and for no hard surface development over the principle groundwater recharge spine.

These are not ideas that prohibit development in any way. They are ideas that modify where development can occur and should be mitigated by specific circumstances. Accomack County, for too long, has shown a willingness to bend toward ad hoc development and to make exceptions the rule, rather than mandate established policy.

Recognition and understanding of the groundwater issue will require an almost Draconian re-thinking of permits and process. What we have in place right now is fatally flawed. This county does not have sufficient economic support to consider the cost of a desalinization plant at a cost of $35-50MM.

WE ARE MAKING CHOICES. WE ARE SPEAKING.

We are making choices. If others do not care to voice their own choices or to be heard on matters important to them, they must accept the changes that occur.

Everyone has the right to speak and everyone who cares should speak on what is important to them. SONs has no other motive in this. We have no hidden agenda. We have no financial interest in the outcome, as a real estate agent does or as a supervisor who has close ties to developers does. We are interested in a benefit to many people, including ourselves, and to future generations not benefit to a select few right now.

Cronyism needs to contract an immediate and terminal disease. Thoughtful and reasoned approaches to complex environmental and economic issues need to be weighed objectively. Future employment and future appearance need to be considered. The Shore can be transformed into Anywhere Else in the blink of an eye.

PUT UP OR SHUT UP

Those of us who have seen the phenomenon in other places know this all too well. If someone objects to a particular position we hold, then tell us why and offer another idea. It is high time The Opposition put forward an alternative because their vacant objections from the Darkness are tedious to those who would genuinely listen to people with other ideas.