THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503020221
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
The City Council held its ground last week, refusing to permit construction of new homes in the Washington Woods development because adequate sewerage is not yet in place there.
The rejection of the project showed that the councilmen meant what they said when they declared that traditional standards for rezoning applications will be set aside because they no longer meet the city's needs.
Roads to the proposed development site are adequate and the developer agreed to offset the impact of the development on nearby schools, but the sewer system just isn't ready for the extra load.
Under the old rules, that wouldn't be a stumbling block. The houses could go up now, and the sewers would just have to catch up whenever they could.
Council's decision last week sends a message to developers that the days of building on promises alone are over. They won't like that.
But by using their influence over state legislators to block efforts to establish formal growth-control measures, builders have left the council little choice in cases like this but to rely upon their own sheer will. by CNB