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Already the sewer project is driving decisions to
finance it that are at odds with wrhat some people
want the Town of Washington to be.
Citizen comments from the town’s comprehensive plan, written in 2006, speak to this disparity. Asked how they wished the town would be in 25 years, the common refrain was: “The same,” or “Just as it is.”
In 2006, the sewer project and financing for it was well underway. It seems there have been two incompatible assumptions lurking unspoken all along. The town needs growth to finance the sewer, but some people in the town want it to remain the same or with very little growth.
This dichotomy began to rear itself during the sewer ordinance hearings beginning last December. Then, the issues of growth still seemed far off.
This week we learned that instead of putting off Phase II of the project for five years, town officials now are seeking federal stimulus money to pay for the project in which case Phase II would begin immediately.
The growth issue is now a clear and present reality not withstanding current economic circumstances.
Town officials and residents have yet to reconcile their intentions as presented in the comprehensive plan and the growth that the sewer will inevitably bring.
As with most policy decisions, seeking to resolve one issue creates or enlarges another. So too with town officials seeking to finance the project with stimulus money.
Phase II may be just around the corner, and it is here that much of the supposed growth may occur. There are large parcels of land within this phase that can be subdivided into lots as small as one-half acre and built upon.”
Up until 1973, Lee Highway used to run right through the center of town on the way to the Shenandoah National Park. There was a gas station and car dealership and several stores and tourist homes. When Route 211 bypassed the town, these businesses left and the town became the sleepy little hamlet it is today.
The sewer will have as much impact on the character of the town as did the new highway.
How ready is the town to have its character changed irrevocably?
88.5%