As we unwind from the Holiday Season and stow our decorations away for another year, it begs the question just how Chesterfield County will look and feel at the end of this upcoming year. There was heated debate last Fall in some quarters about how our local government has been operating these last few years and the animosity that has ensued between different elements of government and in particular how Chesterfield County has taken on the look and feel of a Fairfax or Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. Many citizens question whether that is a suitable direction to be embarking upon here in Chesterfield. The issue over the new Comprehensive Plan has spurned real debate that has intertwined national, political agendas with local policy.
The two obvious issues that such measures as the Comprehensive Plan highlight is Chesterfield's inability to structure growth in a manner that is mutually beneficial to all residents (property rights) within the County and and the capacity level of our school system.You will recall that many citizens demanded that Cosby High School be redesigned to accommodate a greater capacity than was proposed. The Board ignored citizens whom understood seeing all the new growth and new developments coming on line that there would be more and more families moving into the area. The Board zoned these developments and then ignored the impact of such zoning upon the area. One year after opening its doors, Cosby High School was over capacity.
Chesterfield County continues to remain one of the fastest growing localities in the Commonwealth. Two years ago, Kirk Turner the County Planning Director stated that "a healthy growth rate is 2 percent and anything less does not support the growth, anything more stresses our ability to provide public services". As we all know, Chesterfield has grown above that 2% growth rate over the last decade and from a public service perspective the slowing housing market while very tough on citizens has benefited government in this area because had the housing boom continued Chesterfield would be worse off from a service standpoint than we are today. The County is still unwinding excess inventory from the prior boom today. That does not reflect well on the continued leadership in planning and government that has ridden this period of growth out the last decade and a half however and with the support of a Board of Supervisors that remains behind the curve of growth. As Kirk Turner explained in 2009, "when you zone more property in any year than the market will absorb, then you have over zoned".
Our previous Board of Supervisors has always pushed back upgrading "public facilities" and routinely has bought in to the notion that "growth pays for growth", but in reality citizens pay for that growth. The poorly maintained infrastructure can not withstand another four to eight years of this negligent growth model. Our Board must chart a course for Chesterfield with a realistic vision that does not solely rely on the General Assembly or the Federal Government has it has the last twenty years. Many of us have asked our government to slow down and permit our schools to absorb the expansive growth that this broken model has achieved and yet even from James Stegmaier, County Administrator we are told that "when you get down on the ground, there are obstacles you didn't see from there whether they are unforeseen consequences or political realities". Here in lies the problem with Chesterfield. The consequences regarding the issues of growth were never "unforeseen" and have been highlighted by citizens throughout this growth period but by and large have been ignored by the Board, which has sought to protect itself from "political realities".
This last election cycle brings Chesterfield to a crossroads. Citizens of the Matoaca District elected both a new Supervisor and School Board representative and replaced two of the most outspoken, challenging the status quo personalities the County has seen in a long, long time. Will these voices be missed? Will Chesterfield County return control back to what many of us can remember being referred to as the "good ole boy" system of government? The are many questions and frankly reservations that citizens have and the fear now within the County is that our government just too two steps backward which will result in less transparency. During the last decade, we have been dealt a Board that has been unaccountable and recklessly irresponsible in addressing citizen concerns regarding growth, schools and real estate assessments/valuations and taxes. We have witnessed a Board that has approved zoning after zoning case and flooding our market with excess capacity driving down values at the same time neglecting our older villages and areas resulting in blight with unoccupied commercial property and an increase in rental housing units. There has been no real vision for the County communicated to citizens by its leaders and the result has been rushed zoning cases that in the end result in not only negatively impacting our quality for life, our schools but also our business community. Two touted developments sought by this government regime were Magnolia Green and Roseland- both whose developers have declared bankruptcy and remain delinquent on payments to local banks and companies, not to mention the four million dollar bailout of SportsQuest with tax payer money in a "lease for play" deal that enabled the private concern to remain viable for a period of time only now to be delinquent to elements of the local business community.
Chesterfield can do better! The days of remaining on the sidelines hoping that we have a government that will do the right thing and provide our public services and safety without question are coming to an end. Our schools face a certain financial shortfall, over capacity and we are witnessing quality teachers move to other localities on the one hand and we have a Board of Supervisors providing themselves a pay raise on the other.
The Board of Supervisors of Chesterfield County in 2012 must return to the table and acknowledge that "WE" are all in this together. If we as citizens allow this Board to remain isolated from reality and to maintain the status quo of a failed model, than as we unpack those decorations in December of this year we will face even greater challenges for both our community and our families.
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