Smart Growth repeats failed social experiments
In two recent pieces in The Sun, a college professor and a professional planner sang the praises of Smart Growth, a new name for an old way the government attempts to control what it sees as suburban sprawl. More recently, The Sun editorialized on what is and isn't Smart Growth (June 9).
Smart Growth is appealing. You discourage growth in more rural areas and thereby encourage restoration of existing neighborhoods and communities. You make better use of resources and tax dollars, and you go easier on the environment. It is a popular concept because it has a little something for everyone.
The problem with Smart Growth is not dissimilar to the problems we had with its forebears: urban renewal, community development block grants and dozens of other social engineering experiments of the 1960s and '70s. Most of those experiments failed initially because it was soon discovered that government -- any government -- couldn't manage the scale of change bening attempted. The professional planners and the politicians who dreamed up those engineering feats, weren't smart enough to make them work and instead of saving the taxpayers millions, they cost taxpayers billions.
Good came of the experiments eventually, but it took the nation 20 years to figure out what went wrong and summon the political courage to change it.
Now, it seems, we're at it again, using government bureaucracy as a shoehorn to cram us into one-size-fits all lifestyles.
A case in point: The big foot of Smart Growth has been planted squarely on the 160-year-old rural community of Davidsonville in Anne Arundel County.
Davidsonville has been growing at a quick pace for the past 30 years because it offers serenity, low crime, clean air and nice people. Davidsonville Elementary School, however, is also 30 years old, outmoded and overcrowded.
The heating and plumbing are shot. There is no air conditioning. The parking lot and driveways present traffic hazards, many children are in portable classrooms and most importantly, it was built for 394 students and now houses 543.
After years of discussions and parental activism, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, the current and former county executives, the County Council, state legislative delegation and a number of other civic groups and organizations all ratified a plan for a new school with a 600-student capacity.
Funds were appropriated. Architects were hired. Everything was fine until an appointee of the governor stepped in and declared the school plan null and void.
He said it violated the governor's Smart Growth plan.
He said the school would be renovated to house only 447 students, and the leftover children would be bused to other schools in the county, where, as it turns out, there's no room for them, either.
This all came as a great surprise to Davidsonville residents who supported Smart Growth and legislators from the area who had voted for it.
Davidsonville is now caught in a Catch-22. The county Planning and Code Enforcement agency just approved 84 new lots. New homes are going up up all over the area. The state has done nothing to stop construction on anything but the school, leaving the children with the prospect of more overcrowded classrooms, worse traffic congestion and some very upset parents.
The state has since conceded that its decision may have been based on faulty population projections it got from the school board. The school board says it gave the state the only numbers it had available, the same ones it used to approve the school project. Both statements are accurate, but both hide the truth, and none of the finger-pointing has resolved anything.
The truth is the state simply didn't have the wherewithal to make informed decisions. But, it went ahead anyway, micromanaging the local community in the name of Smart Growth. The college professor and professional planner will tell you that Davidsonville and its kids are just casualties of the war against sprawl, and that these kinds of glitches must not deter them from achieving a greater good. That was the rational 30 years ago, too.
It didn't work then and it won't work now, particularly now that we are a bit more enlightened and understand that you don't change human behavior by dictatorial and unilateral government mandate, especially on a society descended from cantankerous rebels.
The Sun has not covered the Davidsonville situation. It should. The Smart Growth issues are complex and deserve a closer look before a good idea goes sour. There will be other Davidsonvilles in Maryland and across the country until the lessons of a generation ago are learned again. And the quicker the better for the children.
Mike Johnson
Davidsonville
The writer is a senior vice president of APCO Associates in Washington. His wife, Tricia, is president of the Davidsonville Elementary School PTA.
Our right to ride without helmets or seat belts
Is it safer to wear a helmet while your body is exposed as you maneuver on wheels? Yes.
Do seat belts save lives? Of course.
These are "no brainer" questions, but maybe we should go a little deeper. Is the safety of others at stake when someone chooses not to wear a helmet or seat belt? No.
Whether or not I personally advocate safety devices is not at issue. These items are at my disposal to use or not. What I do advocate is the right to choose.
Each time we go along with legislation that takes away a personal choice, we let more worms out of a can.
A few of those worms were named Social Security, inheritance taxes and luxury taxes -- all for our own good.
The time has come to decide what's best for ourselves. If the insurance companies opt to charge more or deny coverage to unsafe people , that is their right. But I would hate to be fined for wearing my Tuesday underwear on a Saturday.
Pam White
Pasadena
Don't need more laws; enforce ones we have
Recently, the cover of Parade Sunday magazine asked the question, "Are we doing enough to protect our children?" A better question would be, "Are we doing enough to keep the wackos and violent offenders off of our streets?" Common sense tells us that the answer is a resounding "no."
We live in a permissive society. Juveniles and adult repeat offenders continue to receive liberal sentences and treatment from courts and parole boards.
By and large, the police do a good job of catching the criminals. However, in too many instances, the captured perpetrators are out of jail before the officer is finished with the paper work.
We do not need a plethora of new legislation. We just need to vigorously enforce current law and ensure that meaningful sentences are meted out to violent repeat offenders.
We need stricter enforcement of existing laws, abolition of parole and probation and juveniles who commit violent crimes should be treated as adults.
T. C. Henderson
Pasadena
Pension tax structure works against state
My husband and I moved to Annapolis in March 1997 from Long Island, N.Y.
He is a retired school teacher from the New York City Board of Education, and as such, the pension he received has already been taxed by the city and state of New York. While living in New York, his pension was tax exempt by the state.
We strongly object to being taxed again for a second time. This does not encourage retirees to settle here. We are seriously considering leaving Maryland if this tax is not rescinded. This tax strongly affects our standard of living.
Jean Dobkin Howard
L. Dobkin
Annapolis
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