American Dream

There's often a lot of carrying-on about Smart Growth and lower taxes, thanks to "compact," high-density residential development.

Then we have Prince William County, Virignia. Not exactly an ideal Smart Growth community - in fact, very suburban, with a touch of exurban at some of its edges - a diverse county where many people have moved in search of the American Dream.

Compare and contrast with Arlington County, Virginia, home to the Ballston Corridor, Rosslyn, Pentagon City and Crystal City.

Now the Washington Post reports that Prince William's Board of County Supervisors has adopted a budget with a property tax rate that's lower than Arlington's.

On a 6 to 2 vote, supervisors shaved nearly 16 cents off the current tax rate, bringing it to 80.7 cents per $100 of assessed home value. With the average value of a county home at $423,403 -- 27 percent higher than last year -- the average homeowner will see taxes rise by $187 this year.

The new tax rate is lower than Arlington's, which until yesterday was the region's lowest rate, at 81.8 cents per $100 assessed value. Board members had approved the new rate last week.

Something to consider.

• An Oregon law enacted in August enables displaced mobile home park residents with an annual household income of less than $60,000 to receive a tax credit of up to $10,000, State Rep. Jerry Krummel says.

• Pinellas County, Fla., on Tampa Bay, requires park owners to find affordable housing for displaced residents or to help provide them rental assistance for two years, says Anthony Jones, the county's director of community development.

• Commissioners in Clark County, Nev., home of Las Vegas, are considering a moratorium on the rezoning of mobile home parks for town homes, condominiums and other development, County Commissioner Myrna Williams says.

LAKE TAHOE - A California business executive has agreed to pay a $50,0000 fine for poisoning trees to enhance the view from his Lake Tahoe home. John Fitzhenry apologized Wednesday to officials with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency saying "This has been the most foolish thing I've ever done." Fitzhenry poisoned three, 40-foot Jeffrey pines on his $2.4 million property in Dollar Point on Tahoe's north shore. Fitzhenry hopes the fine would go toward future protection and restoration of Lake Tahoe.

I think it was my Dad who introduced me to the phrase "the road to Hades is paved with good intentions," and it applies when we talk about so-called Adequate Public Facility Ordinances (APFOs), at least in my home state of Maryland. I've seen APFO used to deny development plans that would otherwise be approved (thus implicitly debasing the value of private property).

APFO has repeatedly led to approval of new residential developments using unrealistic assumptions about transit patronage by residents of the new development - which in turn leads to increased traffic congestion.

Perhaps worst of all, APFOs allow local elected officials to assure constituents that they are "doing something" about traffic congestion and over-crowded public schools by just using APFO to deny development approvals.

Read more about APFO in Maryland at the links below:

Press release: “Inappropriate Use, Inconsistent Standards and Unintended Consequences” (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 33 KB)

Full report: Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances in Maryland: Inappropriate Use - Inconsistent Standards - Unintended Consequences (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 355 KB)

The Effects of Moratoria on Residential Development: Evidence from Harford, Howard, and Montgomery Counties (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 5.31 MB)

Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances in Maryland: An Analysis of their Implementation and Effects on Residential Development in the Washington Metropolitan Area (450 KB)

Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances in Maryland: An Analysis of their Implementation and Effects on Residential Development in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area (435 KB)

Dear News & Observer Editorial Staff,
Regarding your 4/27 article "Poll shows support for Triangle rail service," I was one of the 811 respondents to the April 12 telephone survey. Why am I not surprised that the poll showed overwhelming support for regional rail? Let me answer that with a simple question: Who paid for the survey? The very people who are trying to save their jobs - the Triangle Transit Authority. I found it very difficult, during the telephone survey, to answer the questions in a way that would convey the fact that I don't support the rail system. Many questions were worded such that most answers would show at least some support. Your article noted an interesting point - why didn't the survey ask if the respondent would ride the rails?
Dick Rentfrow
Raleigh

Research Triangle Park, NC - Recently the Triangle Transit Authority conducted a self preservation poll. They will say anything to promote a rail project that never seems to get approved by Congress or the voters. Thankfully, there are excellent men in office, who won't tollerate their lies, and will go on record stating such:

Hi Damien,
You stated: "The survey shows that a majority of Triangle residents believe that a regional rail system is needed and will improve the quality of life".
A poll does not speak for the majority of the triangle residents. If that were the case, then every elected official would be able to claim they speak for a majority of the citizens they are elected to represent, which would not be true, but certainly be more accurate than your poll. They were elected by a majority of voters and not a majority of citizens. The same for your poll. A majority of those you polled is different than a majority of the triangle citizens.
So with that said, I guess if you can claim your poll speaks for the majority of the triangle, then I speak for the majority of Cary by saying " TTA is a waste of taxpayer dollars and should stop trying to push for a train that would be the biggest boondoggle of the triangle".
Sincerely,
Michael A. Joyce
At-large Representative
Cary Town Council

Tunnel Back On Table for Dulles Rail
Cost Dispute Threatens To Delay Metro Project

By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; A01

A proposal to build a tunnel under Tysons Corner for the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport has regained momentum but has created a major rift among the partners that threatens to delay the $4 billion project.

Last month, contractors ruled out a tunnel as too expensive compared with an elevated track, but others involved in the 23-mile extension say that the builders overstated the cost to avoid sharing the job with tunnel-building companies. The tunnel's proponents have succeeded in reviving its prospects, but time is running out for a change in plans, with applications for federal funding due next month and construction scheduled to begin this year.

A new University of Toronto study using satellite imagery from 1976 and 1992 concludes that recent urban development is no more scattered than development in 1976. The authors also conclude that roads have no impact on development density:

"We looked at a lot of measures of road density -- miles of road per area, average distance to a road, distance to an interstate exit -- and we could find no relation between those measures and the scatteredness of development."

Two sources not always known for having the same point of view, the Heritage Foundation and the Washington Post's editorial page, have spoken out against the spending of $700 million in federal taxpayer funds for this project.

Senators Should Derail Mississippi's "Railroad to Nowhere"
by Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., and Brian M. Riedl
WebMemo #1048


Ron Utt, on the rails in Mississippi.

Post Editorial: The Great Train Robbery, 2006
Adding to the deficit at a rate of $80 million per minute

Added later: See also this in the Wall Street Journal's opinion pages: Mississippi Burning Tax Dollars (subscription may be required).

TOPSAIL, NC - Topsail Beach is invoking its power of eminent domain to avoid a long court battle over land for a public boat ramp.“This will allow us to take possession of the boat ramp in about 30 days, and we’ll be able to open it to the public for the summer season,” the Mayor said gleefully. The property owner’s attorney, Kieran Shanahan, calls the move heavy handed and asserted that the town had always intended to take his client's property.“It’s the ultimate trump card for the government. It was Topsail who was unable to close the deal because they didn’t have the money,” he said. “My client has legitimate offers from third parties who are willing to pay twice what Topsail Beach is... it’s just unfortunate that they think they have to club him with eminent domain because they couldn’t close.” Town officials say they did not, in fact, have financing arrangements – $345,000 from the Coastal Resources Commission.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Members of the House Select Committee on Eminent Domain Powers stopped short of asking the General Assembly to approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit government power to acquire homes and businesses for private projects. North Carolina law already limits local governments to nine conditions in which cities and counties can condemn private land, but some towns and cities have received exemptions over the years for economic projects. Committee members have said they believe the existing law is pretty strong, but have proposed a law that would close any loopholes. The bill recommended to the Legislature by the House panel would limit eminent domain exclusively to public uses already set out in law, such as the creation or expansion of roads, parks, sewer lines and government buildings. Any laws granting additional condemnation authority to specific local governments beyond the statewide restrictions would be repealed July 1 unless condemnation proceedings were ongoing. Critics of the proposal argue any bill will be insufficient, since the General Assembly could repeal the law later.

MATTHEWS, NC - What makes a public street? That issue was before the NC Court of Appeals recently, as Matthews landowners challenged a ruling that the town had a public right-of-way across their property. In the fall of 2002, the owners of the street, the Wrights, e-mailed Robert Brandon, the zoning administrator, contending that the county had issued building permits along their street in violation of a county ordinance. In their e-mail, the Wrights contested whether their street was, in fact, a public street - Brandon replied that it was. The Wrights challenged Brandon’s determination before the Matthews Board of Adjustment. Testifying before the board in February 2004 was Ralph S. Messera, Matthews’ public works director who noted that the town had annexed the property now owned by the Wrights in 1983 and maintained the street since 1985. In an April 2006 decision, the state’s second highest court held that the road in question was never a public street, despite it possibly having been maintained some by the state in the past, being paved by the town, and showing up on state maps as a public street.

MISSOURI - The Missouri Farm Bureau President was not pleased with the language in the legislation that was introduced in the House. The bureau had assurances, from the leadership in the Missouri House that the bill was going to strengthen landowner notification by requiring condemning authorities to provide information to those impacted by their plans. "I don't think that is too much to ask," he said. "The House-passed bill is not what we were led to expect and certainly not what we hoped for. Quite frankly, it falls far short of what Missouri property owners deserve." Now the Bureau's Vice President is urging the Senate to to produce a much stronger bill.

Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities died after a stroke at age 89. News reports on her death claimed that her most famous book "questioned the sprawling suburbs that characterized urban planning, saying it was killing inner cities and discouraging the economic vitality that springs organically from neighbourhoods."

In fact, The Death and Life questioned the urban renewal plans that planners were using to destroy inner-city neighborhoods. While Jacobs was not personally fond of the suburbs, she was tolerant of them but intolerant of urban planners who wanted to impose their ideas on other people. She did not blame the suburbs for "killing inner cities"; she blamed urban planners, whom she described as "know-it-alls (who also possessed a supposed knowledge of the future) who wade into a piece of the world and its population with visions of how to transform the whole shebang and proceed to try to do it."

While she carefully described inner city life in detail, she also warned against applying her observations to small towns or suburban areas. Yet this is exactly what urban planners have done; so-called smart growth is an overt attempt to convert suburban areas into the inner-city neighborhoods that Jacobs described in her book.

Jane Jacobs and the truth; R.I.P.

Some people live far from work because they want a home that costs less.

But others live far from work because there's little or no work near home. That's the main point of this article, which describes the 77 mile (one-way) commute that ten residents of Luray, Virginia endure every day to get to jobs at the George Mason University, a state school with its main campus located in Fairfax.

Portland's regional planning agency, Metro, wants to charge landowners a "windfall profits tax" when it expands the urban-growth boundary, making land available for development.

Let's see how this works. First Metro draws the urban-growth boundary, depressing the value of land excluded from the boundary. Then it expands the boundary, restoring that value. Then it taxes landowners for the increased value.

"It's based on the increased value created by government action creating a windfall for some property owners," says Robert Liberty, former director of 1000 Friends of Oregon and now a member of the Metro council. Of course, Liberty was totally opposed to paying landowners compensation when government regulation depressed the value of their property. Now he sees the windfall profits tax as a fair response to Measure 37, which requires such compensation.

Such a tax might makes sense if government action really did increase the value of someone's property. For example, it might make sense to create a special service district that taxes local landowners for roads and other improvements made that enhance land values in the district.

But Liberty's idea smacks of Mafia thugs destroying people's businesses and then expecting "protection money" from businessowners whose businesses they allow to continue. Let's hope this idea dies a quick death.

OK, I'll admit it - I'm a railfan. I love to watch trains, and the anticipation of waiting for a CSX or NS freight at a grade crossing is something I find enjoyable (and I'd never, ever try to "beat the train," and not just because it's unsafe, but because it would deprive me of a train to watch).

Having said that, here are some photographs that I took recently of some fairly new homes that were built next to the Takoma Metrorail station on the Red Line in the Takoma area of the District of Columbia. In addition to being close to the Metro stop (they are), they are also hard by the CSX (ex-B&O) Metropolitan Subdivision tracks, which run on either side of the Red Line at this location.

First, a development that was built at the corner of Blair Road and Cedar Street, N.W., and just to the west of the Metropolitan Sub and Red Line tracks.





Images 1 and 2 are the front and rear of the same units. In the second image, we see the tops of the buildings peering over the roof the the Metro station and a passing CSX freight train.



Image 3 is of the "other" side of this "V"-shaped complex, which fronts onto Blair Road, N.W. (and the BP gas station). Note also the garage entrance on the left side of this picture.



Image 4 is taken from 4th Street, N.W. looking north, at two old facades that were used to connect the legs of the "V". The garage exit is on the right of this picture, next to the Metro station entrance (which is out of the picture on the right).

Now I don't think any of this is very attractive, and it does not strike me as having much of a "sense of place."

Second, on the east side of the tracks, in the 300 block of Carroll Street, N.W. is another project that was completed recently.





In image 5 we also see a CSX train rumbling by. Image 6 shows the entrance to the parking garage.

While I generally like buildings built of brick (my grandfather was a mason), this does not do much for me, even though it's more attractive than the project above.

And in spite of my interest in trains, I don't think I'd want to be this close to a mainline railroad! Were I to live there, I would probably get used to the sound of the motive power and the trains, but I wonder if anyone considered what would happen in the event of a derailment?

Click on the link below for a Google map of the area. Note that Cedar Street, N.W. changes names as it crosses under the Metropolitan Subdivision's tracks for some reason - east of the tracks, it's Carroll Street, N.W. Note also that the satellite image of this area was taken before either of these projects was built, though the Takoma Metrorail station, and the Metropolitan Sub tracks are clearly visible.

Blair Road and 4th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Words below are quoted from Joel's letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding Docket ID: EPA-HQ- OAR-2001-0017:

Randomized, controlled studies of PM and mortality could provide more definitive evidence of PM2.5 risks. Such studies can not, of course, be performed on humans. However, animal studies have failed to provide evidence that PM causes premature death, even at concentrations much higher than ever occur in ambient air. Studies of less adverse PM2.5 effects have been performed with human volunteers, but these studies have provided little or no evidence for harm at contemporary PM2.5 levels.

EPA and CASAC have ignored the evidence against the validity of observational epidemiology as a tool for assessing PM2.5 risks. And they have marshaled evidence selectively so as to create an appearance of greater and more certain risks from PM2.5 than is warranted by the weight of the evidence.

Given that current PM2.5 standards are sufficiently stringent to protect Americans with an adequate margin of safety, EPA should reject its proposed PM2.5 NAAQS rule and leave the current PM2.5 standards in place.

Read Joel's entire letter here. (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 80 KB)

As some readers of this blog no doubt know, Montgomery County, Maryland has set aside a large section of its land area for use as something called the Agricultural Preserve. One of the things that the county allows in the Agricultural Preserve is, well, agriculture (the Ag Preserve is also a de-facto urban growth boundary, though it's never called that and has had little or no impact on growth and development of areas beyond Montgomery County).

But agriculture and farming (at least in my mind) normally means tractors, combines, trucks and the like (some Maryland counties have farms owned by the Amish, who do not generally use such equipment, but as best as I can tell, there are no Amish farms in Montgomery County). Many roads in the Ag Presrve have been designated as so-called Rustic Roads, which means no widenings, no new shoulders - no improvements at all. But this has produced a conflict between those that want no changes to the rustic roads, and the farmers that the Ag Preserve is intended to "protect."

This conflict is described in a Washington Post article today (Monday, April 24, 2006) by Nancy Trejos, Where the 'Rustic' Clogs the Road.

A map of the county's Rustic Roads can be found here (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 2.31 MB).

See also a presentation on the Rural Rustic Roads Improvement Program (714 KB) by the Virginia Department of Transportation, which is based on the Montgomery County, Maryland program.