If you want to know about growth issues in Charlottesville/Albemarle

Check out Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 47-page study released this morning.

KEY FINDINGS
With respect to policy issues related to land use, infrastructure, taxation, transportation, and leadership, the survey results indicate: 

* There is strong public support for policies, like phasing or time based zoning, that would set a schedule for the rate of new development in Albemarle County’s rural areas.  77.8% of respondents indicated they would be likely or very likely to support such a policy.
* 86.1% of respondents think the rate of new home construction in Albemarle’s rural countryside should be slower.
* 81.4% of respondents indicated they support the use of tax dollars to purchase rural development rights if it would permanently protect the land with conservation easements.
* 32.8% of respondents felt like local government was doing a very good or good job ensuring infrastructure was in place to support new development.  When asked about government’s efforts to have developers pay their fair share for infrastructure, 42.2% of respondents were satisfied.Local politics, growth and infrastructure issues impact the real estate market in often dramatic ways – every one of these issues affects buyers’, sellers’ and other residents quality of life.

Interesting finding about phasing of developments –

We need to keep and protect our rural countryside from becoming over developed – 93.9%

In order to permanently protect rural land from development I’d be willing to pay a bit more in real estate property taxes – 57.5%

Property owners should be able to do what they want with their land, regardless of the impact on neighbors. Decisions about keeping our rural countryside intact should be left entirely to the owners of that property – 33.5%

So, we all agree on the need to protect our countryside, but only a thin majority is willing to pay to protect that countryside?

I expect there to be much discussion about this report in the coming days. Stay tuned. I have some reading to do.

More about Transfers of Development Rights (TDR) programs here.