This Tuesday, the Virginia Coalition for Smarter Growth will hold a rally in Richmond, from 9:30 AM to Noon. Gov. Kaine will attend. Why a rally? According to the Coalition's website:
Governor Kaine and the Republican House Caucus have introduced common sense land use and transportation tools. Momentum is at an all time high to encourage the General Assembly to finally take action. Don't let these bills die in committee. Make sure the General Assembly knows citizens and the media are watching.
In addition, the Coalition points out that there are several important bills, particularly HB 1610, that better link transportation and land use. The key bill, according to the Coalition, is HB 1610, which "[a]llows a locality to deny or modify a request for rezoning when the existing and future transportation network, which will serve the proposed development, is inadequate to handle the anticipated transportation impact of the proposed development."
The Coalition urges support for HB 1610, as well as for several other bills - HB 1609 requiring traffic impact studies for proposed land use approvals, HB1542/SB 373 to permit "transfer of development rights from one parcel of land to another parcel of land, thereby increasing the density of development on one parcel while restricting development on the other parcel."
There is opposition to these bills, of course. As the Coalition points out:
Well-funded developer lobbyists in Richmond are exerting pressure to defeat these bills. Defeating the bills would allow developers to build houses even if local road capacity is inadequate to handle the increased number of cars.
That's why the public needs to weigh in, by contacting their legislators and telling them they should support these land use reform initiatives. The fact is, population growth is projected to continue in Virginia - particularly in Northern Virginia - for years to come. Without "smarter growth," we are faced with ever-worsening sprawl and ever-worsening traffic gridlock. That's why we need to take action now, by supporting Gov. Kaine and others who "get it" in the Virginia House and Senate.