Developers may soon be building on a desert

Date published: 10/4/2002

While no longer a resident of Spotsylvania County, I continue to maintain an interest via the online version of The Free Lance-Star. Your article on Sept. 18 ["Will drought slow growth?"] was an echo of times past--apparently an echo that some of the "powers that be" continue to ignore.

Supervisors Tricia Lenwell, Jerry Marcus and Gary Jackson are correct to express grave concern regarding the report of county water "experts," particularly regarding comments that Chancellorsville Village-Lee's Parke build-out would take 12 years.

In all the years that I lived in Spotsylvania I never saw a developer slow down any building in an effort to reach this mystical goal of "build-out"--and I sure as hell never saw one hesitate to put up a house or strip mall because they were concerned about the county's ability to supply resources (water and sewer--not to mention schools, fire, ambulance, etc.).

Perhaps Supervisor Mary Lee Carter has best demonstrated why the county continues to have this problem, with her comments (which sound like the comments of boards of old) saying that the developer of Lee's Parke will install larger water and sewer lines to benefit extension of utilities down U.S. 1 as part of a plan to market the corridor for prospective business. If the developer doesn't pay, county utility customers eventually will.

Hello! If there is no water it does not make any difference what size the line is.

Perhaps the prospective business will aide in economic development. Think of all the tourists who will come to Spotsylvania to see the second-largest desert in America. I hope they bring a canteen of water.

Corky Talley

Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Date published: 10/4/2002