City Council candidates discussed their varied views on the Meadowcreek Parkway, city parks and the overall quality of the environment at a debate held yesterday at Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church.
Candidates were divided on the issue of the Meadowcreek Parkway.
"We need to abandon our blind faith in highways," said incumbent Council member and Architecture Prof. Maurice Cox (D).
Independent candidate Stratton Salidis said he agrees with Cox and that "more roads do not decrease traffic; they create traffic."
But Republican Jon Bright disagreed with Cox and Salidis. Bright said the parkway is needed to alleviate traffic on Park St., which has about 22,000 cars drive on it per day.
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The Meadowcreek Parkway is a proposed two-mile road that would connect Rio Road with the Route 250 Bypass. Council voted last July to approve the parkway by a 3-2 vote.
Candidates also discussed the quality of the city's parks during the debate, with McIntire Park receiving the most attention.
"It is important to make parks more accessible and utilized ... McIntire Park does not connect well with surrounding areas," said Elizabeth Fortune, Republican candidate and associate dean of the Architecture School.
Democrat Kevin Lynch said he saw the entire "city as a park."
Engineering Prof. and Republican candidate John Pfaltz said parks possibly could be improved by using the Jeffersonian Plantation Concept - using grass and trees without shrubbery like the Lawn.
The effect of large businesses on the city's environment also became an issue of debate.
Recently, a developer proposed building a new Super Wal-Mart in the city.
The developer was unsuccessful in gaining approval from the city and county necessary to create the Wal-Mart.
"I fought rather vigorously against the Wal-Mart," Cox said. "We should try to build up the local [economic] base and self-sufficiency."
Fortune said she wants to attract different types of businesses in the city and encourage economic development.
Candidates then expressed their opinions on how the city handled the drought last summer.
Lynch said the city was correct in not enforcing mandatory water restrictions. The water supply was at 70 percent and conservation methods need only be enforced when the level reaches 60 percent, he said .
"We should be conserving water year round" and educating the public on water conservation all year, Cox said.
The panel even addressed the idea of increasing the availability of compost toilets, which Salidis suggested would conserve water.
Compost toilets are designed to use little or no water, thereby decreasing the amount of water used in each household.
About 25 Charlottesville residents attended the debate.
Elections take place May 2.
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