With roughly 2,000 new citizens moving in every year, Albemarle County has a population growth problem. Since 1990, the population has increased by roughly 27 percent. This unprecedented amount of growth has prompted the County Board of Supervisors to come up with a few tentative solutions.
Five of the six Albemarle County Board members met Saturday at Zehmer Hall on Grounds to discuss the strain that this population boost has placed on the local area. Among the major concerns were traffic congestion, overcrowding of schools and extra demands on water and sewer resources.
The members came together as part of an annual meeting that was started last year.
The goals from last year's meeting were to provide good education, protect natural, scenic and historic resources and "do it all without impacting taxpayers more than necessary," Albemarle Supervisor Sally Thomas said. This year, the Board also focused on easing the strain the increased population has placed on the County's resources, she added.
Among the strategies discussed were "impact" fees. These fees would be added on to the building permit fees for all new commercial subdivisions. However, this is not allowed in the County because of certain statutes on the law books. Before the County could apply these fees on commercial developers, the General Assembly would have to directly confer the power to do so to the Board.
"The majority of people [in Albemarle County] think it should be done, but the legislature gives in to the construction industry because of the large donations it receives from them," Supervisor Dennis Rooker said. "It's a coward's way out."
In contrast, Thomas said she believes the best decision for the area is to utilize sound long-term financial planning, despite any extended short-term costs. One aspect Thomas mentioned would help keep Albemarle County rural, was "to set up 'designated development areas' or areas of land where homes can be built and where it will also be more efficient to deliver public services. This will counter the usual tendency to expand outward."
Discussions came to a head Saturday when the Supervisors debated whether to join the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development, an organization aimed to help bring more businesses to the area. Supporters argue that this would help the County by bringing in new jobs. Some members of the Board, however, are against joining.
"The County has never joined a private advocacy group before," Rooker said. "It's not a good idea, because then these groups come to lobby their own viewpoints and the government needs to be in a neutral position."
Rooker and Thomas both discussed the challenges that the Board faced while trying to come up with a feasible solution.
"We want Albemarle County to be a place where farmers can still farm, but we also need to build more compactly and be a better urban environment" Thomas said.
Rooker echoed this sentiment.
"Our goal is to recognize that there will be more urbanization and we need to deal with it while maintaining a rural character," he said.
The Board deferred any further discussion on the issue until after the November elections. Both Thomas and Rooker have two more years before their seats will be up for re-election.
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