Well, we survived what will go down as the third worst snowstorm in the History of Northern Virginia. This picture was taken on the afternoon of 6 February 2010 in at the height of the storm. Today (7 February), we start to dig out!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Blizzard of 2010
Well, we survived what will go down as the third worst snowstorm in the History of Northern Virginia. This picture was taken on the afternoon of 6 February 2010 in at the height of the storm. Today (7 February), we start to dig out!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Prince William county SRR lot size
Mr. Chairman and members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors,
I was pleased to attend yesterday evening’s BOCS session to listen to the public comments and discussion on the update to the Comprehensive Plan. I believe that Chairman Stewart and Supervisor Nohe offered reasonable amendments to the update and urge the entire BOCS to support these amendments. I particularly appreciate Chairman Stewart and Supervisor None’s support for supporting the 2.5 acre minimum for SRR lot sizes (and the associated verbiage in Supervisor Nohe’s amendment).
Land use is a complicated issue. Land use policy needs to be a compromise recognizing the legitimate interests of our communities’ developers and its citizens. A 2.5 acre minimum provides a measure all parties may easily grasp intellectually and plan for accordingly as we consider the future of our communities and our County.
I particularly liked the Chairman’s suggestion of a “European Village” model. I’m one of the many “well educated, well traveled” individuals of whom he spoke. I have had the pleasure of spending five years in Europe. Like many military, civilian and contractor personnel who have lived overseas, I often remember Europe fondly. The vision of being within walking distance of the amenities we enjoy is a good one. The community created by that vision is a desirable goal. It is a vision that would attract more of those “well educated, well traveled, financially secure” residents critical to the growth of Prince William County. I certainly encourage the BOCS to incorporate that vision in its future planning initiatives.
Regards,
Al
Alan P. Alborn
President & Principal
Alborn Foundation
www.alborn.net
I was pleased to attend yesterday evening’s BOCS session to listen to the public comments and discussion on the update to the Comprehensive Plan. I believe that Chairman Stewart and Supervisor Nohe offered reasonable amendments to the update and urge the entire BOCS to support these amendments. I particularly appreciate Chairman Stewart and Supervisor None’s support for supporting the 2.5 acre minimum for SRR lot sizes (and the associated verbiage in Supervisor Nohe’s amendment).
Land use is a complicated issue. Land use policy needs to be a compromise recognizing the legitimate interests of our communities’ developers and its citizens. A 2.5 acre minimum provides a measure all parties may easily grasp intellectually and plan for accordingly as we consider the future of our communities and our County.
I particularly liked the Chairman’s suggestion of a “European Village” model. I’m one of the many “well educated, well traveled” individuals of whom he spoke. I have had the pleasure of spending five years in Europe. Like many military, civilian and contractor personnel who have lived overseas, I often remember Europe fondly. The vision of being within walking distance of the amenities we enjoy is a good one. The community created by that vision is a desirable goal. It is a vision that would attract more of those “well educated, well traveled, financially secure” residents critical to the growth of Prince William County. I certainly encourage the BOCS to incorporate that vision in its future planning initiatives.
Regards,
Al
Alan P. Alborn
President & Principal
Alborn Foundation
www.alborn.net
Friday, January 22, 2010
Pease take a systems approach...
Email to 'Nohe, Marty E.'; 'May, Michael C.'
Copy to: 'cgrymes@gmail.com'; 'ahmed@pwcgov.org'; 'Gordon, Tracy J.'; 'tarpbone@aol.com'; 'Stewart, Corey A.'
Subject: Please take a systems approach
Date: 01222010
Copy to: 'cgrymes@gmail.com'; 'ahmed@pwcgov.org'; 'Gordon, Tracy J.'; 'tarpbone@aol.com'; 'Stewart, Corey A.'
Subject: Please take a systems approach
Date: 01222010
Marty and Mike,
I was delighted to see both of you at last night’s Committee of 100 discussion of the Environmental Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. It’s great to see our County leaders show an interest in this critical topic.
As usual, (IMHO) Charlie “won” the debate; however, any debate with Charlie isn’t really a fair fight. He has the environment on his side and an unusual mastery of the subject at his disposal. As one of my graduate professors used to say, “…only a fool would disagree with the facts presented…”. Not many students disagreed with that professor.
That being said, the question that I asked last night (“What is the social and cultural impact of developing clustered, multi-unit housing) still haunts me when pondering the future of our County. When I asked my question about the impact of building “up” instead of “out”, neither Charlie nor Mike really had an answer (although Charlie did say that was “your” problem – ergo this note). Frankly, I considered Rob Hartwell’s comment about Belmont Bay to be a bit disingenuous since I’m guessing most developments won’t be “Belmont Bays”. While the physical environment of the County (of the world, for that matter) is an important issue, the social and cultural environment is also something that also needs to be considered. I’m guessing Charlie wasn’t thinking about Belmont Bay when he suggested that perhaps the site of a recently closed Wal-Mart up the road might be a good sight for some “up” development.
To the point: development is a classic systems problem. Last night, we listened to an excellent discussion about one important subsystem: the Environment. Request that any planning involving policy designed to drive housing decisions take a systems approach and consider all of the subsystems. I request you perhaps consider the following (not a full list):
a. The social implications of a policy that promotes high density residential development. I haven’t heard any discussion of how moving people into high density, high rise communities “changes things”. Perhaps the County should investigate (not a full list):
a. Crime rates (intuitively, I would think they go up. I’m guessing there are data available to draw upon when developing policy).
b. Cultural impact (again, I’m guessing there are data available)
c. Community impact (It might be worth exploring the experience of our neighboring communities in Northern Virginia)
d. Economic impact (does this really improve tax revenues over time)
e. Business impact (how does this change the character and composition of our County)
f. Free market impact (the difference between policy driven and free market driven housing choices)
g. Experience of other communities who followed this route.
b. The life cycle of high density residential policy. Experience tells us that high density development follows a life cycle of ownership followed by an increasing percentage of rental units and a general trend of slow decline over time. I appreciate Charlie’s discussion of the full life cycle costs of engineering that may solve a problem in the short term while causing a long term expense for the County. I would actually compare this to the life cycle of a large apartment building or condominium. We really don’t know what those buildings will look like in thirty years or what the costs of maintaining the infrastructure will be to support them. We do know that “all systems fail” whether they be streams or condos. A systems approach takes a peak at the future of all of the subsystems, not just the environment.
I really don’t know the answer to these questions. Last night, we heard a robust discussion of one dimension of a multi-dimensional problem. I propose that we need to explore the other dimensions when formulating policy. We need to ask more questions about “the rest of the story”. If the County has the answers and I just missed them, I’d appreciate a link or a reference to I may become an informed citizen. If the County is not exploring these issues, I ask that you at least consider them when developing long term commercial and residential policy for Prince William County.
If I had to weight the subsystems heavily, I would weigh the environment as the most important. To disregard the other subsystems is irresponsible. I’m sure that you are both aware of the rule of unintended consequences. Unintended consequences are usually the result of policy that does not take a systems view of the issue. I encourage both of you to take a systems view of land use policy when developing the Comprehensive Plan so our Grandchildren won’t have to pay for the unintended consequences of poor policy decisions that we make today.
Regards,
Al
Alan P. Alborn
President & Principal
Alborn Foundation
Sunday, January 17, 2010
No whining allowed.
I have come to the startling conclusion that whining about things you don't like is NOT an effective political strategy.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Let's fix the system!
While focusing on protecting the environment is certainly a worthy goal, perhaps we would be better served by changing the process upon which the survival of our environment depends. We continually have the same conversation about failures of our Governance process. Let’s change the process. I specifically recommend considering following Florida’s lead regarding Amendment 4 (previous post) and explore proposing an Amendment to the Virginia Constitution. Florida’s Amendment 4 gives voters veto power over changes to your community's master plan for growth (thus taking that decision out of the local Government’s hands.) This is logical since impacts to the environment concern and effect everyone (i.e., everyone is a stakeholder).
Perhaps we should stop having the same conversation about what’s wrong with the system and fix the system.
Florida Amendment 4
Florida Amendment 4 is a good idea!
Amendment 4 is a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution sponsored by Florida Hometown Democracy, a non-partisan, grass-roots group. Over 1,000,000 Florida voters signed the Florida Hometown Democracy petition to qualify this important citizens' reform for the November 2010 ballot. Amendment 4 will give you, the Florida voter, a vote on growth in your community.
Instructions on how to amend the Virginia Constitution are the previous blog entry.
Amendment 4 is a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution sponsored by Florida Hometown Democracy, a non-partisan, grass-roots group. Over 1,000,000 Florida voters signed the Florida Hometown Democracy petition to qualify this important citizens' reform for the November 2010 ballot. Amendment 4 will give you, the Florida voter, a vote on growth in your community.
Instructions on how to amend the Virginia Constitution are the previous blog entry.
The Virginia Constitution Amendment process
How to amend the The VA Constitution
Virginia currently functions under the Constitution of Virginia that became effective July 1, 1971. It is the ninth constitution that the Commonwealth has had since its founding. The 1971 Constitution was the work of a Revision Commission chaired by University of Virginia law school professor, A. E. “Dick” Howard. It incorporates the language of George Mason’s original “Virginia Declaration of Rights” which was the model for the bill of rights ultimately incorporated in the US Constitution.
The Virginia Constitution provides the architecture for Virginia’s government, establishing the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, in addition to protecting the rights of individuals against the state. It is the supreme law of the Commonwealth, governing the validity of state statutes and local ordinances, and the only higher civil law is the federal constitution and federal statutes, which supercede state law under the supremacy clause of the US Constitution.
Because of its importance as the supreme law that governs all other state laws, the Constitution of Virginia leaves to the citizens of the Commonwealth the ultimate decision whether it should be amended.
The Constitution has been amended since 2000 to secure the right of people to hunt and fish, to ensure that lottery proceeds would be spent on public education, to permit property to be designated as tax-exempt by local ordinance rather than state statute, and to give the Virginia Supreme Court jurisdiction to hear claims of actual innocence by convicted felons.
The VA Constitutional Amendment Process
First a Senator and/or Delegate must introduce a bill (in the form of a resolution) with the wording of the amendment. The resolution goes through the standard process of other bills/referendums in the General Assembly – discussed and voted on in a committee (and sometimes a subcommittee) and on the floor. If it is passed by one house then it goes to the other house and goes through the same process. It is has to pass by a majority.
After the first year, the resolution must go through the same process (committee and floor vote by both Senate and House) the following year and be approved in EXACTLY the same form; not even a comma can be changed. Also in the second year, a separate bill is introduced that lists word-for-word what will actually be on the ballot. The entire wording of the proposed amendment does not have to be on the ballot for voters to see, and for this amendment the original bill only addressed part of it, but opponents of the amendment were successful in getting the exact language in its entirety on the ballot.
So now it goes on the November ballot where a majority of the voters must vote for the measure for it to be approved. If this happens, the Virginia Constitution is amended.
Virginia currently functions under the Constitution of Virginia that became effective July 1, 1971. It is the ninth constitution that the Commonwealth has had since its founding. The 1971 Constitution was the work of a Revision Commission chaired by University of Virginia law school professor, A. E. “Dick” Howard. It incorporates the language of George Mason’s original “Virginia Declaration of Rights” which was the model for the bill of rights ultimately incorporated in the US Constitution.
The Virginia Constitution provides the architecture for Virginia’s government, establishing the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, in addition to protecting the rights of individuals against the state. It is the supreme law of the Commonwealth, governing the validity of state statutes and local ordinances, and the only higher civil law is the federal constitution and federal statutes, which supercede state law under the supremacy clause of the US Constitution.
Because of its importance as the supreme law that governs all other state laws, the Constitution of Virginia leaves to the citizens of the Commonwealth the ultimate decision whether it should be amended.
The Constitution has been amended since 2000 to secure the right of people to hunt and fish, to ensure that lottery proceeds would be spent on public education, to permit property to be designated as tax-exempt by local ordinance rather than state statute, and to give the Virginia Supreme Court jurisdiction to hear claims of actual innocence by convicted felons.
The VA Constitutional Amendment Process
First a Senator and/or Delegate must introduce a bill (in the form of a resolution) with the wording of the amendment. The resolution goes through the standard process of other bills/referendums in the General Assembly – discussed and voted on in a committee (and sometimes a subcommittee) and on the floor. If it is passed by one house then it goes to the other house and goes through the same process. It is has to pass by a majority.
After the first year, the resolution must go through the same process (committee and floor vote by both Senate and House) the following year and be approved in EXACTLY the same form; not even a comma can be changed. Also in the second year, a separate bill is introduced that lists word-for-word what will actually be on the ballot. The entire wording of the proposed amendment does not have to be on the ballot for voters to see, and for this amendment the original bill only addressed part of it, but opponents of the amendment were successful in getting the exact language in its entirety on the ballot.
So now it goes on the November ballot where a majority of the voters must vote for the measure for it to be approved. If this happens, the Virginia Constitution is amended.
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