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Category: Readers' Opinions

Northampton needs growth

Aug 08

7:50 AM

Re 'On the Eastern Shore, one county has shut down its only middle school. How could this happen? Boom. Bust,' front page, Aug. 10: Northampton County is trying to control development and attract and retain more companies. Most of the county will be zoned or rezoned from residential to agricultural. But allowing one home per 20 acres is not going to attract development, companies or people.

It may retain poverty and unemployment, but not development. I can only hope that the two lots I purchased are annexed by the city of Cape Charles, a city with a vision and a plan.

Northampton County needs to develop its own vision; otherwise, more schools will close, poverty will remain and vacationers will continue to drive through the county, wondering why it is so beautiful and yet so poor and mismanaged.

Real estate assessments may double this year, but in two more years they will come in at their original amounts: 50 percent less. The county needs to expand its residential and commercial zoning areas while promoting expansion of the national wildlife refuge.

That would promote development and maintain the county's rural character at the same time.

Steve Beldy

Chesapeake

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Can't have it both ways.

Submitted by warrenb73163 on Sat, 08/16/2008 at 10:25 am.

Growth is about as necessary as a malignant cancer. Giving enough time, it kills.

One can’t have growth while maintaining a rural character. I suspect that the writer has a financial interest in growth in Northampton.

If Americans are nearly negative in fertility, why is growth necessary? Growth creates jobs. But there are no offspring to fill in these jobs. Enter the aliens to fill those jobs. A polyglot of cultures is not going to maintain the rural character of the peninsula.

Growth is a cancer that feeds on itself. Only businessmen and national chains gain from growth. Everybody else pays in the form of congestion, pollution, and higher taxes.

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As a frquent visitor to the eastern shore...

Submitted by ed baskins on Sat, 08/16/2008 at 8:23 am.

I think that the answer here is not the government taking over, but private citizens and companies having more incentive to make changes. There are a lot of wonderful things going on up there due to the efforts of the developers. Kind of like Ocean View in Norfolk, People like the Boones and other developers have really made a change there and it seems sometimes that the city of Norfolk tries to work against them.

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