Ugly is as ugly does.
Let's discuss the commercial corridor of Rte 29 in Ruckersville, Greene County, VA, and its inclusion in Greene County's Master Plan for sustainable growth. Because somethin' ain't workin'.
Drive south down Rte 29 from Madison, and you come to a lighted intersection with Rte 33 east/west. You just passed an area on your right leveled to make way for Lowe's and Wal-Mart. On your left is a broken down old shack that, if it's July, is joined by a carnival style hawking booth where fireworks are sold to unwitting bargain seekers. Your eye wanders to two more rundown buildings with huge signs describing rare antique finds and books are to be found inside. Scanning around more, you see a Burger King, a gas station, and an old music store in a little hovel. You consult your map and it pin points you in the middle of Ruckersville, Greene County, Virginia. And you realize, Ruckersville is ugly.
Ruckersville is Capitalism at its worst. No regard for community planning. No greenery or any thought for aesthetics. Nope, build the cheapest, the fastest, and capitalize on the location right on 29. Ruckersville needs the taxes generated by its commercial base to support a small population. It delights in allowing a Lowe's and a Super Wal-Mart to come in and level the area so that we can enjoy convenience at bargain prices. Ugly is as ugly does.
Now the road expansion of Rte 33 up to the mountains and Skyline Drive was done very nicely. Greene County got THAT right. Of course it's become a huge source of easy funds for the local coffers as the county and state have seen fit to police this section of road with at least 6 unmarked vehicles of various sizes and colors as well as a slew of state and local troopers. Wow! That's tax dollars hard at work. Do you think we could possibly cut back on over-policing this high crime corridor and perhaps put some of that money into subsidizing an after school program for kids whose parent perhaps can't afford it?
How about requiring a higher level of site aesthetics for all new construction here on out, and any sites that either change hands, rebuild, tear down, or improve current buildings--require them all to invest X amount of dollars towards bringing property up to a pre-set, planned expectation, in exchange for a tax credit.
Greene County officials reassure us that they DO have a plan. They could pull out a multi-page line by line plan and show us what tax revenue is generated, what it’s earmarked for, and their vision for the town going forward. But you know what? I can SEE the visible signs of their plan right before my very eyes, and I’m telling you, it’s ugly!
The plan needs to be redone.
So, I think Ruckersville (Greene County) should take one year to develop a new Commercial Corridor Master Plan. This plan would ensure that:
1. sustainable growth could continue well into the future, guaranteeing tax revenue to support a burgeoning community.
2. increase unique visitor stops by tourists as well as repeat visits from locals, thereby increasing business profits.
3. resources are appropriate for the needs of the community and being able to adjust accordingly (e.g. too many costly police monitoring a scenic by-way--is that the best use of our tax income?).
4. This plan would increase community pride—because we WANT to be proud of where we live.
5. empower citizens to dictate terms when negotiating with the Wal-Marts of the world, not the other way around, because their community now becomes the community of choice for businesses. Citizens don't become slaves and answer to businesses beck and call just because the need for tax revenue to pay teachers, firefighters, and police is so desperate.
6. A plan like this would protect better against wild fluctuations in market values both for commercial AND residential interests
7. slow depreciation and erosion of values by requiring uniform property maintenance and construction standards that are clearly explained in the Master Plan.
8. build businesses with longevity and staying power. Bring in and support businesses that buy into the community's vision for sustained development and health.
9. a master plan is equivalent to a business plan, and a community that has a plan that is fluid, all-encompassing, and pro-active has a better chance to attract matching state and federal funds as well as high bond ratings in order to raise capital.
--WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN A DISPOSABLE SOCIETY--
We want our businesses to be community partners. We don't want them to be of the mind “here today, gone tomorrow”.
Communities too often sell their souls to the Devil just to turn a buck and get much needed tax revenue. Too often towns and cities turn a blind eye to development regulation and zoning, and, as a result, poison our air and water and bulldoze any possibility for esthetically pleasing construction under the ground. You see it all across America. But you also see communities learning from their mistakes, you see communities able to change as the world changes.
So, is it too late for Ruckersville?
Green County doesn’t have the money to go develop a complicated new Master Plan. And of course you have some who question whether one building is any uglier than the next? They don't think the intersection area is that ugly.
And besides, many people would question how we can tell a business owner that he's got to take from his profits to go gussy up his lot just so that he can fit in with some socialist Master Plan.
If a building IS ugly, it won't attract any one, and it'll go out of business soon enough--survival of the prettiest, right?
“We are what we are in Ruckersville”, they say. “ We're at an intersection off Rte 29 in Greene County. The American dream is all about taking opportunity and running with it. Too bad for your weak business sense that has to have some government agency always come and make things right and equal for you, the less fortunate-BAH!”
“Keep it down there in Charlottesville with all them crunchy artsy-fartsy liberal wanna-bees. We need to grow. We DON'T need someone who doesn't understand business to tell us how to run ours!”
“And if you try, we'll just go somewhere else.”
O.K. Alright. I understand. We all need to turn a buck.
But hear this: I had a commercial broker tell me the other day that if it gets too bad--or rather, WHEN it gets too built up and gross around here, he'll just move. He did it when it got bad down in Atlanta. And before that, when he was in Jersey, too.
But this is my home. I don't WANT to pull up stakes and move. I don't want to live in a disposable community.
Can Capitalism and development go hand-in-hand with preservation of the heart and health of our community?
The one constant is the influx of more and more people into our area. More population pressure means eventually, limited space and resources, which causes a town’s infrastructure to suffer, which ultimately degrades our community.
That’s why planning is vital to the long term health of a community.
Planning means:
· We must first identify citizen’s needs,
· we qualify and quantify these needs, prioritizing them by popular vote,
· we raise tax revenue to pay for these needs,
· we solicit other possible funding sources—i.e. bonds, state and federal assistance,
· our master vision for the community stretches far into the future, and protects our future generations,
· and, we must also look to repair what is by developing a retro-active quality standard to help us bring a larger measure of beautification to the intersection of 29 and 33, now.
The intersection of Rte 33 and Rte 29 is horrifically ugly. But you know, we CAN do something about it. And the first thing we can do is develop a Commercial Corridor Master Plan with input from our citizens and broadcast its winning vision across the region.
If we don't?
Then ugly is as ugly does.
