Catoosa Vision

Tackling New Development

You know... as I'm researching impact fees, I started thinking about some frequent comments I've heard at public meetings. Many people in Catoosa County feel very strongly that they basically don't want more growth... that they would prefer to just keep what they've got now. And, there's nothing at all wrong with this concept.

The difficulty we face, however, is in keeping what we have, which implies keeping others (outsiders... new home buyers... new businesses, etc.) from getting their hands in our cookie jar.

I wonder if the community (and its leadership) would have the political hutzpah to put in place a set of policies, fees, regulations, zoning guidelines, etc., all designed to prevent new growth. This would also require a freeze on expansion of county services -- since we wouldn't need any additional services (with no net growth).

Basically the concept is this: We like what we have. We don't need or want any more. There's no room in our boat for others, though.

The County and Cities could dictate that "No new houses will be built. No new business space will be built. No new development unless an equivalent unit is removed from the county inventory."

Eventually, supply and demand would kick in... as the supply of existing housing and/or business space dwindles (fills up, is consumed), the prices would go up. Now, this assumes that outsiders still want to come to Catoosa County. If so, they'd be willing to pay more for the same existing houses (or business spaces).

It's an interesting scenario to ponder...

posted by Chris Casey @ 10:32 AM