Keep Cutten Rural
(Aug. 19, 2010) Editor:
The mission of the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights is to preserve the Humboldt County rural lifestyle. As such, we have grave concerns regarding the present form of the Forster-Gill development project (“Mega-Village,” Aug. 5).
The Ridgewood Village plan is a hastily promoted project that is deficient of adequate citizen input. It is the largest proposed subdivision in Humboldt County since the ill-designed Shelter Cove subdivision, and as such does not need to be on the fast track to approval. It is time to slow down and listen to the public.
This development is being portrayed as fitting the requirements of urban infill, a component of so-called “smart growth.” In our estimation, this is urban sprawl on steroids.
It is astounding to witness such a wholesale buy-in by some self-described environmentalists, certain supervisors and county planners to a scheme that will forever change the very fabric of the rural Cutten area. The EIR states, in part, “Cumulative development would eventually convert the Ridgewood Heights area from a primarily rural area dominated by undeveloped forest ridges and hillsides to a primarily suburban area with a scattering of GO [open space].” All in the name of “smart growth.”
This plan is just not ready for prime time. It is fraught with problems too serious to ignore. The EIR is insufficient and lacking in peer review. The sewage system is inadequate to the task. And the increase in traffic in the development phase alone will almost certainly be a danger to school children and others.
The plan claims to address our need for affordable housing while being inconsistent with the Housing Element requirement for “affordable housing that integrates well with the community,” which this most certainly will not. It will, instead, destroy the existing community in order to develop a cookie-cutter variety of housing better suited to large urban areas.
Estelle Fennell, Executive Director, Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights
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THREE Comments
Comment / By Thirdeye / Aug. 19, 2:49 p.m.
Which is the greater environmental impact?
Ridgewood Village:
high density paved roads, serviceable by public transit, on City water and sewer systems
The equivalent population of Ms. Fennell’s eco-groovy friends living in the sticks:
low density, substandard dirt roads crossing streams in year round use, no public transit, lots of gasoline to get to town, commute or grow pot to make a living, local water supply impacting late-season streamflow, on-site sewage disposal, habitat impacts
Ms. Fennell’s beloved rural lifestyle is a blight.
Comment / By Carol Saviak / Aug. 19, 5:54 p.m.
As the Executive Director of the Coalition for Property Rights of Florida, I find it contradictory that anyone using the name Coalition for Property Rights would in fact be seeking to impose their vision on others. The mission of all true pro-property rights organizations should be to promote individual private property rights which means those who want to keep their own land rural should be permitted to do so (and can do so through personal deed restrictions on their own land) and also that those who would like to develop increased densities should be allowed to do so as well - it is called equality of opportunity. Both uses are reflective of the freedom which should exist in American to pursue one’s individual dreams and personal preferences for the use of one’s privately-owned property. The vision or opinion any third party has for the use of land he/she/they do not own, did not labor to own, have taken no financial risk as owners take when developing their land, should be respected by local officials making land use decisions as a freedom of speech right….but at the end of the day, those officials should responsibly vote to support the owners’ right to pursue their dream for their property. Any individual or group opposing increased development can affect by impacting their own personal density - by placing restrictions on developing on their own land. All private property rights begin and end at one’s own property line. If representatives of the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights are promoting anything other than independent, free choice for the use of one’s own private land - they may simply be using the title to hide another very different agenda and should cease doing so.
Comment / By Don’t Nerf the World / Aug. 20, 10:38 a.m.
Sorry, Carol, I understand what you’re saying but you come across at least as holier-than-thou as somebody you’re describing…and less informed. I’d be curious in what area of Florida you reside(and preside), as much your state is suffering from the same overdevelopment we’re trying to prevent in our county. It’s a community concern when the land is so large and the proposal so massive it will have an unquestionable and irreversible impact on the very nature of the entire city…not just the people immediately bordering it.