12/28/06 * Washington Post [full story]
Virginia House Republicans on Wednesday blamed county supervisors, particularly those in Northern Virginia, for the state's transportation crisis as they proposed laws to shift responsibility for neighborhood roads to the local officials who approve subdivisions.
The House GOP offered the proposals and the tough rhetoric as lawmakers prepared to do battle again next month over how to fix the state's transportation crisis. In the process, they laid out the main debate for elections next November, when all 140 lawmakers and most of the state's local officials will face voters: Who's to blame for the traffic?
Speaking in blunt terms, House leaders said an eagerness by local officials to approve development was "an abdication of responsibility" to plan for the impact on traffic, and that supervisors in growing counties "have done a less-than-stellar job" in planning for the future.
"The easiest job in the world is to be a supervisor approving subdivisions," said Del. C.L. "Clay" Athey Jr. (R-Warren), who leads the House GOP effort to design land-use legislation. "You can approve it, and as soon as it's over and done with, you can say any impacts to the roads you don't have to consider at all and you can just start blaming the state."
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