Federal Conspiracy? Or Land Use Planning?

RE: Public meeting on September 15th at the Oak Grove Community Center (the new spray park) at 6:30pm

I just got back from the Galvez meeting on the Comprehensive Plan. If you were to believe all of the people there (led by the same people we see at every meeting and talk so much that no one else gets a chance to ask questions) you would think there was huge conspiracy to urbanize our entire parish and build tons of HUD housing that was subsidised by the federal gov't . If you believed them, you would think that our parish government is socialist and has a shadow government running behind the scenes that was both malevolent and all powerful. If you believed them, you would think that it was a religious imperative to keep those poor, low income types out of our parish. If you were to believe them, you would think that high income planned neighborhoods that are both beautiful and walkable - are NOT what the people of this parish want or need.

All we really want to do is guide the growth that is happening (and will happen) in our parish. The Comprehensive plan will be a tool that our councilmen and Planning Commission will be able to use in order to make better land use decisions in the future. All we want is to be able to plan where to put new roads and where to put in a parish wide sewer system so we can stop having 1/2 treated fecal matter running in our open ditches and put an end to needless traffic jams. All we want is for there to be a vision for the parish that allows us to accommodate new growth while trying to maintain a rural character. All we want is to have housing for people in all stages of their life and affordable housing for people like teachers and firemen. All we want is to end the practice of building strip malls all over the place when 1/2 of them lay empty.

We want to get control over our traffic. We want connectivity, sidewalks and bike paths.. and one day, when our density requires it - mass transit. We can also plan for the possibility that we will get a passenger rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge with a stop in Gonzales.

Change will happen and people will move here whether or not we have a plan. Developers will continue to build here as long as people sell them their land. Do we do business as usual, or do we embrace the Smart Growth Practices that have created some of our country's most beloved communities? (http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/)

For more information, please read this:
http://www.businessreport.com/news/2010/mar/22/sprawl-peace/