Long range planning is not just an intelligent choice, it is a no-brainer. That is why the Killingworth Democratic Party built long range planning into their past and current platforms. It is also why they have chosen BOS candidates with years of experience in town, two of whom have served on the Board of Finance.
As these experienced candidates are well aware, the town budget already includes a capital plan based on a rolling five-year projection of capital expenses. Recent actions by the Board of Finance have resulted in improved development and implementation of that plan.
The issue of keeping Killingworth rural, as the world morphs to sprawl around us, goes to the heart of where we will be as a town five, ten, twenty years down the road. Objective studies have repeatedly shown that residential development costs communities far more than it contributes in taxes. Commercial developers avoid Killingworth not because of our zoning, but because our demographics, location and population density, do not offer a viable commercial base. During the recent NEMO program, municipal planning experts from UCONN pointed out that open space preservation may be Killingworth’s best hope for keeping the lid on taxes.
No one I know is advocating a helter-skelter, haywire form of financing projects. Yes, a dollar spent here can not be spent there. That’s why setting priorities with a clear vision of where we want to be in the future requires those long range plans.
Rick Albrecht has already laid out a proposal for a town engineer, who would provide the time and expertise for long term infrastructure management and planning at little or no additional cost to the town. Cathy Iino is an expert on the open space vs. development costs. Ed Sipples has been part of the planning both long and short range for the Wettish fields development.
And let’s give credit to all those volunteer Planning and Zoning people who came up with the soil based zoning formula, a long range plan that has kept us a small town community. Long range planning is not a new idea.
Kathleen Amoia