BCT Editorial – 11/8/06

This page was last updated on November 8, 2006.

Beyond borders; Editorial; Beaver County Times; November 8, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Route 65 landslide might provide the impetus for regional zoning

“The Wal-Mart landslide along Route 65 in Kilbuck Township was a wake-up call on the shortcomings of local zoning for some state lawmakers.

“We can only hope the senators and representatives on the legislative committee looking into the landslide, which closed Route 65 for about two weeks, caused more than $800,000 in damage to the road and disrupted a Norfolk Southern main line, can rouse a sleepy Legislature to adopt regional zoning regulations.

“Zoning in Pennsylvania is strictly a local issue, and that’s the problem. Local officials don’t have to take into consideration the impact their decisions will have on neighboring communities and beyond. The result is a development like the one along Route 65, which has minimal impact on the host community but creates major headaches for others.

“There should be ‘some type of regional oversight with teeth when it comes to projects that have a wider impact beyond the local community,’ said Mary Louise Fowkes of Communities First, which opposed the project. ‘A small community like Kilbuck should not have the sole discretion in determining projects that affect tens of thousands of people.’

“Several lawmakers made statements that echoed her remarks. Let’s hope they act on what they saw and heard last week.

“When it comes to development, the impact of zoning extends far beyond a municipality’s borders.”

[RWC] Remember this editorial the next time the Times cries crocodile tears about a loss of local control.

Editorials like this are completely predictable because they reflect basic liberal tenets. Just as individuals cannot be trusted to make decisions and run their lives, neither can local governments. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but I suspect the Times would support an abolishment of governments except the federal government, and a world government at some point in time. That’s just a basic position of liberalism/socialism/et cetera.