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Highlands Today

Balancing Needs For Cash And Land Critical As Area Grows

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Highlands Today staff

Published: December 20, 2007

It's a delicate balance our county and communities must make when determining whether to take cash or land as payment for impacts on growth in this area. Making sure we have adequate land for schools, recreation, government offices, fire departments, etc., is critical. So is the need for cash to pay for impacted infrastructure.

Lake Placid's Town Council is dealing with this now, as some large developments are asking for approval. Our elected leaders seem to have a good handle on this, and every project is different and have varying impacts.

We obviously must make sure we have the funds needed to widen roads, install traffic control devices, drainage and everything else that goes with growth. The costs are incredible, and that's why impact fees were implemented. But there's more to it than that.

As the old saying goes, no one's making anymore land, so its value is priceless as this area grows. We must have room to build public buildings, as well as preserve what makes this area unique. Keeping large tracts of land as preserves is vital for our county and its residents.

It doesn't take a tree-hugging environmentalist to understand that habitat is crucial for wildlife to thrive. Plenty of species already struggle around here, and it's not going to get easier with more development. That's why we must take action to protect those special places.

The other good side of taking land in exchange for cash is that it's a good investment. Real estate might be down now, but no one expects that to last forever. In fact, just about everyone expects the market to turn around in the next couple of years — hopefully sooner. When that happens, many of the developments that have been approved but put on hold for market reasons will spring to life. All that's needed are buyers and profit potential.

Our elected officials seem to understand the importance of finding the right balance of cash up front and when to take land in exchange. That's good, because making the right decisions now is crucial for future success.

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