Important Public Meeting To Help County Craft Future Growth

Anyone who lives in Highlands County will not dispute that U.S. 27 is the main artery through which the county's traffic flows. Traffic goes faster through undeveloped stretches in the north and south parts of the county and slows down as we approach the commercial and office areas.

Now, add a school or two along U.S. 27, another mall and a big housing project. Think of the ramifications. Is that what you, as a county resident, want? Will the resultant traffic be unpalatable for you or do you think that more is better? Should new housing be built along U.S. 27 or should it be restricted to commercial? Do schools belong along the county's main road? What about a park or two?

These are important questions whose answers will help county planners determine what they think are the best options for undeveloped land along U.S 27.

County officials will hold a public meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Highlands County Government Center to elicit public comment on the subject. We are hoping that people who care about the county's future growth will be there.

The objective is to help county officials decide how to craft future development in concurrence with what people directly impacted want and what the state thinks is workable.

Highlands County Planner Don Hanna explains it this way: "This is going to be an issue which is really hot... It will include where schools, roads and houses will be located."

Once the county draws up the land use map, it will be sent to the state for approval.

Good chances are that some of the suggestions will be thrown out by the state while others will be approved. Those that are approved will be available for development so that we won't lose a Wal-Mart Distribution Center or a Target because of a hold-up.

For the past three years, the state had held up about four dozen comp plan amendments until the county came up with a way to deal with traffic problems on U.S. 27. Those comp plans delayed approval of the proposed Crossroads Mall at U.S. 27 and S.R. 66, and a 300-acre Wal-Mart distribution center at Skipper Road and U.S. 27, according to Tampa developer Harry Lerner, president of Maxcy Development Group in Tampa.

But the purpose of this meeting is not just to get the ball rolling for developers. It's also for those who feel that they'd like a slower or more controlled growth and more and better use of green space.

The idea is to create a balanced growth plan that best maintains quality of life, and it's our chance Tuesday to weigh in what what we feel is the right answer.