12/11 Letters: Slowing growth is not the answer to Raleigh housing problems
Regarding “Divisive housing votes herald Raleigh council shift” (Nov. 22): I have lived in Raleigh since 1991 and was the executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County during the growth years in Wake County. I served on every growth management task force in the city and county and dealt firsthand in working with the City of Raleigh in dealing with all of the different growth issues. I served six years on the city’s Stormwater Commission.
I dealt directly with what happened in Cary when they had a slow-growth council and have done extensive research on what happened to the finances of the town during this time frame. I took all of my information from public documents. You need to look at all of this information to see what really happened to their funding during the time of their slow-growth council. The only reason they did not raise taxes during this time is that they used the $32 million in reserves to fund their deficits. They drew down their general fund and utility fund reserves to the minimum levels.
Trying to slow growth through slowing the number of new developments approved will only lead to higher housing costs in Raleigh and the surrounding communities and make Raleigh a less desirable place for developers to want to develop new subdivisions.
Jim Wahlbrink
Raleigh
Reject ACP
“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a modern lifeline for us” (Dec. 6), extolling the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, was off the mark. Having just returned from the United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany, I can confidently say that the climate change resulting from fossil fuel use (including the methane associated with natural gas that Zane fails to mention) is precisely why life is “short, nasty and brutish” for many people in this country and around the world who are suffering the consequences of more frequent and intense storms, droughts and flooding events.
In Bonn, the global community (excepting the U.S. federal government) recognized the need to act urgently and decisively in the face of this century’s greatest challenge. Heeding the call of the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries around the world are already redirecting finance flows from new and superfluous fossil fuel infrastructure like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline toward promising renewable energy projects, storage technologies and efficiency practices. With political will and prudent decision-making, North Carolina can be among the vanguard of this push toward a cleaner future where polluting pipelines will have no place. It is time that we in North Carolina recognize our obligation to preserve our planet for generations to come. Let’s start by rejecting the ACP.
Mark Ortiz
Carrboro
This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "12/11 Letters: Slowing growth is not the answer to Raleigh housing problems."