TRAFFIC DUMPING NEEDS TO STOP
Have you heard of traffic dumping? It’s a sneaky practice used by some developers to dump traffic from a new development into an existing neighborhood. And it’s happening regularly, right here in Wakulla County. Developers are buying up second-tier property that is cheaper, like farmland or wooded parcels with no access to a main road. Then, they buy an adjoining lot in an older neighborhood, put in a road, and voila, what was once unbuildable farmland becomes a new development. But at what cost? The existing neighborhood becomes a thoroughfare for hundreds of cars a day, disrupting the peace and quiet of once-quiet streets. This affects everyone, from families raising their children to older couples looking for a peaceful retirement. Imagine the noise, the dust, dirt and fumes and the constant danger to the pets and people from so many cars. So much for the quiet “rural” Wakulla County way of life that they once had! As you can imagine, this drives down the property values of the existing homes.
But the Wakulla County Commissioners have the power to stop one example of this practice on April 3 at 5 p.m. They will be deciding whether to protect the property rights of existing homeowners on Appaloosa Road, Tennessee Walker Road and Palamino Road, or allow Golden Construction to develop the adjacent 88 acres with 176 proposed homes. If approved, this new development will put an estimated 700 plus cars a day on streets that currently get about 10 cars a day. This could be your neighborhood next.
We need a commission and administrator who will stand up to developers and demand quality development without traffic dumping. We need good developments with infrastructure, sidewalks, parks, and trees, not more clear-cutting and more ugly, high density cookie cutter development that ultimately brings down everyone’s property value by making Wakulla County a less desirable place to live. Existing homeowners and their quality of life must be prioritized.
If you’re tired of Wakulla County catering to developers and ignoring existing homeowners, speak up now. This development must go before the BOCC for a Comp Plan change, and our commissioners can stop it in its tracks if they choose to.
Let’s work together to protect our neighborhoods, our property rights and our property values. Traffic dumping from one neighborhood into the next needs to stop in Wakulla County, for good.
David Damon
Crawfordville