Tuesday, January 23, 2007

So you say you want better streets?

Well, here's an idea. Ask for them. The streets in Lancaster are fantastic for off-road vehicles and dirt bikes, but if you drive a normally suspended car or truck you'll get beat to death between Dallas Ave. and Houston School Rd. on Pleasant Run! That being said, how does a city with so many other priorities improve their streets quickly and without additional taxes? Well...since you asked. You ask your local counsel representative to help raise a little thing called impact fees. These are fees attached to the local development of both residential and commercial projects. The fee helps to repair damage done by heavy equipment and cement trucks to city streets and I've gotta tell you, it's currently way too low. Drive through any local city, Desoto, Duncanville, Dallas even and you'll find that the streets are vastly better maintained. It's not a matter of city officials not wanting improvement, it's a matter of the money not being there for much more than a patch job. The solution is simple. Let those most responsible for the damage help replace the damaged roads. Replace, not repair because they were fine before the development came. After all, projects like the huge residential developments that have come to the area can surely afford another $300-$400 per lot. A nominal increase that could mean a huge improvement in the infrastructure improvement of the city overall. It's time for Lancaster to see benefit from such aggressive development. For more information or to support increased impact fees reach your local counsel representative at...

City of Lancaster

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