Taxpayers will ultimately pay for any benefits | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 1:30 am Friday, October 28, 2016

To the editor:

I recently received a flyer advocating a positive vote for a bond levy to build a high-speed ferry system for several of the ports in Kitsap County.

The idea of being able to commute to Seattle in half the time of the current system is enticing. If approved and implemented, however, there will be additional effects that were not mentioned in the flyer. Before we decide to tax ourselves for this small convenience, all voters should consider the whole picture.

There is a relationship between travel time and urban sprawl. If you could live 50 miles from the city (where land is cheaper), but still get there in the same amount of time as someone who is 20 miles away, then why not be farther out?

The attractive economics of this will last until the “50 mile out” land values achieve parity with the “20 mile out” land. By then, the land would have been developed to the point of density of the “20 mile out” land.

By then the “50 mile out” land would have been developed to the point of density of the “20 mile out” land.

This process is the classic pattern of urban sprawl. We can say that this sort of sprawl is inevitable and throw up our hands and let our quality of life be eroded. But I believe that it is not inevitable and that it is not something we should not drift into. We should do it by choice based on facts, or not do it.

So, do we as taxpayers want this to happen to our county? Do we as taxpayers want to pay to encourage it? What will the impact be on our environment and the quality of our lives?

Let’s look at the pluses and minuses:

Benefits: faster commute, increased land value.

Impacts: higher taxes, more density, degradation of our environment.

Who will benefit: developers, Realtors, some commuters.

Who will pay: taxpayers.

JAMES CUTLER

Bainbridge Island