No surprises in Suffolk

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Editor, the News-Herald:

So a friend of mine spoke to the Suffolk City council last night to object to another special interest, poorly thought out developer’s expansion.

Once again the council failed to show adequate foresight in what they are agreeing to. These guys (council) play the role of protecting the citizens when it comes to a porno expansion that really wasn’t inconsistent with the rules they had set up. So they quickly change the rules. Seems reasonable.

Email newsletter signup

Next a developer that is either a friend or has a few friends properly placed arrives and poof! There is nothing they can do. It isn’t illegal. Public be damned! It isn’t in their mind to concern themselves with the issue of whether it should happen now.

I ran for City Council years ago because this was something you could see coming like a train wreck in a movie. The special interest buddies, good ole boy network plugs in and slams through another development that is going to cost the taxpayers in the not too distant future.

The inadequate roads, the sewer system upgrades, the water system upgrades, the additional costs for waste collection, additional traffic signals, additional school expansions, additional student transportation costs are all going to be paid by the taxpayer and not by the developer who profits from the home sales.

Welcome to Suffolk. It’s no longer surprising.

David Forsythe

Naples, Italy