The Charlottesville area news outlets have been widely reporting the eviction of 30 families from a trailer park in Fluvanna County. NBC 29 has a copy of the Eviction Notice. The Daily Progressreporter Brian McNeill has the story.
According to the news outlets, Property owner Robert Glass is shutting down his Fluvanna trailer park rather than fix the central wastewater treatment system that is producing higher than allowed levels of zinc and copper into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Reports indicate the upgrade to the system serving 30 families in the 41 year old trailer park would be between $500,000 and $750,000.
The purpose of this post is not to question the environmental regulations designed to protect and revitalize The Chesapeake Bay but to identify these evictions as a cost associated with achieving this benefit.
In addition, The Free Enterprise Forum does not have a position regarding what the landowner has chosen to do with their land. Rather it is important to highlight the conflict between the desire for affordable housing options and the environmental need. Too often, environmental (and other) regulations are adopted without a clear statement of economic and socioeconomic impacts of the regulation.
There will be some that will suggest the landowner should have chosen to build the wastewater treatment plant at a cost of $500,000 to $750,000. Of course, he could. He would likely review the payback period of such an infrastructure improvement. After this analysis, he would like weigh his options and the rate of return on the investment.
Thus the community cost benefit analysis for this property: October 31, 2008 the level of copper and zinc being added into the Chesapeake Bay system will be reduced and 30 of Fluvanna’s low income families will need to find a new place to live.
Tags: affordable housing, environment, landowner rights, regulation
April 30, 2008 at 7:32 pm |
[...] neilswilliamson is on fire! I give the post The Not So Hidden Cost of Regulation two thumbs up! Check it out! [...]
April 30, 2008 at 7:58 pm |
The owner’s son SAYS it will cost them that much to bring the system up to standards.
Maybe they’re interested in closing the trailer park because the land, in the Zion Crossroads corridor, is much more valuable as something else.
Just thinking out loud…
May 1, 2008 at 6:36 am |
Stories like this one highlight the importance of providing sufficient affordable housing in our communities. That includes having a well-conceived formal plan to chart a course as populations grow.
I’m in Austin, Texas, and we experienced huge growth during the 1980s and 1990s. I co-wrote the Affordable Housing Ordinance for that period. Without a plan in place, tens of thousands of people would have been priced out of the housing market – including the rental market.
It’s also important to educate investors, developers, and non-profit agencies about the wealth of government grant and low-interest loan programs available at all levels of government for the development of affordable housing. Once good source of information is available at:
http://www.NewAmericanLandRush.com
Jillian Coleman Wheeler
http://www.GrantMeRich.com
May 1, 2008 at 2:40 pm |
The situation is sad, no doubt, but that does not take away the owners choice to use his land in a different way, or even sell the property to make a profit. Many of us will point fingers at this owner, but we are not setting aside parts of our own properties for the displaced people to live on.