The Mercury, Tuesday, November 9, 1999, Page A12
Opinion
EDITORIALS
West Vincent voters miss an opportunity to save open space
West Vincent voters sent a puzzling message on Election Day. Offered an almost painless way to preserve open space, township residents rejected a referendum question that would have earmarked tax dollars for the purchase of land to keep it out of the hands of developers.
The referendum was one of 11 in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in communities facing the encroachment of urban sprawl. Ten of the 11 referendums passed - only West Vincent voters voted thumbs down.
The township's vote - 496 ballots against to 308 in favor, or a 60-40 percent split - left officials puzzled about how to deal with the threat of over-development in this predominantly rural community on the northern end of Chester County. While residents have supported the township's efforts to preserve open space going back to 1992, voters would not give officials permission to use tax dollars to preserve open space.
"It's a real conundrum," Township Supervisor Zoe Perkins said of the election results. "The same folks who urged us to preserve open space told us they're not willing to use tax dollars to do it with. Where else can we turn?"
The defeat came as a surprise because all township officials keep hearing is NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard - when it comes to development. West Vincent officials thought they came up with a perfect solution that would satisfy residents because property owners were not asked to approve a new tax, merely give township officials permission to use an existing road tax for open space preservation.
The township raised taxes three years ago to fund a road rebuilding program after winter storms devastated many township roads. The township raised $400,000 from the tax to fix the roads. By continuing the tax for open space preservation, the township could have squirreled away about $140,000 a year.
While that doesn't buy a lot of land, suburban residents are beginning to realize that every piece of land that is left undeveloped is a plus as macadam covers the region's farmland and wooded fields. Any land taken out of circulation is that much less room for developers to build their cookie-cutter residential projects and strip malls. In the long run, it means less traffic congestion, fewer schools, fewer sewer plants.
While the West Vincent election is an example of Democracy in action - majority rules - it appears that a last-minute scare campaign by resident Bob Ellis had much to do with the referendum's defeat. Ellis, a computer programmer and frequent critic of township spending, mailed a first class letter to every registered voter in West Vincent at his own expense the week before the election stating the reasons the referendum should have been voted down. He also put his objections on a Web page and made a few dozen phone calls to voters.
Ellis said he's not against open space, but doesn't believe a real estate tax - in West Vincent's case, a $56 increase for every $100,000 in assessed value - is the way to pay for preservation. While there is some admiration for Ellis for standing up for what he believes, his efforts seem to be misguided. It's easy to scare residents, especially when you start throwing numbers around about higher taxes. But isn't paying an extra $100 a year - $2 a week - worth preserving a field or a farm?
Only 40 percent of West Vincent's registered voters bothered to show up at the polls last week and unfortunately, this minority failed to grasp the importance of open-space preservation for all residents. The 60 percent of voters who didn't bother to vote deserve a swift kick in the pants. Let's hope township supervisors can regroup and make a better case for preservation to residents.