A speech to the Richland County, SC Council about a land use plan

Hello,

I’m here to ask you to support the county land use rules. My family and I moved here from California 5 years ago. We were happy with what we found, a nice, smallish town surrounded by beautiful forests and agricultural areas. However, we soon noticed that much of what we found beautiful around us was disappearing quickly to haphazard development, haphazard in terms of type as well as location.

I left the place I was born and raised largely because rapid and poorly planned growth destroyed the quality of life I had known, and I was hopeful that I would find someplace better for my family. I now worry that the mistakes that were made there are being repeated here, that the voices of a few well-moneyed, influential people are drowning out those of the majority of us who just want a nice place to raise our children and grandchildren, and maybe have it remain nice enough for them to want to raise their families here someday.

I just want to finish by saying that you don’t remodel your house without careful planning, you don’t relandscape your yard without planning, so why on earth would we want to redesign God’s work in our entire county, for all future generations, without at least as much planning and forethought.

Thank you