An Unnecessary Freeze

Prince William considers halting residential growth.

FOR YEARS the traffic-addled counties of Northern Virginia have been begging for state money to build and improve roads and rail lines, and many in the House of Delegates have refused to listen. Now supporters of a resolution that the Prince William Board of County Supervisors will consider today claim that they have found a better way to get the state's attention: a proposal that would, in effect, halt the approval of large residential developments in the county for a year.

We sympathize with Prince William's struggle for transportation funding. But this measure is likely to hinder effective planning in the county without changing anyone's mind in Richmond.

The resolution calls on the county to freeze residential rezoning proposals for one year, preventing developers from building higher-density communities on their lands. Because they don't anticipate any major residential rezoning proposals to be brought forward in the next year, and because the measure would sunset in December 2007, proponents of the legislation say it would be a relatively painless way to send a message to the General Assembly.

But such blanket restrictions on growth neglect opportunities to create density where the county can best absorb it, opportunities that might allow Prince William to reap the benefits of urban-style development without overtaxing its infrastructure. And refusing to consider rezoning applications for a year means that even smaller, noncontroversial proposals would have to wait. The state's courts, traditionally friendly to property rights, might deem the measure illegal.

No one should doubt the plight of Northern Virginia's commuters or their desire to see their roads and rails improved with state money, especially as the region grows. The Washington area already has the second-worst commutes in the country. A Virginia Department of Transportation study published over the summer indicated that proposed home-building in nearby Loudoun County would overwhelm roads there and in Prince William. Slow-growth policies are receiving broad support among Northern Virginia politicians, who sense that exasperation with clogged roads has made the approval of new housing politically dangerous. But moratoriums are blunt and ineffective instruments. Local governments should strive to plan new development wisely, and state legislators should help them build the infrastructure they need to do so.