Time for moratorium
Lois Henry's Oct. 25 column, "How much development is enough?" made perfectly good sense to me. The idea that economically biased developers and shortsighted local politicians are the final arbitrators for a healthy development plan is ludicrous.
As it now stands, Kern County's current development glut is largely due to the short-term thinking of both parties. This development policy has not only created a surplus of inventory for the city of Bakersfield, but for all the surrounding satellite cities located in Kern County as well.
As a resident of Wasco, I am now a witness to the devastation this type of policy thinking has produced. Wasco, at last count, is surrounded by eight new housing developments. In the early days of the development craze, overzealous developers bordered each tract with flagpoles flying brightly colored flags. The vibrant colored flags waved the subtle message of the American dream: home ownership.
What really happened behind the walls of these developments is only now painfully obvious. The flags are now faded and tattered. Several are now in some stage of bankruptcy. It will take the city of Wasco decades to fill this single-family housing surplus. Yet, the city of Bakersfield continues to approve tracts for new development?
The county now finds itself caught in a Catch-22. Bakersfield must grow at the expense of the outlying cities. It is time our politicians have the resolve to understand we cannot develop our way out of this downward economic spiral. However bitter the cure may be for some, the time has come to use the dreaded word -- moratorium.
ANDREW SAMARIN
Wasco
