A Two-Part Agenda for Orange County : Put Distance Between Officials, Developers; Give Measure M Chance to Unclog Traffic

With all that Orange County has going for it, there are two things that it must do as the next century approaches. First, it’s time for public officials to put a greater distance between themselves and the developers whose projects are often summarily approved without much weight given to order and balanced growth. Second, the county’s transportation network must be improved so that it can begin to handle the demands already put on it.

Some opponents of Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, have confused these separate issues, arguing that the initiative is a sop to developers draped in a blueprint for public improvements. But to prepare for the future, the county must address the problems of pedal-to-the-metal development and an antiquated infrastructure individually, as well as in concert.

The first challenge, exercising better control over growth, is a matter of making sure that past mistakes are not repeated. The other one, making badly needed infrastructure repairs in the transportation system, has to be understood as correcting yesterday’s mistakes, since, after all, it is too late to completely undo the past.

Measure M will help the developers only in the way that it will help everyone who lives and does business in Orange County. If the county were a tabula rasa, one could argue that improved roads would aid and abet the cause of greedy developers. But these days, there are other market forces at work driving development decisions in Orange County. New and better transportation arteries alone won’t fuel growth if there is a softening real estate market and a growing public perception that new development must be better managed, both to protect the threatened environment and to provide the kind of housing that people want and can afford.

But everyone would lose if Measure M failed to pass. The county immediately would forfeit $85 million in matching funds for transportation projects. Over the next 20 years, the figure is over $400 million.

That’s money Orange County can have for the asking. So what are we all doing stuck in traffic?