Moiso on Initiative
Re the interview with Anthony R. Moiso (“Slow-Growth Initiative Not the Answer, Developer Says,” Jan. 25).
Moiso, chairman of the Santa Margarita Co., states that the solution to the traffic problem in Orange County is not to stop building homes, but instead, more roads and more homes.
Nowhere in his interview does Moiso call for any programs that would encourage development of mass transit or innovations that were followed with success during the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles. These solutions may actually allow the building of more homes without exacerbating the traffic congestion and pollution in Orange County.
Moiso uses the canard that more pressure on developers would stop development and force the citizens in Orange County to pay for their own roads. But this argument mistakenly assumes that Orange County has enough roads already for existing housing or even those houses that are being planned.
Moiso suggests a “compromise” between developers and the community. However, we have seen all too clearly what compromise means in practical terms. In a “compromise,” the Orange County Board of Supervisors has approved the building of an additional 89,000 homes in Orange County. Some compromise.
I have heard nothing from the developers and their friends on the county Board of Supervisors that has convinced me that we can trust developers to protect the interest of the people of Orange County and not simply the profit margins of the developers.
MITCHELL J. FREEDMAN
El Toro
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