Paying Lunch Tab

We’ve heard it before from politicians and rhetoricians of every political stripe, but the vast majority of the voting public still debate the message: There is no free lunch.

San Diego’s elected officials thought they could avoid paying the full cost of development by foisting it off on the developers. “Pay as you grow” was the magic phrase that rolled off the tongues of our elected politicians.

Development fees were the smoke and mirrors that justified the growth binge of the ‘80s. Our misguided leadership approved planned community projects guaranteeing the developers an irrevocable right to build thousands of homes in fringe areas far distant from existing facilities and services--development San Diego simply could not afford. The fees, which were merely passed along to the home buyer, seemed exorbitant, but in fact covered only a small fraction of the true cost of developing these new communities.

Development costs real money. Providing adequate fire and police protection, building enough schools and parks to meet the needs of growing neighborhoods and meeting federal standards for clean water, sewerage and solid waste disposal is expensive.

That’s why some rural areas in the nation have opted to keep their open spaces open. They calculated that it is cheaper to buy and maintain open space than provide urban-level services.

As your thoughtful editorial (“New Decade Is When Bills Will Come Due,” Dec. 31) points out, a decade of deficit spending by San Diego’s pro-growth politicos has left San Diegans in the unhappy position of playing “catch-up” with increased taxes and fees, or, with the less desirable option of saddling our children and grandchildren with an ever bigger debt.

My New Year’s wish is that the recently reconstituted San Diego City Council will take a deep breath, survey the damage incurred by a decade of neglect, display their political backbone and “do the right thing”--approve the tax bills and fees necessary to wipe out our quality-of-life deficit.

It’s time San Diego paid its 1980s lunch tab.

LINDA MARTIN

San Diego