Letters to the editor

Dear Editor,

Regarding the SCR article on Aug. 9, 2006 &8220;Calera denies subdivision&8221;.

Congratulations to the Calera citizens who spoke out and to the Calera City Council for listening to the wishes of the people.

In Westover, the Mayor, Town Council and Planning Commission are still pushing an agenda of uncontrolled, unregulated growth that has no discernable support from any citizens of Westover or the surrounding communities.

In Calera, a dozen citizens expressed concern over the impact that 65 new homes would have on traffic, water supply and property values.

The Calera City Council voted unanimously against the change that would allow the development to happen.

Recently, in Westover, over a hundred citizens expressed the same concerns about a development of over 800 homes called Westover Park.

The Planning Commission of Westover voted unanimously for this development.

Anyone who is a citizen of Shelby County needs to take note of this.

Decisions are being made everyday by people that you probably do not know and probably did not vote for that will affect your quality of life and that of your children and grandchildren. The quality of your children&8217;s education is being impacted.

Your daily commute to work, especially if you travel Highway 280, is getting worse. All the things that people come to Shelby County to get away from are being forced on them by irresponsible government bodies and unscrupulous developers.

In Baldwin County, they are assessing impact fees on developers to offset the tremendous population influx that is straining their infrastructure to the breaking point.

That is exactly what needs to be done in Shelby County.

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster.

The disaster in Shelby County communities, such as Westover, is man-made, but the effects to the surrounding communities will be just as devastating.

The county, overall, and each community need to adopt a strict policy of establishing and enforcing impact fees when new developments are contemplated.

Development and growth are important, but they must go hand in hand with responsibility and accountability.

This will only happen when citizens get involved and take a stand.

Even the best public servants made bad decisions. Citizen involvement will make the difference.

Citizens must decide if they want Shelby County to be the place people aspire to live in because of the quality of life or the place people settle for until they can afford something better.

Mike Sertell

Wilsonvill