Conservation subdivisions are again being considered in Milton.  Not even 6 months have passed since City Council voted unanimously to deny the Conservation Subdivision Ordinance (CSO) due to overwhelming public opposition.  You might recall that over 800 citizens signed a petition.  The CSO’s demise was sealed when over 100 citizens packed City Council chambers to passionately express their opposition.

So why is the CSO back?  Blame Special Interests and their City Council allies.  Developers in particular have been working overtime to bend and break the rules.  They have the time, money, knowledge, connections, and paid attorneys to pursue their agenda.  This time, developers are using rezoning and variances to achieve the CSO’s goals.  This is a flagrant abuse of Milton’s laws.

So why are developers so passionate about “conservation” subdivisions?  Well, as with so many issues, one need only “follow the money.”  The reality is that large buildable tracts in Milton are disappearing.  Increasingly developers are eyeing unprofitable tracts and schemes for profitably developing these tracts.  “Conservation” subdivisions are one strategy they have successfully used in other localities.  With a “conservation” subdivision, a builder crams homes onto the most hospitable area of a tract.  This increases revenues and lowers costs, thereby making a “conservation” subdivision profitable.  The remaining land—much of it unbuildable or uneconomic to develop—is claimed as “green space.”  Environmentalism is cynically used as a public relations ruse.

If the rezoning and variances needed for a “conservation” subdivision are approved, citizens can expect a raft of similar rezoning applications—a land and development rush in an already overheated housing market.  The result will be higher land prices, traffic congestion, pollution, overcrowded schools, and stressed infrastructure.  It is a sad irony that “conservation” subdivisions are actually the antithesis of conservation.

Once and for all, City Council needs to definitively reject “conservation” subdivisions.  Nobody likes a rigged game.  And citizens are tired of being jerked around on this issue.  City Council is going to again consider this matter on June 20^th at Council Chambers on Deerfield Parkway.  It is critical that citizens attend this meeting to express their opposition to the Special Interests and their schemes to subvert Milton’s zoning code to maximize their profits.  Citizens, the time is now to show up, stand up, and speak up for clean, competent, and courageous government in Milton.