Voice of the Coast

The March 1972 edition of this paper’s namesake, the Voice of the Coast, included an article by local sewer board member Richard Scholl. Perceptively, Scholl warned readers about the growthinducing effects of oversized infrastructure projects. His words, written 33 years ago, could just as easily have been written last week:

“The pressure here is to expand---to build and get into operation as soon as possible a plant that will satisfy all foreseeable needs. Board members argue, `We are not a planning agency. We cannot consider the question of how many people should live here. We must simply provide service to meet the demand.’

“…But there is a flaw in that reasoning: the District must decide how large to build facilities. And if the facilities are so large, so will be the population…

“The lesson is clear — it is the special districts and boards that determine the population, through control of the size of the sewer plants, the water service, the highways. Because of this, plans to meet demands become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Population expands to use the available services, and we must expand again.”