County growth must be reined in

There are, however, growing challenges in front of us to manage the county growth before our road system suffers the same crushing traffic problems as Augusta's Washington Road and Bobby Jones Expressway. Several years ago the City and County began work on an overlay district to jointly manage growth on Whiskey Road and later to use the same approach for other growth on the City-County border. After all this time, the overlay district has not gotten out of the County Planning Commission.

Last fall, County Council initiated a countywide land management plan, with the target to approve it in six months. Apparently, this too is in progress with the County Planning Commission and expected to be for quite a while longer. The growth in Aiken is accelerating and our citizens are voicing their concern that both City and County councils take meaningful steps to manage it. A countywide land management plan needs to be developed and implemented. The city growth ordinance needs to be followed and even strengthened. Recommendations by planning expert Ed McMahon need to be put in place.

The most important thing the citizens of the city and county can do is to indicate their concerns to their local representatives through a phone call, by writing and/or attending meetings and expressing interest. If county growth is not controlled, we will have strip malls from Aiken to New Ellenton and from Aiken to Augusta. The quality of life we now enjoy in Aiken could be lost forever without the implementation of a comprehensive county land strategic plan which both controls and manages growth.

Richard Baxter