Re: My Position on (and Frustration with) County Land Use Authority
Published in AAS on Tuesday, August 14, 2007
With its coverage of the Sun Coast Resources’ planned tank facility in East Austin, the American-Statesman has highlighted the pitfalls of limited local authority to manage growth. The first shot across the commissioners court’s bow was in an Aug. 7 editorial, which stated, “What we get … is a group of five people who draw down nice salaries and whose authority to make a difference in these cases is severely limited.” The next day, a story quoted local resident Barbara Scott saying, “Basically, what we need to do is get with Dawnna Dukes, our state representative, and discuss why our county commissioners have no teeth and why we’re paying their salary.”
Though the “mini-tank farm” issue sparked these remarks, this issue is by no means the first to elicit such comments. In the short time I have been in office, commissioners have wrestled with landfill expansion on U.S. 290, increased collisions and fatalities on Texas 71, “grandfathered” development, the fouling of Hamilton Pool, the demand for increased mobility, the rapid disappearance of open space and the specter of becoming an air quality “non-attainment zone.”
Many days since I took office, I have felt like a dentist whose patient is having a massive coronary — I am a doctor and I have the will to help. But I am neither licensed nor equipped to treat my patient. The options at my disposal are only nominally better than my fellow citizens. So I call the ambulance (be it the Texas Legislature, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of Transportation or some other agency) and pray that it responds in time.
Time is of the essence and passing the buck is a waste of breath. I want to be part of a fully licensed and equipped county authority. We need local land use authority to address tank farms, landfills, roadway safety, water quality, air quality and exploding residential growth.
County government will either wrestle appropriate land use authority from the Legislature to deal with these issues or it will willingly draw lawsuits for reaching beyond commissioners’ authority in efforts to protect the health and safety of county residents.
Here is what I see happening: The county will need to write better ordinances to address these kinds of issues in a more comprehensive manner. Some, whose personal interests are at risk, will charge that these rules go beyond our authority and will sue us. The county will defend these suits with tax dollars.
Win or lose, these suits will make a record of commissioners’ attempts to serve the public interest and protect the health and safety of county residents. We will use this record in our continued argument with the Legislature over the necessity of local land use authority in managing our growth.
There is a strong case to be made for more authority being placed in the hands of Texas counties. We are the boots on the ground. Counties have a strong understanding of regional challenges and are best able to respond to issues in a timely fashion.
Certainly the Legislature must provide oversight, but as it is only in session every other year for five months, many issues that could be resolved quickly are forced to wait for the next legislative session.
Many in the Legislature will argue that market forces should continue as the only regulatory force in the urban as well as rural unincorporated areas of our state and they will be richly rewarded for making that argument.
However, I have faith that our political system will correct this imbalance between personal interests and public interests. That’s what democracy is all about.
Hon. Sarah Eckhardt represents Travis County Commissioners Court, Precinct 2.