There is a big disaster under way in the county that is as big as the OLF.

The OLF will destroy our history, environment, our way of life and kill us with the noise. The new problem is the large number of requests for intensive housing developments by developers. This will also destroy our history, environment, our rural way of life and it will kill us with higher taxes on every citizen in the county.

Taxes will have to increase as much as 25 percent. You can expect this group of new citizens to want trash pickup, recreational facilities, parks, plus all the standard services such as schools, police and fire protection, health and welfare services, etc.

We are in the same situation as Virginia Beach and Chesapeake were 30 years ago when they caved in to the wishes and pressure of developers. Today Virginia Beach is paying $15 million a year to buy out the homeowners in developments around Oceana and the state (you and I) are paying half of that. This is not a one year program but a 10-year buyout.

If these developments brought in a high profit, tax revenue, why is it that every city in the state has a tax rate of over $1? The highest tax rate is over $1.39. The lowest rate for a rural county is only 39 cents. Where are the tax benefits?

I am very hopeful we can learn from the big mistakes that others have made.

We don't have to put our head in a burning fire to know we are going to get burned.

In this development area, Franklin will receive 30 percent of all revenue created by the businesses. It is hard to meet our county budget when we receive 100 percent of the revenue. What are we going to do when we receive only 70 percent?

The Board of Supervisors will have a hearing on this issue on May 26 at 7 p.m. Please let them know how you feel.

Glenn H. Updike

Newsoms