Action | Promulgation of new Secondary Street Acceptance Req. (24 VAC 30-92) Pursuant to Legislative Mandate |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 6/30/2008 |
The stated objective of the regulatory action is to "ensure the connectivity of road and pedestrian networks with the existing and future transportation network". The regulations as currently proposed go well beyond that goal by creating requirements for internal connectivity within residential neighborhoods. It is unclear how achieving the required connectivity index within an individual neighborhood meets the stated goals of the regulations or benefits the public in any way. This is especially true when a new development is surrounded by existing neighborhoods that do not meet the new standard. In fact, should these unproven standard be implemented the resulting effect would be increased housing costs and increased stormwater runoff (this is in direct conflict with the stated goals of the regulations) due to increased road footage and sidewalks. Finally, the connectivity requirement ignores the reality that a great number of residential buyers consider homes on cul-de-sacs to be desirable and safer for children by virtually requiring the elimination of cul-de-sac streets to meet the connectivity index standard.