Letter: Bluffton needs better planning

As a Bluffton resident, I am dismayed to learn that yet two other car dealerships are planned for the area, as if we don’t already have enough, adding to the problem of urban sprawl, a lack of sustainability, and concrete and car jungles in the area.

In addition, there is absolutely nothing aesthetic about putting these near residential, retail and restaurant areas.

Where is the professional expertise and planning involved in creating and executing sustainability policies within our community? We are on track to undermine the beauty of the area as well as its ecology.

Where are the wildlife corridors? The renewing of forests? The green and low-impact development initiatives? The improvement of public transportation? The increase of protected green spaces? The creation of a more compact, walkable community? The traffic calming designs?

In short, where are the smart growth vision and strategies that consider economic, social, cultural and environmental ramifications of development?

As the fastest growing community in South Carolina, we may soon find ourselves to be just another city contributing to society’s sprawl and environmental problems caused by urbanization unless we adopt a long-range vision and plan of sustainability.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Letter: Bluffton needs better planning."