Dear Editor:

It should come as no surprise that Georgia’s perennial stature as “America’s most business-friendly state” is being achieved by making dubious trade-offs that are often hidden, poorly understood, or falsely portrayed.

Foolhardy policy being foisted on Georgians includes House Bill 1146, which favors coastal quick-money seekers by allowing them to sell water resources, advancing opportunistic projects built where and when local officials and the communities they serve would prefer they were not. Motivation to subvert local control and long-valued Home Rule with accelerated, opportunistic profit-making is catalyzed by Bryan County’s thriving housing market, boosted by the construction of an enormous Hyundai EV plant nearby — another result of Georgia’s aggressive industrialization, implemented without proper evaluation of collateral impacts and their consequences.

If a developer has land and a water permit, or the imminent prospect of getting one thanks to HB 1146, it will be much easier to coerce local officials into approving his project, contrary to local land-use plans or widely supported growth controls.

Once developed, without adequate site planning and infrastructure, these projects are likely to cause polluted runoff, contaminating waterways, wildlife habitat and nearby properties. Mitigating mpacts would require still more costly burdens on local taxpayers who would be obligated to subsidize needed pollution control projects. Similar taxpayer obligations would apply to growth-induced roads, schools, sewer systems, and other infrastructure.

To ensure that Georgians can defend their well-justified claims on quality of life and corresponding Home Rule growth controls, Gov. Kemp must be encouraged to reject HB 1146. For the common good, Georgia’s economic development must be properly evaluated and planned instead of being heedlessly promoted.

I strongly urge all concerned citizens, taxpayers, and voters to contact the governor’s office asking him to reject HB1146 because it harms local communities by weakening their ability to control growth and protect their quality of life.

David Kyler, Center for a Sustainable Coast, St. Simon’s Island, Georgia