In 2008, Shelby County, Tennessee became a national model for championing child-friendly communities when the Board of Commissioners resolved that every proposal they’d consider involving safety, health, education, and land use would first be reviewed for its potential benefits and risks to children. But on Wednesday, May 16th the commissioners will consider doing away with child impact statements for land use and development proposals.
Protecting kids and bettering their lives shouldn’t be controversial, but it is when questions about children’s health and safety and their educational and living environments get in the way of certain land developers’ plans.
The proposal to do away with concern for kids in land use is a response to a recent and nearly successful attempt by residents, business owners, health-care professionals, faith leaders, and school officials to keep a heavy industrial development out of their backyards. A child impact statement was used to document the community’s concerns and raise awareness of research pointing to potential environmental dangers.
The developers replied with studies of their own, which is understandable—and they won—but that wasn’t good enough for them. Now they also want the Board of Commissioners to kill child impact statements in land use matters so they never have to worry about winning—or eventually losing—by a one vote margin ever again. Show developers and elected officials that they cannot push our kids aside. Oppose any action by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners that would weaken or restrict the use of child impact statements. Let’s continue being a national model for the rights of children, their families, and the neighborhoods in which they live, learn, play, and grow!
