Spencer Heath Archive

Item 2913

Letter to Heath at 312 Halesworth Street, Santa Ana, CA, from Werner Kloetzli, Jr., City Planner and Engineer, 4103 Tennyson Road, University Park, Maryland. Enclosed is an item of same date by Mr. Kloetzli, “Limited Municipal Government.”

October 6, 1961

 

Dear Mr. Heath:

Mr. Leonard E. Read of the Foundation for Economic Education has suggested that I write you and ask for a copy of your book entitled Citadel, Market and Altar. I have become very much interested in private enterprise communities. My experience in city planning and publications of Mr. Read’s foundation have together created this interest.

 At a Planning Board meeting in Mt. Laurel Township, N.J., last month, at which I was present, two things occurred by coincidence. A representative of the private electric utility that serves the region announced plans of his company to acquire a 120’ wide right-of-way across the entire length of the Township, a distance of over seven miles. In contrast, the impossibility of acquiring or even reserving a 120’ wide right-of-way for a street for a short distance of only about 1,600′ became evident. The two rights-of-way would be for different purposes, of course, the former for an electric utility line, the latter for a street. However, the point I wish to bring out is that the private agency is able to do its job, the public agency is not.

 If major streets could be a business instead of a public operation, couldn’t such streets be successful and profitable, just as utility rights-of-way? Through this Township passes the New Jersey Turnpike, a toll road operated by an Authority; this toll road is public and supported by a bond issue, but it is an example of a road making a profit. Of course this Turnpike serves one of the heaviest long-distance traffic movements in the country, but it is an example of a road making a profit. If major street companies did not have government competition, it seems to me that they could succeed, and that the public could be benefited much more than it is now with its system of public roads.

 I wrote to Mr. Read substantially as on the enclosure to this letter. Any criticism you might care to make would be very gratefully received.

 A copy of your book would be very much appreciated.

Sincerely yours,

                              Werner Kloetzli, Jr.
Encl.                         City Planner & Civil Engineer

 

 

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Limited Municipal Government

October 6, 1961

Let us create a limited municipal government. The first step would be to create (or find) a municipal corporation with a largely undeveloped land area in the suburbs of a large city. The second step would be to build there a suburban community with a limited government. Suburbs are growing all over the nation, and it certainly should be possible to create only one suburb as a freeman’s locale.

 To avoid dependence on public roads for commuting to the large city, this limited government municipality should be located on a rail line.

 Private schools may be the largest problem since most people are unaccustomed to paying for education. But by starting in undeveloped territory with new residents knowing what they are getting into, the problem could probably be overcome. Outstanding community advantages other than schools could help overcome the school financial problem.

 A private country club could be a big attraction to get people to move into the municipality. (Incidentally, a private country club with an 18-hole golf course is under construction in Mt. Laurel Township, N.J.) And a club with golf courses, swimming pools, riding trails, bicycle trails, hiking trails, etc. would make unnecessary any municipal park system.

 Private streets might be a legal problem. But there are private streets in existence in various places already, and there are no practical physical or financial reasons why more cannot be created. Local residential streets could be built by private home builders, and, in fact, home builders frequently build local streets today. Maintenance of these local streets could be financed by private organizations of residents rather than by the municipality. Major streets could be constructed as private toll roads.

 As for utilities, private water and sewerage companies and other private utilities are no special problem. Many private utilities exist today. Also, private refuse collection is no special problem.

 Private covenants running with the land could take the place of zoning and could otherwise assist in maintaining a good quality environment.

 A suburb with a limited municipal government could be an opportunity to prove that free men can do great things under a free system. However, the suburb would have to be an outstanding place in which to live in order to beat the competition of other suburbs. Other suburbs built with usual government and financial methods would probably be somewhat less expensive for many families with several children of school age. But usual government methods often prevent or hinder good unusual community design. And such design would be a major item in making this suburb outstanding. With a limited government suburb which was an outstanding place in which to live, there would be a real opportunity to determine the value of the free method.

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