Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I would like to respond to Michael Lane’s letter in last week’s Gazette-Journal advocating the current Highway Corridor Overlay District (HCOD) ordinance as necessary to improve the appearance of Highway 17, bring tourists to the county, and attract businesses that would provide good jobs.

The HCOD was passed in 1998 with the stated intentions of improving the aesthetics of Hwy. 17 and producing the results that Mr. Lane describes. However, we know that good intentions don’t always produce good results, and the HCOD has failed to improve Gloucester County life the way the board of supervisors originally intended.  For example, the HCOD was expected to attract new businesses. But in 2012-2013 alone, 84 businesses on Hwy. 17 shuttered their operations, against only 31 new starts, for a net loss of 53 businesses. As for improving the appearance of the highway, Mr. Lane himself referred to Hwy. 17 in Gloucester as a “10-mile eyesore&r...