From the Report:
The Sales Tax as Highway Robbery - Developers Making Us Pay for Sprawl (pdf)

A Long History Ties Developers and New Highways

The sales tax proposal is only the latest in a long history of developer-initiated efforts to secure new highway corridors. Much of this focus has been tied to a series of bypass highways. Development was tied to the Beltway, then to the Fairfax County Parkway and Prince William County Parkway, and then to Route 28. Today, developers are pushing for two new beltways crossing the Potomac-the Techway and the Western Bypass. These new highways are tied to a simple model for development that some sectors of the development industry seek to maintain-buy farmland, win rezonings, and get taxpayers to provide infrastructure.

Development and Highways-A Historical Sampler

1981-Benefiting from the Fairfax County Parkway-Hazel and Wrench
In 1981 William Wrench was forced to resign from the Commonwealth Transportation Board because he sought to have the Fairfax County Parkway routed by his properties and the properties of Milton Peterson and John "Til" Hazel. 1 Amid the controversy, gubernatorial candidate Marshall Coleman returned a campaign contribution he had received from Wrench. Wrench is still active in many groups that attempt to influence development in the region, such as the boards of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. He is also a major donor to northern Virginia politicians, giving almost $9,000 to members of the northern Virginia delegation in their most recent campaigns. Wrench has given $2,000 to CBT.

1986-The Baliles 1.2 cent Sales Tax and the "Better Transportation Association"
In 1986, Bill Thomas, Til Hazel's law partner at Hazel & Thomas, formed the "Better Transportation Association."2 The Better Transportation Association won the largest tax increase in Virginia history-including a 1.2 cent sales tax increase to fund what was then called a 12-year, $12 billion state construction program. At the time, Governor Baliles said, "imagine what will happen if something isn't done." Sixteen years later, that sales tax is still in place, consuming hundreds of millions of dollars of tax dollars per year, with poor results in terms of congestion relief. As an attorney, Thomas has also represented the development industry in recent years in successful efforts to block growth management legislation.

1987-Route 28-Speculation and the Special Tax District
In 1987, business and developers pushed for the expansion of Route 28, running north and south near Dulles Airport, to six lanes. Tax revenues from the landowners who would benefit were to cover the debt service for the bonds. Yet, because development lagged projections, state taxpayers have had to cover $36 million of the debt service-funds that are taken from other transportation needs in northern Virginia. The corridor demonstrates how spread out development wastes land, increases traffic, and makes walking and transit impossible. Even today the corridor is not close to buildout, yet the developers are asking for two more north-south bypasses a few miles to the west as part of the sales tax package.

1988-Hazel and Manassas Battlefield
In 1988, John "Til" Hazel tried to develop a large shopping mall within view of Manassas National Battlefield. If it had been constructed, it would have eroded the historic setting and exposed the park to more traffic, noise, pollution, and visual degradation. Federal taxpayers had to pay Hazel $132 million for the land to stop the development. 3

1989-1990 WTC advocates in the General Assembly have close ties to development industry
In 1990, Senator Charles Waddell, who was at the time head of the Senate Transportation Committee, created controversy when he hired a representative of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA) to be a staffer in his office. The NVTA has been, and still is, one of the chief lobbying groups for outer beltways for years.

Senator Waddell had long been an advocate of the proposed Western Bypass. According to an article in the Fairfax Journal, a large majority of Waddell's donors-11 of 14-were landowners along the proposed Western Bypass. 4 Together their donations amounted to 82 percent of Senator Waddell's campaign donations for the year.

Senator Waddell also sponsored a bill in 1990 removing commercial land use controls along Route 28. He denied that his actions regarding highway construction in the region were done at the behest of developer interests, claiming that "bypass resolutions would not have benefited specific landowners because they did not specify routes." But most of the routes under consideration would benefit at least a few of the developers who supported the Senator by spurring development in the general area around the proposed routes, even if they did not own land directly adjacent to them. Senator Waddell retired from the Senate when appointed to a position in the Virginia Department of Transportation.

1997-WTC Policy Advisory Committee
The 1997 "Developer Dollars" report by Clean Water Action and the Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter, showed how members of the Western Transportation Corridor Advisory Committee (WTC) received a greater amount of developer dollars than other local supervisors. All but one member of the WTC Policy Advisory Committee voted in favor of the WTC. The only 'no' vote was by a Stafford representative, who received no developer contributions at all. Dale Polen Myers, then chair of the Loudoun County Board, received 84% ($44,616) of her campaign donations from the real estate industry. Kathleen Seefeldt, then chair of the Prince William County Board, received the largest single contribution of any northern Virginia supervisor, $12,500, from Virginians for Responsible Local Government PAC, associated with developer "Til" Hazel. The "Developer Dollars" report illustrated the extensive links between members of the development industry in northern Virginia and the extent of their contributions to local elected officials.

1997-Washington Airports Task Force
The Washington Airports Task Force has long pushed for expansion of roads in northern Virginia to support its plans to become the largest freight airport in the eastern US, larger than Miami and New York's JFK. Larger freight capacity requires more highways for freight trucks to reach their clients. The WATF, surprisingly, has received money from the Virginia state government to promote National and Dulles Airports. In 1997, the Virginia General Assembly felt it necessary to expressly prohibit the WATF from spending money lobbying for the Western Transportation Corridor. Prior to this, Leo Schefer was spending a significant portion of this time lobbying for the Western Bypass and for the expansion of Dulles-area roadways. WATF board member Carrington Williams (also active in the Northern Virginia Business Roundtable) served as the only "citizen" appointee to the WTC Policy Advisory Committee during the 1997 Major Investment Study. He drafted the resolution to endorse a route for the WTC and presented it to the elected officials on the committee for their approval.

1998-Hazel Raises Money for a Maryland Governor to Support Western Bypass
On August 17, 1998, "Til" Hazel held a $1000 a plate fundraiser at his northern Virginia office for Maryland Governor candidate Ellen Sauerbrey. The fundraiser was tied directly to encouraging Sauerbrey's support of the "Western Corridor." The event ignited a storm of protest on both sides of the river. 5