Tom Finderson, one of this community’s sharpest minds on demographics, offers elsewhere on this page an ominous, but accurate, forecast of the storm that Smithfield and Isle of Wight County officials have allowed to brew with their failure to control residential growth.

We write often in this space about inadequate road infrastructure to support the current population, much less developments like Mallory Pointe, the Grange at 10Main and Sweetgrass that have been approved but haven’t begun construction. But roads aside, Finderson makes an astute point about the economic consequences of rapid residential growth, primarily school construction, during an era when senior citizens are disproportionately responsible for funding town and county government expenses.

Simply put, population growth of 2% per year, which Isle of Wight has averaged for three years running, is unsustainable.

Finderson’s recommendations should be heeded by elected leadership, and his first one is especially timely. An upcoming rewrite of the county’s comprehensive plan must include a radical revision of the future land use map to convert wide swaths of northern Isle of Wight County from residential to conservation. If the town’s growth machine is defeated on the November ballot, one of the new Town Council’s first acts in January should be to order a rewrite of Smithfield’s comprehensive plan, which must align with Isle of Wight’s improved plan if the community is to head off the “serious trouble” that Finderson warns about.

We are pleased with how the county has organized the update of its plan. One of the steering committee’s subcommittees will be focused entirely on the county’s three Development Service Districts, which are areas the current plan has designated as suitable for development. Think of huge billboards flashing “BUILD HERE” on thousands of acres in northern Isle of Wight. That’s the figurative effect of the current comprehensive plan as Tidewater developers looking west for places to put more houses are happy to accept Isle of Wight’s invitation.

The “Shape the Isle” subcommittee, consisting of Planning Commissioners Raynard Gibbs and Jennifer Boykin and citizen appointees Bishop Turner Fuller and Lewis Edmonds, has a huge job ahead of it, but we believe it is up to the task. Boykin has been vocal on the planning commission about controlling development, and Edmonds is one of the community’s most engaged citizens with a track record of standing up to powerful political interests.

While we’re giving shout-outs, we commend the Board of Supervisors for becoming more assertive in seeking state funding and support for widening Carrollton Boulevard, which is a congested mess and getting worse. The Smithfield Town Council also should be applauded for asking the state to approve Route 10 access to the Grange. There’s a lot of catching up to do on road infrastructure, and staying in the state’s ear about critical needs is vital.