Opposition grows to long-range green planning

by CalWatchdog Staff | April 30, 2013 10:11 am

[1]April 30, 3013

By Warren Duffy

Opposition is growing to government plans to squeeze Californians into high-rise apartments and mass transit.

The March 2012 issue of “Western City,”[2] published by the League of California Cities, included an article authored by Gary Gallegos titled, “Trailblazing a Sustainable Path.”[3]  He said a lack of state funding was thwarting “the progressive plans” of SANDAG[4], the San Diego Association of Governments, one of four large regional planning agencies in California.

SANDAG had been working on a program to implement a 40-year transportation plan for the region that was environmentally friendly, complying with SB375[5], which was passed in 2008. SB 375 mandated state planning for “sustainable development,” which mainly means encouraging people to move into high-rises and take public mass transit.

Gallegos’ article begins by explaining, “In October 2011 the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), one of the four largest metropolitan planning organizations in California, became the first to adopt a transportation plan with a sustainability component.”  That component was outlined in Senate Bill 375 and a very comprehensive element to SANDAG’s 2050 Regional Transportation Plan[6].

Lawsuit

Although it is reported the plan was not done in haste, but took more than two years to design and gather “extensive public output,” there are those who disagree.  A group normally known for a more radical approach to environmentalism, the Sierra Club[7], joined other environmental activists to sue SANDAG and successfully delay[8] any further action for the 40-year regional transportation plan.

As more Californians are getting educated to the 20-, 30- and 40-year green sustainable long-term regional planning goals for their communities, statewide opposition is growing.

The most recent comes from OneBayArea[9], a joint authority of four regional governments. Located in Northern California, this planning group was recently successful in passing a 20-year plan, the Bay Area Prosperity Plan[10], impacting nine counties, 101 cities and 7.5 million people.

The plan[11] merges cities, abolishes county lines, authorizes the closing of some roads and the building of residential “stack and pack” housing in lieu of new construction of single family homes.  The impact of this plan has created such an outrage among concerned citizens that funds are being raised to file a lawsuit[12] against the plan.

In the Los Angeles area that includes Orange County, the Southern California Association of Governments is a similar umbrella planning group.  In March 2012, this group unanimously adopted a “2012 to 2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy”[13].  SCAG’s $524-billion program promises to expand housing near public transportation by 60 percent and fund public biking and walking improvements by 350 percent in the next 23 years.

A Southern California city with long term green planning push back is Aliso Viejo[14], located in Orange County. After spending $400,000 on consultants, the city’s 104-page “Green City Initiative”[15] has encountered not just opposition from its residents, but a well informed and newly elected council member, Mike Munzing[16].  The council vote on this initiative has been postponed twice, with businesses and private citizens demanding the council return to the drawing board.

Scrutiny

As city planners are falling under more and more scrutiny by an increasingly well informed public, the American Planning Association[17] (those leading the parade nationally and locally) has put a happy face on their long range, green plan with a newly revised “Glossary for the Public”[18].

In my recent book, “The Green Tsunami”[19], I cited a talking point memo from APA’s CEO Paul Farmer to hundreds of regional planners arming them for a debate. The memo read, “As planning and planners have become targets of suspicion and mistrust, it is more important than ever to avoid polarizing jargon, to focus on outcomes important to local citizens and to maintain a fair, open and transparent process.”

More suspicion and mistrust is rising among the people concerning the goals of “stack and pack” housing, public vs. private transportation, and a debate on “the collective good” superseding individual freedom. It would appear public hearings and lawsuits on long-range, green, regional development plans in California will be contentious for years to come.

Warren Duffy is president of Friends for Saving California Jobs and author of “The Green Tsunami – A Tidal Wave of Eco-Babble Drowning Us All[20].”

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2013/04/30/opposition-grows-to-long-range-green-planning/

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