The KUSP Land Use Report #11: "State Land Use Planning"

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This is Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County, with a Land Use Report for KUSP.

Local planning problems abound: a shortage of affordable housing, groundwater overdraft, the loss of agricultural land, increasing traffic congestion, impacts on natural resources, and plain old urban sprawl. But local planning isn’t just problems. There are opportunities, as well—an opportunity to redevelop our existing urban areas, the chance actually to improve our local economic and business performance. We can deal with our problems—and help realize our opportunities—when we get involved with planning right in our own community.

That may not be enough. State laws contribute to some of our biggest local problems. For instance, the state system of local government finance practically compels local governments to reject housing developments that address affordability, and that would reduce long distance commuting. The state level is just as important as the local level. Three organizations have made statewide planning reform their number one priority for next year: the Urban Land Institute (that’s a group of professional planners), the California Futures Network (that’s a statewide alliance of business, labor and other organizations), and the Sierra Club, California’s best-known environmental group. Next year, you may want to ask the candidates for state government positions what they think about state land use reform.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

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