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MECHANISMS TO CONTROL LOCAL GROWTH
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PLAYERS IN THE “GROWTH MACHINE”
from Eben Fodor (1999) Better Not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve Your Community. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada
TAKING OUR FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL (pp. 107-109)
Fodor observes that “Before seeking to discourage growth in some manner, a community should do its best to not actively encourage it.” (page 107)
COMMON GROWTH SUBSIDIES (which need to be reconsidered):
1. Free or subsidized public infrastructure to serve new development (e.g. expanded roads, sewer or water systems, schools, fire stations, libraries, etc., often buried in budgets or otherwise difficult to identify)
2. ‘Economic Development Programs’ to promote growth (funded by local govt., sometimes with subsidies to new or expanding businesses, etc.)
3. Developer incentives (e.g. selling city- or county-owned land below full market value; public-private partnerships that disadvantage public)
4. Development services (not charging full costs of processing building permits, reviewing plans and performing inspections)
5. Land Use Planning (local govt. staff work spent on planning for and accommodating growth)
6. Waiving – or failing to enforce – environmental and land use regulations
7. Rezoning land to allow developers to make more money off their projects
8. Poorly designed affordable housing programs that become big public growth subsidies
9. Federally-subsidized road and bridge building that encourage growth
10. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts that channel local tax dollars to blighted downtowns
APPLYING THE BRAKES (pp. 110-139)
“Growth can be restrained temporarily or permanently, as long as there are valid public welfare concerns being addressed by the process… To ensure that it survives legal challenges, an effective local growth ordinance must meet the following five criteria:
• comply with state and local laws;
• not violate the constitutional “right to travel”;
• not be an actual “taking” of property;
• not be “exclusionary” (excluding any particular class of persons; and
• include findings to the effect that the proposed growth control is needed to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the community.
SLOWING GROWTH
1. Development impact fees – charging new developments for a proportionate share of capital costs of new or expanded facilities: schools, roads, police, etc.
2. Setting standards for growth – e.g. “threshold standards” or “performance standards” that require developers to show that specific environmental or quality-of-life limits will not be exceeded by the proposed development; also includes “level of service (LOS)” standards for capacity of public infrastructure (e.g. roads)
3. Growth rate limits – capping the amount of new development that can take place each year to a level that the community considers to be acceptable
4. Capping ultimate locality size – controlling the ultimate ‘buildout’ of a community
5. Adequate public facility requirements (‘concurrency requirements’) – ensuring that public facilities are in place as new development occurs to avoid overcrowding of classrooms, sewage plants, etc.
6. Urban growth boundaries (UGBs)/Greenbelts – establishing a physical or legal boundary around the urbanized area of a community, beyond which public-funded amenities are limited
7. Annexation restrictions – limiting the ability of a city to take land from contiguous localities
8. Downzoning – reducing the upper limit of allowed density on given land parcels
9. Design review/Public review process
10. Community impact statements (CIS) – defining the costs, both direct and indirect, of a proposed development (e.g. on traffic, tax burden), and negotiating with the developer to fund any necessary improvements. Includes “Fiscal Impact Analysis”.
11. Environmental impact statements (EIS) – Like the CIS, obtaining information about the environmental consequences of a development before it is approved.
12. Tax and economic incentives – providing disincentives for growth by directly taxing the cost of development to help pay for the costs of growth. Includes “real estate transfer tax” (like a sales tax), “land gains tax” (on increase in property value created by the community), “construction tax”, “land use tax”.
13. Growth moratoriums – ceasing to issue building permits for new construction, usually when there is inadequate capacity in one or more basic public facilities
14. Other potential approaches, not yet tested
• Infrastructure spending restrictions – stopping spending on building new facilities (e.g. roads, public buildings) if a community can not afford to maintain the ones it already has
• Limiting speculative development – demanding that a minimum percentage of a proposed development be pre-leased or pre-sold before building permits are issued
• Consumption limits – to minimize land and resource use, setting maximum lot size in selected areas (e.g. at 10,000 square feet) or establishing minimum densities (the opposite of downzoning)
• Carrying capacity limits – establishing the ability of the environment to support a given population based on a limiting factor such as water
PRESERVING UNDEVELOPED LAND
1. Public land acquisition/Conservation easements/Purchase of development rights (PDRs) – purchasing land, or merely the development rights on land, by or for the public
2. Transferable development rights (TDRs) – separating developing rights from the land and allowing them to be transferred to another area that can better accommodate the development
3. Community land trusts – acquiring land for some non-development use (e.g. to preserve farmland or wetlands) by a private, non-profit, tax-exempt trust
4. Public land banking – purchasing large areas of land and holding them for a future use (e.g. parks, schools), by a local government or a specially created public entity
5. Open space requirements – requiring all new developments to provide a certain amount of open space or undeveloped land
6. Conservation tax incentives – setting lower property tax rates for farm, forest, or open space land
7. Exclusive agricultural zoning – limiting other uses of the land through restrictive zoning, or establishing large minimum lot sizes (such as 80 acres) and restrictions on parceling land into smaller lots
THE “GROWTH MACHINE”
Fodor (pp. 29-30) describes the Growth Machine as “a distinct group of well-funded and politically influential interests that tends to form a powerful pro-growth alliance… powered by the fortunes resulting from land speculation and real estate development.”
• “The primary business interests are
- the landowners
- real estate developers
- mortgage bankers
- realtors
- construction companies and contractors
- cement and sand and gravel companies
- and building suppliers”
• “Many of the members of these groups have organized into local and regional associations to more effectively represent their business interests:
- the Chamber of Commerce,
- Association of Realtors,
- Home Builders Association, and so on.”
• “Local government becomes part of the machine…The nature of the game is to influence the local government to improve the profitability of local land development”
• “Accessories to the machine: …business and professional interests who may become part of the growth machine (p. 34)… include:
- the local newspaper may see growth as a way to increase circulation and bring new advertisers…”
- “Support for the growth machine often comes from professionals whose jobs are directly connected with growth:
- Planners are one example…
- Architects may find themselves part of the growth machine;
- landscapers
- engineers and surveyors,
- interior decorators,
- home inspectors and appraisers…”
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Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population |