October 2003

The Statehouse

By James Lawlor

Michigan: Land Use Council Reports. The Michigan Land Use Leadership Council delivered its report to Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm in mid-August. The 32-member task force was appointed by the governor last February to study the causes and effects of sprawl and propose ways to reduce its impact.

In its report the council focused on several themes associated with reducing sprawl, including:

• preserving agricultural land, forests, wildlife habitat, and scenic resources;
• supporting programs to make the states cities more livable;
• encouraging investment in already developed areas to make better use of existing infrastructure;
• developing tools that will allow local governments to encourage compact, mixed-use development;
• creating incentives for greater interagency and intergovernmental cooperation in addressing land-use issues and public investments;
• guiding investment of state resources to "commerce centers" where infrastructure is already serving relatively dense populations.

The review of the council's recommendations will be led by David Hollister, director of the department of consumer and industry services, Gov. Granholm said in a statement accepting the report. "The breath and depth of topics covered by the council truly shows the urgency of this issue," she said. The governor pledged to take quick action on the recommendations, probably before her 2004 state of the state address is due.

It is not likely that either the governor or the legislature will accept the council's recommendations in full. The proposals for greater intergovernmental cooperation, identification of commerce centers, and incentives to preserve agricultural land are likely to be among the governor's proposals to the legislature.

Although the council's report included no formal dissent, some members expressed reservations and objections to parts of the report. The largest number of objections and reservations was registered by Robert Jones, former president of the Michigan Association of Home Builders.

While it cannot be said that Jones was speaking on behalf of the association, it seems reasonable that his thinking parallels that of the organization's leadership. That, in turn, suggests that any broad-ranging reform proposal is not likely to have clear sailing through the legislature.

Wisconsin: Smart Growth Rollback Opposed. Chapter president Gary Peterson urged members to show up in strength at a legislative hearing October 9 on a bill that would repeal Wisconsin comprehensive planning law, enacted in 1999. In his message to members September 18, Peterson noted that opponents of smart growth were expected to turn out in force and urged members to show their support for the law. In August, the chapter's executive board composed an op-ed piece in support of smart growth that was sent to all the newspapers in Wisconsin.

The hearing was well-attended, reported Jordan K. Lamb, the chapter's legislative tracker. Seventy-seven persons registered themselves as favoring the legislation, and 46 testified in favor. Opponents included 47 persons who registered their opposition to the bill, and 12 persons testified against it, including Peterson. Among others testifying against were representatives of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, the state Department of Transportation, the Wisconsin Towns Association, and the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin.

Assembly Bill 435, authored by Rep. Mary Williams, would repeal Section 66.1001 of the Wisconsin Statutes. The law has been the target of considerable criticism by local governments, particularly in rural areas, that consider it an unfunded mandate and an infringement of private property rights. The October 9 hearing was before the assembly's committee on rural affairs.

Rep. Sheryl Albers, chair of the Assembly's Committee on Property Rights and Land Management, had refused to let the bill be referred to her committee. However, Rep. Albers is working on modifications to the smart growth law, Lamb reported. Her committee reviewed a not yet formally introduced bill October 8 that would reduce the number of local government programs are actions that must be consistent with the comprehensive plan. Consistency would be limited to official maps, subdivision regulations, zoning ordinances, and shorelands and wetlands within shorelands.

Ohio: Growth Committee Meets. An Ohio House subcommittee examining issues related to growth kicked off a series of meetings around the state in July by hearing presentations from Stuart Meck, FAICP, principal investigator of APA's Growing Smart project, and Dr. Ronald Utt of the Heritage Foundation.

Meck pointed out that just about all metropolitan areas in Ohio have experienced sustained outward growth over the past several decades. He noted that 34 percent of all new housing starts are on one-acre lots, accounting for 91 percent of all the land consumed for residential development. Meck also presented the committee with examples from other states that have been dealing with growth management issues. He observed that Ohio could benefit from reforming its planning laws to address changes in the legal environment, new attitudes about development, and increasingly complex government structures.

Utt, on the other hand, argued suburban sprawl is not really a problem, pointing to the fact that only 5.2 percent of the nation's total land area is developed. Even in highly urbanized New Jersey, he noted, only 38 percent of the state's area is considered urbanized. Chapter legislative committee chair Chris Gawronski, who attended the presentations, said members of the committee seemed skeptical of Utt's contention that sprawl is not a problem.

The July meeting was followed by meetings August 21 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, where the subcommittee heard from Myron Orfield, and September 25 in Cleveland, where the subject was urban revitalization. The October 16 meeting in Hillsboro took up rural issues and farmland preservation. Future meetings are scheduled for Warren County in November and Toledo early next year.

California: Governor Signs Land-Use Goals Bill. The chapter expressed its pleasure with Gov. Gray Davis's approval Oct. 3 of A.B. 857, State Land Use Goals and Priorities. "By enacting A.B. 857, the governor has made a commitment to saving agricultural land and natural habitats, easing traffic congestion and improving the quality of life for all Californians," chapter president Jeff Lambert said in a press release.

The new law requires the state to promote infill development, protect natural and agriculture resources, and encourage efficient development patterns where infill development is not practical. The law also direct the governor to develop a conflict resolution process to reconcile differences between state agency plans and state infrastructure projects. A similar process will apply to conflict between local land use projects and state agency policies.

Florida: State Planning Agency Merger Delayed. Colleen Castille, Secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, announced October 1 that the department's merger with the Department of State will not take place until after the 2005 legislative session at the earliest.

Castille said a recurring theme at meetings conducted in recent months with constituent groups was the need to carefully plan the new direction of the many programs the two departments administer, a point argued forcefully by the chapter during this year's legislative session.

Another theme voiced in the meetings was the desirability of streamlining the programs offered by the two departments while maintaining the current level of assistance. With that in mind, Secretary Castille and Secretary Glenda Hood of the Department of State plan to spend next year working on the details necessary to merge the two agencies, with the intent of introducing legislation during the 2005 session. A final report on the constituent meetings is due out in December.