 |
|
|
|
Photo-Illustration by Cindy Couling
|
Open space wanted--for the right price
By Jean Newton
Smart growth seems like a smart idea, but what is it, anyway? Launched by the National Association of Realtors and participating state and local Realtor associations, smart growth is a comprehensive program created to help policymakers meet the challenge of growth through local decision-making, research, sharing expertise, problem-solving and building community consensus.
Smart growth means different things to different people. In the Bay Area, it generally means higher density in the urban core, said Steve Blanton, member of the Los Gatos Town Council.
"One of the issues with smart growth is that no one really understands what it means. The overall idea is to intensify uses of areas already built on, rather than to use virgin land that is not yet built out," said Blanton. "One of the focuses in our region is to strive for shorter commute times, in an effort to get fewer cars on the road, so you will see smart growth in Silicon Valley focusing on transit corridors near freeways, bus lines and light rail," said Blanton.
Although there is some confusion about the subject of smart growth, the National Association of Realtors recently conducted a national survey that casts some light on the issue from a voter perspective. The survey found that voters' support for preserving open space in their communities depends upon the costs taxpayers would bear for local governments to acquire land and the uses to which the land would be put.
Voters are more likely to support creating new open space when it will be used for neighborhood parks, playgrounds, playing fields and walking trails, rather than golf courses. Though three out of four voters would like their local governments to buy land to create new open space in their communities; most oppose increasing their property taxes by more than $50 a year to pay for the cost of acquiring land.
In areas under pressure by development, the survey found that more than 80 percent of voters support preserving farmland, natural areas, stream corridors, true wilderness areas and historic sites, but only 58 percent support preserving fallow fields no longer used for farming.
To meet their communities' needs for open space, voters oppose government directives, such as restrictions on suburban expansion or zoning laws that permit houses to be built only on large lots, while they support allowing cluster development--homes built on smaller lots that allow for the preservation of significant open space in new developments. By even greater margins, they prefer that nonprofit groups and local governments purchase land for open space. Only 50 percent of voters, however, are willing to pay an additional $50 a year in property taxes to cover the cost of acquiring open space. Only 31 percent would pay $100 more annually in taxes.
Despite widespread concern for the loss of open space in their communities, three times as many voters support growth than oppose it. About two out of three voters said they worry about loss of open space to commercial or residential development, according to the third in a series of surveys conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for "On Common Ground: Realtors and Smart Growth," in the smart growth initiative.
As they have in past National Association of Realtors surveys, voters continue to oppose state and federal government involvement in growth-related issues. Seventy-nine percent said town, city or county governments should have the power to make land-use decisions. By a margin of 57 to 42 percent, voters oppose state governments getting more involved in managing growth. Fifty-eight percent oppose federal involvement in managing growth-related problems, even to provide resources to help local governments. The only growth-related federal role that voters support is providing funding to repair or build public schools.
"Voters are telling us that they believe growth can accommodate wise stewardship of the land. These are not mutually exclusive goals. We hope that these findings, from perhaps the most extensive survey ever conducted on the question of open space, will help local communities successfully meet demands for both growth and open space," said National Association of Realtors Treasurer Pat Kaplan.
The survey also found that:
* Most voters are dissatisfied with the way their local governments are handling traffic congestion and public transportation. Fifty-eight percent rank their local government "fair" or "poor" for easing traffic congestion on local roads and highways. Fifty-one percent say their governments are doing a "fair" or "poor" job providing practical and convenient public transportation.
* Fifty-seven percent of voters said that if they were in the market to buy a new home, being close to parks and open space would make it more likely they would select one neighborhood over another.
* Fifty percent of voters would be willing to pay 10 percent more for a house located near a park or other protected open space, but only 42 percent said they would be willing to pay as much as $10,000 more.
* A small majority of voters, 53 percent, said growth should be managed more because problems associated with growth need to be addressed, while 42 percent said growth should be managed less because there already are too many regulations governing how people can use their land.
For Realtor Ceci Ellis of Taylor Properties in Palo Alto, the issue of growth is a serious one that affects the quality of life, to the point that people are selling their homes because the area has become too crowded.
"How can all this growth be good for the Bay Area? Obviously some growth is good, but when we don't have the resources to handle the current population, I think it spells disaster and a decline in the quality of life. We still need open space, whether it is in the form of parks, hiking trails, golf courses, or ball fields," said Ellis.
Ellis believes city officials should think beyond the immediate tax revenues when they approve development projects. "We need open spaces, uncluttered water fronts and hillsides. The more hectic our lifestyles become, the greater our need for open space. We need to make our voices heard in city government to control growth, while we still have some open spaces to spare."
|
|
|
|
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
