by Oscar Balaguer, CAP Team Chair
Supervisors are aggressively approving sprawl – large-scale, unnecessary projects outside adopted growth boundaries, which are expensive to serve with public services, destroy open space and habitat, and increase traffic – our biggest source of greenhouse gases (GHG). In doing this, they defy General Plan and State guidance – all without explanation.
Sprawl is not needed because the County has already approved construction of far more home of all types than there is market demand for (see map text box) The already-approved projects have over a century’s-worth of remaining growth capacity within the County’s growth boundaries.
The County falsely claims the sprawl will not increase traffic and GHG emissions, because it will include retail development and be large enough to support transit and generate onsite jobs.
But the planned projects enormously exceed market demand so they will not build-out to their claimed size, density, and commercial capacity for almost 200 years. But they will begin to build-out as market demand develops, resulting in multiple, scattered, incomplete developments, generating traffic and high-GHG emissions for generations.
How does this happen? Although few County residents want more sprawl, most don’t follow their Supervisor’s land use votes. Without oversight, Supervisors become allied with speculators who acquire cheap, “undevelopable”, open-space land outside the growth boundary. They speculate that Supervisors will change the growth boundary to include their land, greatly increasing its value – and they’ve never been disappointed.
Instead of approving speculative sprawl, Supervisors should follow County General Plan and State guidance, accepting growth in already-approved projects and mixed-use “infill” within the growth boundary, near existing jobs and transit in areas that the County has already identified. New development should maximize affordable housing, which is by far most needed.
What you can do. Join us. Supervisors like their jobs, so they listen to constituents. 350 will inform voters of the issues around upcoming land-use decisions. We’ll make it easy for you to let your Supervisor know that you don’t want more climate-busting sprawl – and we’ll let you know how they voted. We need to change Supervisor’s minds about how to grow – or to change Supervisors.
Contact CAPTeam@350sacramento.org for more information.
