Back

Wise Land Use: It's Not So Tough
Published Saturday, January 9, 1999

Land use is Nevada County’s chief obsession. Ask people and it will probably be first on their list of concerns.
 
Many of us came from less pleasant places, and we’d hate to see this neck of the woods turn into that neck of the woods. We have memories of leaving our too-dense housing development to drive through traffic congestion past plastic strip malls to some pollution-belching factory. Who wouldn’t want to leave that?
 
Effective land use (what is built and where it’s built) has a lot to do with your quality of life. Your house, your office, your school, your stores, and the roads you take to get to them largely define the mechanics of your life.
 
Our second obsession is economic development. Living in paradise is more fun if we have jobs. This conflicts with our first obsession, as we supposedly can’t invite economic growth to the party without urban blight coming along.
 
That’s silly. Although the expression “managed, well-planned growth” has become a cliché, it doesn’t have to be. We can have wise land use, economic development, and some good infrastructure to boot. This isn’t just liberal idealism, folks. All it takes is skill and work. While I recognize that Nevada County hasn’t exactly been the poster child for effective planning and development, I think we can turn that around.
 
How? Here’s some advice to those who are active in developing land use policy for the county.
 
Voters, elect Conklin and Martin to the Board of Supervisors. OK, you did that. The change in the Board’s makeup is a chance to implement a new vision for the county. Some might label the new Board “liberal.” Do me a favor and call it “progressive” for a few months.
 
Supervisors, put good people into government. Bruce Conklin’s appointment of Sharon Boivin as planning commissioner is an outstanding example. She is smart, committed and fair. The Union was off base on December 30, with the headline “RQC ally joins county planning board,” because it suggested that appointees march to the beat of a single group. Sharon will do a great job. Her fairness may be tested, however, as homebuilder Todd Juvinall develops a housing project across from her property.
 
Supervisors, clean out old zoning mistakes. On January 5, The Union reported that developer Franklin Daenzer was denied an appeal over housing density, although the development was approved in 1992. The General Plan changed things. Supes, can we avoid this blindsiding in the future?
 
Supervisors, make clear regulations and enforce them uniformly. When you give residential and commercial developers a consistent, clear set of rules, they will (with grumbling) thank you for them.
 
Supervisors, use regulations and fees. We Americans love freedom, but we have to live together. Land use regulations, zoning and building regulations are inherently coercive, and that’s the idea. Use zoning and fees to produce the kind of development mix the county needs.
 
Supervisors, get a vision. The dominant theme in land use decisions has been preventing something from happening. The people want to see and hear what is going to happen and how it’s going to happen. If you don’t demonstrate vision, the front page of The Union will always report something you voted against, and that won’t be very compelling government. Having a vision includes building bridges between different interests.
 
Rural Quality Coalition, get some good press. While you may have some influence in public affairs, it doesn’t serve you if you are painted as being too extreme or strident. The newspaper reported on December 23 (in reference to Hell’s Half Acre) that that your representatives “huddled in a conference room behind the board chambers to hammer the details of a compromise. Cassano is hoping his client and the RQC can reach a settlement.” Sounds like they were negotiating with Saddam Hussein.
 
People, develop a land use forum. These issues will always be with us. Someone should host a weekly show on FCAT, “The Land Use Hour.” It wouldn’t lack for guests, though I’m not sure I’d ever see the RQC and developers dialogue meaningfully for an hour. Still, hope springs eternal.
 
All of us concerned with land use want good things to happen. We often want very different things. Let’s see how much we can work together.
 
Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.

Back