Bill would bolster land use planning initiatives

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May 2001

Bill would bolster land-use planning initiatives
What's in the budget for the nations' poor?

Bill would bolster land-use planning initiatives
Smart growth proponents have lent their support to a House of Representatives bill that would give $50 million to states, regional programs, and tribal governments for revising land use planning.

Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) introduced the Community Character Act on April 4. The legislation would provide states up to $1 million and tribes up to $200,000 for projects to prevent and reverse the problems of urban sprawl and downtown stagnation. Blumenauer introduced a similar bill late last session, but the House took no action on it.

"We see this bill as in step with the political tenor of the times," says Jason Jordan, government affairs coordinator for the American Planning Association (APA), a Washington D.C.-based interest and research group for community planning.

The bill would not force states or local governments to adopt smart growth principles, but it would provide an incentive, Jordan says. To qualify for federal planning funding, state and local governments would have to allow public participation in planning discussions, work toward connecting transportation and land use, and tie their budgets to the land use strategies they develop, Jordan explains.

"There are a growing number of states already taking action to facilitate smart growth, and their efforts would be supported by the CCA, while other states just initiating reforms could receive the needed assistance to get the planning going," Jordan says. But he adds, "It doesn't force states to go in that direction."

Jordan says the APA is "cautiously optimistic" about the eventual success of the bill, especially because the National Association of Realtors chose to endorse it. The National Association of Homebuilders has not announced a position on the legislation.

The bill is currently before the House committees on financial services and resources. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) is expected to introduce a Senate version.—Anne Graber

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