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02/25/1988 - City Council Special
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING THURSDAY FEBRUARY 25, 1988 7 :00 P.M. I. ROLL CALL & ADOPT AGENDA II. SURVEY SUMMARY PRESENTATION FROM DECISION RESOURCES III. REVIEW & DISCUSS QUALITY INDICATORS FOR ENHANCING DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS IV. OTHER BUSINESS V. ADJOURNMENT MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY COUNCILMEMBERS FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES DATE: FEBRUARY 22, 1988 SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FOR 2 -25 -88 DECISION RESOURCES Decision Resources was retained by the City of Eagan during the late fall of 1987 to perform a community survey that primarily addressed attitutes toward a community center. There were approxi- mately 400 households sampled and each person responding to a telephone call was asked approximately 115 questions with the interview lasting approximately 20 minutes. The first item on our agenda at the workshop session is a joint meeting between the City Council and the Advisory Parks and Recreation Commission to review the results of that survey. A representative of Decision Resources will be there to present the results with time allotted for questions and answers. OUALITY INDICATORS During the past several months there have been many comments expressed by residents about quality of development. Last fall there was resident feedback suggesting that our growth be slowed while examining measures to insure quality projects as the city continues to develop. During the Council interviews for commission and committee appointments, the most common comment expressed by residents was again a slowing of the growth and some assurance that quality indicators will guarantee a strong community image of quality growth in years to come. This office has coordinated two (2) exercises in response to the City Council's direction to look at quality indicators and respond to revised development standards. The first was review of the City staff's internal application and review process which has been redesigned to provide: more thorough review and analysis by all City departments. The second is an effort to suggest certain changes in current development policies (specifically the zoning and subdivision ordinances) that will provide a new criteria that promote developers and builders that traditionally develop and construct higher quality projects. In addition to myself, members of the management team will present a series of findings that suggest methods in which the City can enhance quality development at the meeting on Thursday. Cities in Minnesota and nation -wide are meeting and performing strategic planning sessions to determine what type of community they desire in the 1990's and well into the 21st Century. Enclosed for your review and reading material are some articles that have appeared in professional journals that share various forms of quality standards that might be of interest as we all prepare for Thursday evening's meeting. It is anticipated that 45 minutes to an hour be allowed for Decision Resources with the remainder of the meeting planned for discussion regarding new development standards. Hopefully the discussion on development standards will lead to a staff direction by the City Council to prepare ordinance amendments or policy changes to allow the City to meet its objective to further enhance quality development. There are no items for Other Business to be considered at this time. At the suggestion of the City Council, the meeting is scheduled to end at approximately 9:30, and certainly no later than 10:00 p.m. City Administrate SUMMARY OTHER BUSINESS 24 A forest of new construction grows in front of hillside town houses and condominiums in San Diego California leads a grass -roots movement to slow development ohn Morris will never forget the day four years ago when two bulldozers arrived in his tranquil West Los An- geles neighborhood. The 38- year -old accountant was already harboring doubts about life in the city. It takes him an hour to drive a mere 15 miles to work on the packed freeways, and he no longer wears contact lenses because the smog stings his eyes. Fear of toxic chemicals keeps him from setting foot in nearby San- ta Monica Bay, But when the corner gas station was leveled and replaced by an ugly mini - mall, Morris revolted. "My life has be- come an endurance test," he moans. He is now a zealous activist in the biggest grass- roots political movement to hit California since the property tax revolt a decade ago. A new battle cry —Slow Growth — is erupting from once placid neighbor- hoods plagued with congested streets and schools. Fed up with sprawling condos, office towers and mini- shopping cen- ters plunked down among single- family houses, residents are demanding limits on unbridled real estate development. The state may never be the same. Last June voters in Los Angeles ousted City Council President Pat Rus- sell, a staunch ally of Mayor Tom Bradley and developers, replacing her with an un- known who promised to slam the brakes on overbuilding. Bradley has now modi- fied his pro - growth policies to protect his chances for re- election in 1989. In San Francisco, where densely packed office towers have overshadowed 'the city's natural skyline, voters in No- vember rejected a proposal to build a base- ball stadium downtown. In last month's mayoral runoff election, they spoke even more forcefully by overwhelmingly reject- ing Establishment Candidate John Molin- ari in favor of onetime Neighborhood Activist Art Agnos. Meanwhile, San Fran- cisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, along with dozens of other California cities, have passed the most severe growth restrictions in the state's history, While the most dramatic slow - growth rebellions have occurred in California, similar if less intense movements are emerging across the country, Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin last week called on the legislature to enact a state- wide growth - management plan to provide Vermont with "greater control over our destiny." In New Jersey a statewide commission has been appointed to draft a similar plan by 1989. Last fall three pro- growth members of the board of supervi- sors of Fairfax County, Va., a Washington suburb, were ousted by proponents of slow growth . A backlash against development was probably inevitable, particularly in rapid- ly developing Western states, where many residents consider densely packed urban centers uninhabitable. Says Gerald Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, Calif.: "We were in favor of progress until we found out what it looks like." This ur- ban claustrophobia is largely a bipartisan phenomenon. In conservative Orange County, Calif., Republicans have joined with liberal Democrats on a ballot initia- tive to require developers to pay for the impact their projects have on city streets and services. Says Thomas Rogers, a co- sponsor of the measure and a self - described right - winger: "I've got a right to peaceful enjoyment of my property." That "right" has been jeopardized by California's surging population. Greater Los Angeles, with 8 million residents, is expected to surpass the New York City area as the nation's most populous me- tropolis in the 1990s. Neighboring Orange County is projected to swell 39% i the TIME, JANUARY 25, 198 next 20 years, to 3 million people, while average rush -hour freeway speeds plunge from 36 m.p.h. to an unbearable 10 m.p.h. In once sleepy San Diego County the pop- ulation has more than doubled since 1960, to 2.2 million. Says Maureen O'Connor, the Democratic mayor of conservative San Diego and an advocate of growth con- trol: "Development is a negative word in this community." Frustrated by unsympathetic city gov- ernments, residents are gathering signa- tures and forcing initiatives onto local ballots, overwhelming the resistance of politicians and the developers who fi- nance their campaigns. Of 17 slow - growth measures on California ballots last November, 15 passed. "There is a rage out there," admits Sanford Goodkin, a real es- tate consultant in San Diego. "Developers are scared to death." In Los Angeles slow- growthers gath- ered enough signatures to force Proposi- tion U onto the ballot in 1986. Approved by two- thirds of the voters, the measure halves the size of new buildings on much of the city's commercially zoned property. In San Francisco voters approved an ini- tiative that reduced the annual limit on new office space by half. In San Diego, where the once inviting hillsides are being covered by endless rows of identi- cal- looking houses, municipal services are swamped by surging demand. Last Au- gust the city council set a temporary limit on new housing at 8,000 units a year. In part, California's slow - growth movement is a product of the state's most celebrated previous initiative. Proposition 13, which passed in 1978, severely re- stricts property taxes. Unable to stick lo- cal taxpayers with the rising cost of ser- vices, cities have been forced to cut back on improvements, despite tremendous growth. Now, as the strain on roads, schools and water supplies becomes un- bearable, local governments are forcing developers to pick up the tab with heavy "impact fees." In San Francisco commer- cial developers must put aside money for low - income housing, parks, transporta- tion, child care and even public art. lthough a forced slowdown of new building reduces the demand for costly expansion of city services, it inflates the. cost of construction, real estate and rents. Says Karla Rainer, 31, a renter in San Diego: "These growth controls will probably kill my dream of owning a home. They've just turned this whole town into a seller's market." Many neighborhoods see no alterna- tive, particularly bedroom communities that once provided a tranquil escape from urban congestion but now resemble mini- cities themselves. In the past decade, sub- urbs have been swamped by an influx of jobs and development: about 60% of all office -space construction now takes place in the suburbs. Tired of fleeing growth, many residents are deciding to fight. To critics, this amounts to little more than a thinly veiled effort by affluent and largely white neighborhoods to exclude strangers while boosting the value of their homes. Observes San Diego's Sanford Goodkin: "A stranger is defined as anyone who bought a house the day after I did." He and others claim that the effect of growth controls will be most severe on the poor, cutting jobs and investment in their neighborhoods. But developers have never been eager to build in poorer areas, and many of those neighborhoods are equally concerned about congestion. In Los Ange- les, Proposition U passed by large margins in all 15 council districts, including Watts and other low- income communities, For now, developers are on the defen- sive, turning to the courts for relief and hop- ing that rising unemployment and real es- tate prices will eventually bring voters to their way of thinking. They could be in for a long wait, Says Kenneth Bley, a real estate lawyer in Los Angeles: "There are simply more voters than developers." Only now are enough of those angry voters making their numbers felt. —By Jon D. Hull /Los Angeles Florida's Growing Pains aft halves and Dianne Jones moved to Jacksonville last Sep Igo tember to escape Houston's depressed economy and stretch their dollar a little further in a state known for its low taxes. What they found along with the Florida sunshine were inadequate schools, clogged roads and poor social services. "We have a 16- year -old daughter who comes home from school with a different problem every day," says Mrs. Jones. "She can't get this; the school doesn't provide that. You get three cars on the road, and you have a traffic jam." Signs of decay are everywhere in Florida. The state's wa- terways are polluted, and its public health system is woeful. The prisons teem with criminals who are often released before their original sen- tences expire to make room for others. More than 300,000 newcomers arrive an- nually, straining a system already near the breakpoint. The state department of edu- cation estimates that it must absorb 800,000 new students and build 933 new schools during the next decade just to keep pace with growth. Rookie Republican Governor Bob Martinez hoped to finance the future with a 5% tax on the services industry, Florida's largest and fastest - growing sector of the economy. The tax, which became law last July, affected services from pet grooming to lawyers' fees. It was expected to produce $800 million in the first year and provide a solution to the state's need for money. But in September, Martinez called for a repeal of the tax amid a blizzard of criti- cism from advertisers, real estate agents and citizen groups who complained about TIME, JANUARY 25, 1988 Clogged roads in Palm Beach County inequities and red tape. Last month the legislature replaced the services tax with a penny increase in the state sales tax. Critics contend that the new 6% duty will raise no more than half of the estimated $52.9 billion that Florida will require for roads, schools, prisons and hospitals in ten years. The search for new money won't be easy. The state constitution bans a personal income tax, and other reve- nue raisers are equally unpalatable, "The people of Flori- da have not yet grasped the enormity of our financial problems," says Sam Bell, chairman of the Florida house appropriations committee. "We're not even talking about improvements here. We're just trying to keep from going under." At first, says Joe Serio, former Florida director of the American Association of Retired Persons, o retirees often oppose fiscal measures need- ed to deal with Florida's problems. "But," he adds, "after a while they notice the long lines of autos wherever they go and the dif- ference in the quality of the libraries from where they came from," Many Floridians seem willing to pay for better services, but they share a widespread suspicion that the government is not suffi- ciently frugal. In a recent study by Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit taxpayers group based in Tallahassee, the average respon- dent believed the government wastes a third . of every dollar it spends. Says Reed Gidez, 28, who moved to Tampa from New Jersey a year ago: "I would be willing to pay more taxes if state leaders could convince me that they were actually going to do some- , thing with the money," For the leaders of the fourth largest state in the nation, that will remain a challenge for years to come. —By Crlstlna Garcia /Tallahassee 25 yY Y 1 t• :/ 11 `Gtii�S� Will We Live in Accidental Cities or Successful Communities? A BiMvIONT-ILY RLPORI • ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THIS ISSUE: A wave of poorly managed growth is transforming America's suburbs and small towns, changing some suburbs into "ac- cidental cities" and small towns into suburbs. This transformation is bringing to these com- munities many of the drawbacks of big cities, such as traffic congestion, will! _few of the posi- tive qualities that can make cities exciting and enjoyable places. 'While citizens, officials, and planners ponder what to do, some of the ingre- dients critical to making a community more livable —open space, rivers and other natural features, scenic and productive agricultural lands, historic buildings —are deteriorating or disappearing rapidly. How can localities effectively manage growth and protect their special places? A review of sev- eral communities contains some answers. This issue examines those answers and takes a look at the Successful Communities Program, a new initiative of The Conservation Foundation that offers help to changing suburbs and small towns. This issue of the Letter was written by Todd K. Buchta, a member of the Communications staff of The Conservation Foundation. It is based in part on research conducted for the Foundation by Christopher J. I)uerksen, a former senior associate now with the Enterprise Foundation. Ihr \.111)111 nund;uiun 1US7 1987 No. 6 Fairfax County, Virginia, would seem to be doing quite well. More than half of its residents have household incomes greater than $50,000 a year, hold white - collar jobs, and are college graduates. Business is booming— within the coun- ty, the commercial crossroads of Tysons Corner has re- portedly become the ninth largest central business district in the United States.' Yet on November 3, 1987, in a Fairfax County elec- tion widely viewed as a referendum on local development, voters swept out of office a 12 -year incumbent regarded as the architect of the county's rapid growth and resulting snarled traffic. Despite all the signs of success, many in Fair- fax are obviously dissatisfied with its predicament and searching for alternatives. Fairfax County, just west of Washington, D.C., is only one of the many areas in the United States reeling from the consequences of rapid growth. From Maine to Florida and California, close -in suburbs are becoming accidental cities, with many of the negative and few of the positive charac- teristics of traditional downtowns. Fairfax's recently rural Tysons Corner has 70,000 jobs, but, in the words - of one consultant, "community life and institutions are almost en- tirely lacking in a way we normally understand downtowns as functioning. It's not a service center for the community. There's no historic identity, no schools, hospitals, govern- ment centers, libraries. "' Like a skipping stone that sends ripples across a pond, the transformation of suburbs like Tysons Corner has sent out waves of growth across the landscape. Rural areas are feeling the pressure, as new subdivisions in small towns fill with commuters, linking these towns more tightly to urban centers and ways of life. Fifty miles north of New York City in the rustic community of Somers, new Pepsico and IBM office complexes are bringing in 4,000 more people. The area's rural character, prized by the town's 15,000 current residents, is endangered.' In California's Contra Costa County, the unincorporated farm community of Oakley.is concerned about becoming a bedroom community for San Francisco and is struggling to plan its future before it is too late. As once pastoral towns such as these experience the reality of urban expansion, special strategies will be needed to protect their distinctive character. Of the many consequences of mindless growth, con- gestion seems to be attracting the most widespread atten- tion. On Long Island and outside San Diego and Philadel- phia, roads are increasingly crowded, while "rush hour" periods and commutes are steadily lengthening. National- ly, the number of cars is growing twice as fast as the number of peo- ple. Motorists are traveling twice as many miles per person as they did in 1960. In 1975, two in five urban in- terstates were congested at rush hour. Ten years later, it was three in five.' ' .Jnderstanding the spread of the accidental city requires a look at changes in the nature of suburban areas. Metropolitan areas of the United States have been growing since the end of World War II. In 1950, 5.9 /o of U.S. land was desig- nated as "metropolitan "; by 1980, metropolitan areas made up 16 of U.S. land." By 1984, 76a /o of Ameri- cans lived in metropolitan areas, and 45 of them lived in suburbs.' Once almost solely residential, many suburbs now have "more jobs than bedrooms ": two - thirds of all jobs created between 1960 and 1980 were in suburbs, a shift that has brought a corresponding change in commuting patterns. The number of people who commute to a suburb has grown twice as fast as the number commuting to a central city. Now, nearly half of all commuters travel to a suburb to work. The long- accepted vision of urban regions, which assumed that most workers would have jobs downtown, is increasingly becoming obsolete. Signs of unhappiness with the con- sequences of rapid growth are every- where. Aside from elections such as that in Fairfax County, land -use regulations often provide the most convenient lever that citizens can pull to exert control over local quality of life, and they are pulling it. In 1986, Californians in various communities voted on 47 growth and development issues; in over 70 /o of these cases, voters favored growth management and stricter controls on development.' Citizens are also speaking with their wallets. In November 1987, voters approved bond issues in Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island representing $300 million of funding to help preserve open space, recreation lands, agri- cultural lands, historic sites, and decaying urban areas. Rhode Island's bond issue providing $65.2 million for open space preservation and park rehabilitation passed with an over- whelming 77/0 of the vote. Concern about urban growth and the resulting quality of life is not new; growth issues in the early 1970s received significant public attention, and the homogenization of the American landscape brought about by unsightly commercial strip devel- opment was decried then as now.' What is new is the crescendo of na- tional attention to growth, thanks in large part to the visibility of equally widespread traffic congestion. Yet citizens, planners, officials, and developers have no clear vision against which to measure the success of growth management efforts. Victoria Tschienkel, former secretary of Florida's Department of Environ- mental Regulation, states: I think that we can probably take care of pollution - related problems in the state but it's going to be tough.... [Elven if we do that I'ni not sure that this is going to be a very nice place to live, because of the densities of the popula- tion and lack of sense of community. Florida could end up as just one con- venience store after another. If we can't come up with an image of what this state should be we can protect the en- vironment, but will we still be glad to live here ? n important report on the American landscape makes specific recommendations to respond to the concerns expressed by Tschienkel and others. The 1987 report on Ameri- cans. Outdoors, prepared by the-- - President's Commission on Ameri- cans Outdoors, speaks to the need for protecting "special places" as an essential component of quality of life and an important means of address- ing the growing homogenization of place." The commission urges state and local governments to help shape urban growth, recommending that "communities target parts of their local heritage, including open space and natural, cultural, scenic, and wild- life resources, and build prairie fires of action to encourage that growth occur in appropriate areas and away from sensitive resources." "We each have the choice whether we want our communities as they grow to become a jumble of unsightly devel- opment and noisy concrete deserts, or whether we will preserve fresh, green pockets and corridors of living open - space that cleanse our air and waters( and refresh our populations," the report states. "Many experts have told us that the next five to fifteen years will be a critical time for preser- vation decisions in America. "" To some, the commission's call may seem unrealistic: can communi- ties today really afford to protect historic buildings, open space, and other amenities? Given the economic outlook, however, there is mounting evidence that communities cannot af- ford not to. Research is showing that a commu- nity's livability and quality of life is an important factor in retaining ex- isting businesses and attracting new ones, particularly in the most dy- namic sectors of the economy, such as health care, electronics, and ser- vices. Factors vary widely from in- dustry to industry, but a 1981 report revealed that the third most impor- tant location factor (after labor climate and proximity to markets) was an area's attractiveness to man- agers and engineers." For 35 of the firms surveyed, a community's liv- ability— including such factors as a good educational system and recrea- tion and cultural facilities —was a must factor. It was most important to firms employing high percentages of white- collar workers. Other studies confirm the impor- tance of quality of life in business siting decisions. The conclusions of ( w'illiam I' Reilly, President Published bimonthly by The Conservation Foundation, 125024th Street, IPA', Washington, UC20037. (0 Copy right 1987 by "the Conservation Foundation. ISSN: 0091-536X The CF Letter 0 abstraetcd or indexed by t'AIS Bulletin, SAGE Journals, and Environmental Studies Institute, Santa Barbara, among others. Extra copies of single issue: Up to 14 copies, $1.50 each, 15 -24 copies, $1,00 each, 25 -49 copies, 754 each. 50 -99 copies, 604 each. 100 and over, 504 each. Postage in- cluded at lowest surface rates. Add 504 per order if bill- ing is required. Claims for missing issues will be fulfilled only within six months or issue date. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Conserva- tion Foundation Letter, 1250 24111 Street, NW, Wdsl- ingtun, 00 2220037. Suburban areas such as this San Francisco Bay community are in danger of losing the special assets which lend them distinction and character. an Austin, Texas, quality -of -life study very likely apply to other com- munities: "Not only does a favorable quality of life help hold down the wages required to remain competi- tive, but it is especially important for recruiting and retaining the highly skilled workers required by Austin's growing high -tech economy'.... Those workers have many options for employment in other locations, some of which have a quality of life rated even higher than Austin's." Quality of life likely will be even more important to business in the future. The Bureau of Labor Statis- tics projects that the fastest- growing occupations to the year 2000 will be in high -skill fields such as engi- neering, computer programming, nursing, law, and accounting. The people in these professions are the same ones whom the Austin study identified as placing more importance on quality of life in choosing a place to live. T he challenge of growth must be met locally. Zoning and other forms of land -use authority in the United States rest with local government, and local officials and citizens clearly have the most intimate understanding of their situations when it comes to crafting appropriate solutions to prob- lems. Yet few of the localities in the path of growth may be able to antici- pate its consequences in time to re- spond effectively. Moreover, recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have created uncertainty about local power to address these issues.' S In response to these needs, The Conservation Foundation has begun a concerted effort to make national land -use and conservation expertise available at the local level. The cen- tral goal of its new Successful Com- munities Program (see box on page 4) is to help changing suburbs and small towns respond to growth by identify- ing and protecting the natural and cultural resources that give a com- munity its distinctiveness and add to its quality of life. The prospect for successfully re- sponding to growth is not as grim as it may first appear. While citizens may despair that increasing traffic congestion and homogenization inevi- tably will degrade their community, there are signs that communities can and will take significant steps to im- prove the quality of life in their neigh- borhoods and local environments. For example, since a landmark 1978 Supreme Court decision affirm- ing local authority to protect historic structures, the number of local pre- servation ordinances that control demolition and alteration in historic and architecturally significant neigh- borhoods has risen from 1,000 to 1,500.'° Residents in towns such as Westmont, Pennsylvania; Kenne- bunkport, Maine; and Grosse Pointe, Michigan have gone to great lengths 'IDE SUCCESSFUL COIMMUNITIES PROGRAM: Helping to For decades, The Conservation Foundation tuts provided national and state Leadership in land -use management and preservation, ap- plying its extensive experience in fashioning innovative approaches to the conservation of laud and other natural and historic resources. Now, 111 response to the continu- ing degradation of the American landscape, the Foundation has in- itiated the Successful Communi- ties Program. The Successful Communities Program will foster the adoption of community strategies to identify and protect distinctive resources — including grcenway5, scenic byways, free - flowing rivers, wetlands, shore- lines, historic structures, and other resources of special concern. These strategies will go beyond preserva- tion, seeking also 10 assure that future growth respects the benefits that protected resources can pro- vide. Successful Communities will help communities to build and create in sensitive ways, as well as to preserve and protect. The pro- gram includes three components: • Assistance to leadership com- munities. As the core of its work, Successful Communities will assist carefully selected "leadership communities" to develop and adopt wise conservation strategies. It will serve these communities by helping concerned citizens to create the local awareness and tools that make conservation hap- pen. To this effort, Successful Communities will bring The Con- servation Foundation's acknowl- edged expertise in consensus building and its lung experience in planning and preservation. The involvement of Successful Communities w ill be carefully tailored to local needs. In some communities, officials and other citizens may 1V ant only brief con- sultation about successful conser- vation strategies. Others may seek immediate assistance from the program's "field team." Still others mny wart long -terns assis- tance in creating community_ awareness and fashioning and im- plementing conservation strate- gies. Small, catalytic grants will be available to spur innovation in a few selected areas. • The ,S'uccessful Communities Trust. Besides providing technical assistance, Successful Communi- ties will help some communities through an independent, not -for- profit land trust, the Successful Communities Trust. The tax - exempt land trust is.a tool of enor- mous potential that may be used by participating communities in support of their land conservation objectives, including the protec- tion of naturally and historically significant "special places:" The Successful Communities Trust will be active only to the extent that ex- isting trusts cannot intervene. It will complement the work, for ex- ample, of the American Farmland Trust, which is concerned with the protection of agricultural land, and the Nature Conservancy, which specializes in the preserva- tion of natural diversity. By hav- ing access to an affiliated laud trust, the Successful Communities Program will be able to assist directly with the implementation of land conservation and develop- ment plans and to participate in the real estate marketplace as a representative of the public interest. • Research and Police Develop- ment. In its research, Successful Communities will pay particular attention to policy issues, as they unfold in Washington and state capitals, that affect the ability of communities to successfully manage growth. 'Working cooperatively with other organizations, Success- ful Communities will serve as 0 principal follow -up effort to the work of the President's Com- mission. Developing policies based On sound analysis will help ensure Save Special Places that the desires of comnuluities to retain their distinctiveness are reflected in federal and state policies. Research at the Mate and national level will identify the trends and techniques that reflect changing needs and values. Research at the federal, state, and local levels will also enable Successful Communities to serve America's changing 10V'115 w'itl► technical assistance. Its services will include a Guidebook to Suc- cessful Communities, a how -to manual on what Makes some areas more livable than others, and a Successful Connnitnities'Nelrslet- ter to keep coln►ntl111ties informed of opportunities and innovations. Successful Communities will be directed by Douglas 1'. 'Wheeler, an attorney and conservationist with long experience in govern- ment and the not- for - profit sector, now a Conservation foundation vice - president, and Michael Man- tell, director of the Foundation's Land, Heritage, and Wildlife Program. "Helping local communities kindle the 'prairie fires of local atc- tion' called for by the President's Commission 00 Americans Out- doors to ensure wise development is a demanding task," says Doug \ \'heeler. "It will require patience, perseverance, creativity, and the development of a new consensus to anticipate and respond effec- tively to changes in the special communities where we live and work. Il will require working closely with local partners —the in- dividuals and organizations at- tempting to make their communi- ties livable for the Tong run. Through Successful Communities, The Conservation Foundation will . bring a national perspective and considerable expertise to the resolution of difficult local development issues. No Tess than the livability of our communities and the very character of the American landscape are 01 stake." 4 it o:; tr W w• . a a "•:.r �.uW lY®:xa.il liw v,.r a YI Cornnientary A Landmark Global Treaty at Montreal On September 16, 1987, at the con- clusion of a conference held in Mon- treal, representatives of 24 nations from every continent signed a treaty to limit production and consumption of several chemicals that are believed to cause virtually irreversible damage to the fragile stratospheric ozone layer. Among the signatories were nearly all of the world's major pro- ducers and consumer countries. In addition, other nations among the nearly 50 in attendance indicated that they would probably join in the coal- ing months. The accord provides for a near - term freeze, followed by scheduled reductions, in use of several chloro- fluorocarbon (CFC) and bromine (talon) compounds. Depletion of the ozone layer caused by these synthetic chemicals would result in increased ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface, with potentially sig- nificant adverse implications for human, animal, and plant life. In ad- dition, CFCs have the qualities of a "greenhouse gas," thus contributing to the global warming trend and the resulting dangers for agriculture and rising sea levels. Against these risks were weighed the costs of replacing chemicals useful in refrigeration, air conditioning, plastics, insulation, aerosol sprays, fire fighting, and computers. Several features of the Montreal treaty, and the process by which it was achieved, mark it as a historic ac- complishment with important lessons for future international environmen Cal cooperation. First, it was unprece- dented for the global community to impose controls on an important in- dustrial sector before actual damages to human health and ecology were registered. This was not a response to an environmental disaster, such as Chernobyl or the Rhine River spill. Rather, it was a conscious preventa- tive action, on a global scale, which involved several years of collabora- tive scientific research and analysis, and arduous intergovernmental nego- tiations to reconcile numerous diverse and conflicting interests. Second, the treaty could never have been accomplished without close cooperation between govern- ment policy makers and the inter- national scientific community, work- ing at the frontiers of modern science, Only relatively recent —and still evolv- ing— advances in computer modeling of atmospheric chemistry and satellite measurement of ozone and trace gases could enable governments to undertake costly controls in advance of actual recorded damages. (It is worth noting that the widely publicized "hole" in the ozone layer over the South Pole was not factored into the negotiations because of the lack of evidence that this phenomenon could occur outside of the unique Antarctic climate.) Third, in the face of remaining un- certainty concerning the extent both of future ozone depletion and of potential deleterious effects, the par- ties undertook a unique process of risk assessment. Government officials, scientists, and representatives of in- dustry and environmental groups met as individuals in a series of informal workshops, without predetermined national positions. To a degree that surprised even many participants, this innovative process was able to achieve a cooperative spirit and a degree of consensus even before the actual negotiations began. The treaty negotiations themselves covered only four formal sessions in the 10- month period from December 1986 to Sep- tember 1987. Considering the com- plexity of the issues involved— political, environmental, economic, scientific, technological, trade, geographical —this was an impressive achievement. Fourth, the United Nations En- vironment Program (UNEP) played a critical role in this process. This small UN agency, with an annual budget of less than $40 million, spon- sored the workshops and negotiations and provided an objective international forum without the extraneous political debate that has so often marred the work of other UN bodies. The political sensitivity and diploma- tic skills of tJNEP's executive direc- tor Nlostafa `t'olba, himself a scien- tist, were indispensable during the often hard negotiations. UNEP was the very model of how a UN agency should function. Fifth, the leadership role of the United States, which had as early as 1978 undertaken major controls on CFCs, and which is the center for scientific research on this subject, was a major factor. Especially during the period from fall 1986 through spring 1987, a series of diplomatic initia- tives, bilateral scientific and policy missions, and use of international media all served to reach foreign policy makers and publics — which in some countries were initially hostile or indifferent —with the rationale for the U.S. position. The treaty as eventu- ally signed was, in fact, based on the structure and concept initially ad- vanced by the United States late in 1986. The U.S. private sector and Con- gress made important contributions to the process. U.S. environmental groups helped inform foreign public opinion of the dangers of ozone layer depletion, while American industry was far ahead of European and Jap- anese producers in acknowledging its responsibility and supporting further controls on both CFCs and talons. And the U.S. Congress, through hear- ings, resolutions, and proposed legis- lation, served notice to the rest of the world that, if an acceptable inter- national accord were not attained, it was prepared to legislate unilaterally, with trade restrictions against coun- tries not accepting their share of this global responsibility. While the Montreal treaty is not perfect and will require further tech- nical and legal clarification, it does represent a prudent international in- surance policy in response to a very complex set of issues and uncertain- ties. An important innovation is the firm schedule for reductions in con- sumption and production of the con- trolled chemicals, which provides clear market incentives to industry to develop new technologies and substi- tute products. (In this connection, The Conservation Foundation, to- gether with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada, is cosponsoring a conference and trade fair in January 1988 on substitutes and alternatives to CFCs and batons.) Another significant ele- ment of the treaty is that it is crafted as a dynamic instrument, which can be adapted to changing conditions, such as implications of the still emerging scientific evidence on the Antarctic ozone "hole." In sum, in undertaking collaborative preventa- tive action to protect future genera- tions from potential dangers, the nations represented at Montreal charted new paths in environmental cooperation and established both a precedent and a standard by which future international negotiations will he measured. — Ambassador Richard Elliot Benedick, a career diplomat, is currently a senior fellow at The Conservation Foundation. He is on detail from the U.S. Depart- ment of State, where he was deputy assistant secretary and principal U.S. negotiator for the Montreal treaty. CF PUBLISHES PROCEEDINGS ON RISK COMMUNICATION The Conservation Foundation has published the pro - cecdings of a top -level conference of experts on risk communication —the transmission of information about health and environmental risks, their significance, and the policies aimed at managing them. This process can range from putting warning labels on consumer products to the interaction among government officials, industry represen- tatives, and the public with regard to risks and their management. The book, Risk Communication, was edited by J. • Clarence Davies, Vincent T. Covello, and Frederick W. Allen. The conference was held in January 1986 in Wash- ington, D.C. Among the contributors were Lee M. Thomas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency; William D. Ruckelshaus, former head of the agency; Frank Press, presi- dent of the National Academy of Sciences; and Alan h1cGowan, president of the Scientists' Institute for Public Information. The report examines the responsibility of communicators to understand a risk and communicate it in such a way that the audience can make informed decisions; the ways govern- ment and industry officials can promote credibility and trust; and the role of the. media in reporting accurate and non - sensational information. Also included are case studies illus- trating successes and mistakes. (1987, Paperback, 143 pages. $15.00) REPORT EXAMINES GRANTS FOR STATE PARKLANDS The federal program that has provided money for state and local parks needs to be evaluated and redesigned to meet the nation's changing recreation needs, according to a new Conservation Foundation study, State Grants for Parklands 1965- 1984. Since 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), in addition to funding federal parkland ac- quisition, has provided $3.2 billion to help states and local governments buy and develop parklands for over 30,000 state and local recreational projects. Total funding under L \VCF is $6.8 billion. "The Land and Water Conservation Fund has created a remarkable legacy of parklands," says author Phyllis Myers, a Foundation senior associate. "The question is not whether there should be a partnership, but what form it should take for the next generation." The LWCF is scheduled to dissolve in two years and Congress is now gearing up for a major debate on its future. State Grants for Parklands examines the fund's use by states and local governments and suggests new directions. Among the changed circumstances, Myers notes, are the large number of private groups working to conserve and manage parklands; the increased interest in protecting fragile natural areas and historic and cultural resources; and the complexity of new concepts .for greenways and trails. The study explores possibilities for a new fund, including measures to nurture creative activity by private groups and individuals; small grants to spur grass -roots innovation; and a self-generating, stable source of income with some degree of insulation from the annual congressional appropriations process. (1987. Paperback, 21 pages. $8.50) WESTERN WATER STUDY PUBLISHED The Conservation Foundation .has published a research paper examining the implications of increasing competition for water supplies in the West and the shift to market forces to resolve this competition. Called Options for Protecting Social Values in Western Water Transfers Out of Agricul- ture, it was written by Foundation associate Philip C. Metzger. Metzger points out that the days are over when prospec- tive water users can just take a number and join a Elie to claim water from a stream. Also gone are the days of massive new federal water development projects. "The era of man- agement has arrived," he says. "This management era should logically provide the tools that would permit users to shift water to the places of greatest need or demand; specifically a legal system that enables most transfers of water rights to be made without great ado." The paper ex- plores possible techniques for achieving this goal. (1987. Paperback, 34 pages. $5.00) to protect their majestic elm trees." The, .urban renovation efforts of Austin and Baltimore have reaped much acclaim — Austin has built a popular trail system along the creeks in the limestone hills around the city, and Baltimore has built a festive mar- ketplace using its harbor as a draw- ing card. To emulate the success of such places, communities across the United States are realizing that they must manage growth more effective- ly. But what specifically do com- munities manage for? What does it take to snake a community distinctive and thus successful? Research at The Conservation l oundation has sought to determine what factors have led to successful communities. Christopher J. Duerk- sen, a land -use attorney and former senior associate of the Foundation now with the Enterprise Foundation, investigated a diverse set of com- munities whose efforts to protect and enhance livability have been success- ful. Duerksen's work has identified some factors that appear critical for success:" • Successful communities build their land -use planning around assets that make therm distinctive. Identifying. distinctive assets — historic buildings, rivers, and strik- ing views —and designing planning efforts around them has rallied citizen support and led -to many acclaimed community revitalization projects. The asset chosen by San Antonio, "Texas, was a small river that at one time was to be destroyed. When the San Antonio River flooded clown - town San Antonio in the mid- 1920s, proposals were made to control the river by burying it under concrete. However, a young architect had a vi- sion of the river as a beautiful canal lined by trees, a flagstone walkway, shops, and art galleries. He took that vision t0 the San Antonio Conserva- tion Society, and together they per- suaded local officials and the business community that the San Antonio River could be a great asset to the ; city. It took over 30 years, but today the Riverwalk is a great amenity for downtown and the focal point of the city's tourist and convention trade. Nearly $1 billion in revenue for the Poorly managed growth contributes to the loss of natural features such as these wetlands in California and adds to the degradation of the American landscape. San Antonio economy is now being generated by tourism. • Successful communities build their land -use planning around a vision of what the community could be. Without a vision, a river does not become the site of a Riverwalk. Com- munities have a great opportunity when a crisis is recognized, when a river floods or when traffic is suf- focating a neighborhood. At such tinges, by focusing on a vision with popular appeal, successful communi- ties have converted public anger and frustration into enthusiasm for capitalizing on local assets and re- juvenating the community. Obviously, not every community has a scenic river or breathtaking view of a mountain range. Nearly all, however, ha =ve some asset —often un- noticed —that can serve to make the community distinctive. Near Boston, the Massachusetts town of Lowell used unlikely assets such as old fac- tories to spur a renaissance. In the middle to late 1800s Lowell was the crucible of the Industrial Revolution in the United States and hone to ear- ly experimentation with assembly lines and automation. But in this cen- tury, Lowell declined as industries, particularly textiles, moved to the South. Buildings were abandoned; unemployment skyrocketed in the 1960s and 1970s. While Lowell's prospects seemed grim, the community identified its assets, defined what was unique about them, and created a vision of Lowell proud of its heritage from the Industrial Revolution. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas helped Lowell gain federal designation as a national historic park. With federal planning assistance, the local government re- stricted the demolition of old build- ings and set guidelines for renova- tion. Today, one old building has been turned into a state museum to chronicle the Industrial Revolution. Old factories have been rehabilitated for senior citizen housing. New con - struction abounds, including a large hotel built by the Hilton Hotels Cor- poration to service tourists and the revitalized business community. • Successful commmunities go beyond ecological and economic con- siderations in land -use regulation and pay attention to aesthetic concerns. For decades, planners have sought to fashion successful communities through economic development and environmental planning measures. Local governments have provided iIn- centives to attract businesses and establish job training centers in high unemployment areas. Through zon- ing techniques and engineering solu- tions, local authorities have tried to ensure that sewage facilities are ade- quate and that flew construction does not occur in flood plains. But successful communities have realized that this is not enough. In 5 'response to public demand, success- , Put communities are not only con- tinuing their traditional efforts, they are paying greater attention to build- ing design, tree protection, historic preservation, landscaping, and signs. In Sanibel island, Florida, em- phasis is being placed on protecting vegetation to help maintain the original appearance of the barrier island on which the city is built. The city's planning advisory committee reviews each sire plan and advises developers on how to avoid destroy- ing natural vegetation. If indigenous species and natural vegetation are destroyed in the development pro- cess, they must be replaced or com- pensated for elsewhere on the site. The Sanibel - Captive Conservation Foundation runs a native plant nursery, which can supply plants to developers and homeowners for land- scaping or revegetating sites damaged during construction. In Lubbock, a town on the west Texas plains, a key component of the quality -of -life improvement effort was to remove the billboards and signs that were starting to overwhelm the town's wide streets. Now, less ob- trusive signs allow travelers to notice the town's attractive Spanish -style ar- chitecture. • Successful communities go beyond regulations to secure quality development. In some cases, regulations are too blunt a tool \with which to fashion a livable community. While regulations are essential in establishing a min- imum code of conduct, they do a bet- ter job of preventing the worst than of creating the best development and are least effective where economies are stagnant. To supplement regula- tions, other tools can be used, includ- ing private land trusts that acquire critical parcels of land and public - private partnerships that rely on a mix of public and private funding and initiative. Not - for - profit land trusts can make an especially important con- tribution to promoting successful communities by acquiring land or development rights to protect places vulnerable to the effects of growth or change. In an innovative approach, Philadelphia's Natural Lands Trust has acquired through donation Meadow Farms, a large farm in an area subject to intense growth pres- sures. While seeking to protect the farm's most sensitive land from devel- opment, the Natural - Lands Trust has made several other parcels available for sale. These portions are subdivided and sold with strict conservation ease- ments and restrictions to homeowners for limited development purposes. Proceeds from these sales will be used for the farm's long -term management and the protection of surrounding open space. • Successful communities' are spurred by "hometown heroes" — persistent local individuals who spear- head kind-use conservation and plan- ning efforts. While the challenge of growth must be met locally, few localities may be able to antici- pate its consequences in time to respond effectively. 6 Whether they are local politicians, neighborhood activists, or persistent county residents, leaders with tena- city are critical to successful com- munities. Although growth is viewed( by most citizens as an intractable problem, individual citizens in fact do make a difference. Among the many such individuals identified in the Foundation's re- search is the Chicago area's Gerry Adelman, who has worked with vari- ous organizations and continually prodded citizens and officials in order to realize his vision of a linear park running from Chicago down the Illi- nois- Michigan Canal to the Mississip- pi River. Today the precedent- setting Illinois- Michigan National Heritage Corridor protects historical resources of canal towns while providing re- creational assets and a boost to eco- nomically depressed communities. Along the corridor, a warehouse in Lockport has become a state museum and restaurant. In Joliet, old steel mills are being converted to an office complex that will be marketed by em- phasizing the attractiveness of his- toric locks and canals • Successful communities have ell fective quality -of -life lobbies that can ensure continuing positive government response. Alongside "hometown heroes," effective quality -of -life lobbies pro- vide a measure of continuity in leader- ship for the duration of sometimes lengthy preservation efforts. In San Antonio, for example, the San An- tonio Conservation Society both con- tinues as a watchdog and contributes money to promising redevelopment projects, not only along the San An- tonio Riverwalk it helped establish but throughout the city. In Fredericks- burg, Virginia, representatives of Friends of the Rappahannock appear regularly at local zoning board and planning commission hearings to make sure elected officials recognize the political constituency behind pro- tecting the Rappahannock River. The organization also hosts river cleanups three or four times a year to remove trash, raise awareness, and gain sup- ( port for the river. On a statewide level, 1,000 Friends of Oregon has made the critical difference in numer- ous Land -use decisions. • .lUs ISk�„sr: STAp40(tt { , a ! shy iN i'i 11 ) • Successful communities have savvy developers. The developers behind projects that make communities successful have several characteristics in corn - mon. They work hand -in -hand with the community before and during the development process. They sell their vision and their product to the whole community, not just to local officials • and business leaders. They are often willing to' take a chance on projects that traditional developers and bankers are afraid to touch. They pay attention to environmental and aes- thetic concerns and listen to the con- cerns of neighbors. Often, these developers have local ties and in some way have to live with the consequences ORDER FORM Please send me the following Conservation Foundation publications. No. of Copies Title SHIP TO: ° iJ t p Name Address City Check, money order, or purchase order must subject to change without notice, accompany all orders. G t# '41 .4 it5S5Y • - .. To achieve success, communities cannot ignore aesthetics. Controls on sil,ns can hell avoid unsightly thoroughfares. of their projects. The motivation of such developers need not be altruistic. In this period of heightened citizen concern over development, failing to take the time for community involvement can re- sult in rejected project proposals. But "savvy" approaches can also be pro- fitable— witness the financial success of developer James Rouse's popular Faneuil Hall in Boston and Harbor - place in Baltimore. • Savvy developers need smart communities. Innovative, participation - oriented developers are most likely to prosper with communities that can respond creatively to new ideas, that can use a variety of tools and techniques to 0 accomplish their goals, and that are willing to sit down at the table with developers to fashion approaches that meet public as well as private needs. Baltimore is one example of a community that flexibly used multi- ple planning techniques to ensure that development of Harborplace could take place and was sound. Successful communities are also careful —they learn to negotiate with developers effectively to snake sure they receive an acceptable return on every local dollar spent. This is par - ticularly important with small com- munities, which often have less plan- ning expertise and are eager for large development projects. Without prop- er review, such projects may end up draining, rather than enriching, the local economy. 1"1,s the Foundation's work con- tinues, these observations on success- ful communities will undoubtedly be refined. Still, the factors for success identified here can serve as guideposts for those communities planning their own futures. Communities that have failed to identify their distinctive assets and that have ignored aesthetic considerations may now wish to re- examine their strategies. Communi- ties without quality -of -life lobbies to sustain the call for growth manage- ment from one election to the next may need to establish one. While there is an increasing wealth of knowledge about what makes suc- Stripping and Handling $2.00 Total Enclosed State ZIP Payment must be in U.S, funds. Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. Prices Price 7 NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUCC1 sSFUL COMMUNITIES TO BE HELD 'The Conservation Foundation will hold a conference entitled "Successful Communities or Ac- cidental Cities :: iNlauaging Growth to Protect A merica's Special Places" in spring 1988 in Fort 'North, Texas. This gathering of concerned planners and devel- opers; representatives from con - servation, historic preservation, and community organizations; and government officials will ad- dress the challenges before subur- ban and smolt -tot■ a communities that are faced with the prospect of becoming accidental cities unless they cart begin to manage growth more effectively. The Successful Communities Program also is preparing a new publication, the Successful Com- munities Newsletter, which covers the latest developments itt growth management and efforts to protect special places in suburban and small -town communities. For conference or newsletter subscription information, contact: Successful Communities The Conservation Foundation 1250 Twenty - fourth Street ,N.1'\'. Washington, D.C. 20037 (202) 293 -4800 cessful communities, the burden rests with America's changing suburbs and small towns to recognize and react to their particular predicaments in posi- tive ways. The alternative is final vic- tory for urban sprawl, as accidental cities fill in the spaces between tradi- tional cities, devouring cultural assets and natural beauty while creating an unsightly urban mass with no sense of place and little worth caring about. Notes: 'William K. Stevens, "Defining the 'Outer City': For Now, Call It Hybrid," The New Y" dfs'iY'Cia kusgulatioil @ 1250 2-11h S rcel N.W. Washington D.C. 20037 York Tittles, October 11, 1987. 'Ibid. 'Amy Dunkin, "The Welcome Wagon Won't Roll Out for Pepsi and IBM," Business Week, May 18, 1987. 'Kathy Bodovitz, "Surviving Contra Costa's Growth: A Farm Town Tackles Its Urban Future," San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 1987. 'Clemens P. Work et al., "Jam Sessions," U.S. News and World Report, September 7, 1987. °U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1986 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office, 1986), p. 19, table 20. 'Based on July 1, 1984, estimates. See Donald Starsinic, Patterns of Metropolitan Area and County Population Growth: 1980- 1984, prepared for U.S. Department of Com- 12 55121HE I STE795 A EDWARD MEISTER OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR CITY OF EAGAN 3795 PILOT KNOB ROAD BOX MX 2 EAGAN merce, Bureau of the Census (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985), - . p,2, table A, and p. 7, table F. 'Kiplinger California Letter, 23 (July 16, 1987): 7. 'William K. Reilly, ed., The Use of Land: A Citizens' Policy Guide to Urban Growth, a task force report sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (New York: Thomas Y. Cro- well, 1973). 10 Quoted in Christopher J. Duerksen, Aesthe- tics and Lund -Use Controls: Beyond Ecology and Economics, American Planning Associa- tion Planning Advisory Service Report No. 399, p, 1. "See Conservation Foundation Letter, No. 2 , 1987. "The President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, Americans Outdoors: The Legacy, The Challenge (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1987), pp. 215 -16. "Roger W. Schmenner, Making Business Location (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice - Hall, 1982); and Roger W. Schmenner, "Loca- tion Decisions of Large Firms: implications for Public Policy," Economic Development Com- ment 5 (January 1981):5. ''Dowell Myers, Priorities in Austin's Quali- ty of Life (Austin, Tex.: University of Texas, School of Architecture, 1985). "See First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v, County of Los Angeles 107 S.Ct. 2378 (1987) and Nollan v. Coastal Commission 55 U.S.L.W. 5145 (June 26, 1987). 'Personal communication, Stephen Dennis, National Center for Preservation Law. "Tara Bradley - Steck, "The Nightmare on Elm Street: Towns Fight to Save Stately Trees," Associated Press news story in Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1987. See also Duerksen, Aesthetics and Land -Use Controls. "Christopher J. Duerksen, Successful Com- munities, in manuscript. Nun - Profit Org. U.S. Postage PA1L) Permit No. 9693 Washington, D.C. 1987 No. 6 THE IIEWS lar> ta1WI` OF ECONOV :4WD SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 1987 W o ays By PHYLLIS MESSER HERMAN Associate Editor More than the skyline is changing in cit- ies across the nation. Municipal leaders are eyeing mushrooming office and commer- cial projects as new sources of funding to replace declining federal dollars to help pay the bill for needed community im- provements. Whether you call them impact fees or linkage fees, "the trend is growing," said Jeff Fletcher of the National League of r city growt IAPAN REPORT )FFICE FEATURES ZZT55 I J�I t �, d I S /OVERSEAS UPDATE Gif fiGt., du}jP f WVERTISERS' INDEX dSd 9 Z 26 82 65 17 30 66 18 32 133 20 197 Cities, who added that there is no evidence that cities will be modifying this effort in the future. Although some programs are voluntary, developers are being assessed in many communities to pay for roads, sewers and water systems, parks, schools, child care facilities, cultural centers and "affordable housing" for displaced urban dwellers. Fees have become a vehicle "to make some developers pay their fair share and a See Location, Location, Location P -136 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS STATE REVIEWS CANADIAN DEVELOPMENT DECISION MAKERS EXECUTIVE BRIEFCASE FINANCING NEWS FTZ DATELINE HIGH TECH TRENDS INVESTMENT PICTURE COLORADO IOWA LOUISIANA NEW JERSEY OREGON RHODE ISLAND TEXAS VERMONT 11 183 178 41 212 199 69 68D DEITULOP LA WY University parks aid national competitiveness By KATHLEEN 11. DEMPSEY Editor Competitiveness, a key interna- tional concern of U.S. industry, may be getting a boost from a burgeoning cooperative effort — university re- lated research parks. A relatively unknown phenome- non a few years ago, the commercial park with university affiliation has become an accepted way of integrat- ing research with development and product commercialization. "The need for universities and in- dustry to interact is essential," said Erich Bloch, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), in a key- note address to an American Elec- tronics Association conference on See University /Research Parks P -4 Asbestos concern v a growing issue to building owners By DUANE J. STAMPER Assistant Editor The problem of asbestos in build- ings has become a dual- edged sword for building owners — they must learn how best to deal with the pres- ence of asbestos in their facilities while trying to quell the fears that have evolved around the asbestos is- sue. Those fears have arisen from the risks of inhaling asbestos fibers, which can cause such problems as as- bestosis, a chronic disease of the lungs; mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest and abdominal membranes; and other forms of cancer. But whether or not asbestos poses any danger to the occupants of a building depends on the condition of the ma- terial. " According to Michael M. Stahl, acting director of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Asbestos Action Program, regardless of how asbestos has been used in buildings — whether asbestos - containing ma- terials have been sprayed or troweled See Asbestos Concerns P - 22 American Gas Assoc 101 CUED 221 Hoosier Hospitality 157 Kentucky Showcase 189 Miss. River Sites 149 Nebraska News 33 Ohio Trends 85 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Continued from page I way for cities to plait for orderly growth," said Fletcher. . A late June conference by the Na- tional Conference of Urban Eco- nomic Development (CUED) — "Developer Fees: I - lelp or Hindrance to Local Growth ?" — drew "a re- cord crowd" of government officials and developers, said Lori Gillen, conference director for CUED. According to Gillen, most devel- opers at the CUED meeting in San Francisco agreed that they should contribute to the cost of growth. 136 What they were seeking however from the municipalities, she added, was a more equitable approach to the application and implementation of the fees, rather than their imposition on a case -by -case basis. Since builders are in business to make a profit, the conference direc- tor added that most said the fees "get passed back to the consumer." How will the added charges for construction in communities impos- ing fees affect their desirability as a site for a planned location? The jury is still out on that question, Set Me S Line. Our new publication and videotape appropriately titled "The Bottom Lute " - were developed to provide the kind of information you need to make hard decisions. Covered are land and building costs, taxes, wage rates, utility and shipping costs. Also detailed are municipal services, labor training, transportation, and of course,our quality of life. All this information was prepared by ITT Community Development Corporation with the same attention to detail as we put into our 42,000 -acre planned community. M Fulfilling The Promise For Florida. For our brochure, send your business card to; Avery Nye, Director of Industrial Development ITT/CDC, 1 Corporate Drive Palm Coast, FL 32051 • 904/445.2672 For Videotape, specify VHS or Beta and respond on corporate letterhead. Circle Reader Service Card No. 502 Circle Reader Service Card No. 1006 Although "location, location and location" may still be the three 10051 important choices of site selectors, linkage fees may cloud the picture. Infrastructure and amenities made possible by the fees can help make an area a more desirable one for corpo- rations and their employees, but it can also drive up the cost of a proj- ect and price nearby housing out of the reach of most workers. While many builders openly sup- port the concept of paying a fair share, the imposition of fees have generated a multitude of coma chal- lenges. The National Association of In- dustrial and Office Parks, based in One More Reason TO LOCATE IN THE INLAND EMPIRE The State of California awards the Inland Empire one of the first ten Enterprise Zones in the State. The designated area encompasses 9,790 acres targeted towards assisting all the needs of industrial and commercial development. This exciting new program allows Riverside and San Bernardino Counties together with the Cities of Colton, Rialto, and Riverside to better serve relocating and expanding businesses. The five jurisdictions named have created a Joint Powers Authority —Ague Manse Industrial Growth Association (AMIGA). AMIGA has been established as a separate public agency for the purpose of facilitating services to businesses and promoting the Economic Development Programs within the Enterprise Zone. For further information on AMIGA or the Enterprise Zone contact: Department of Economic and Community Development P.O. Box 1180, Riverside, CA 92502 (714) 788 -9770 CATCH A GLIMPSE OF OUR INDUSTRIAL SPECS Li You'll like what you see brilliant whue beaches, clear emerald waters, and year round sunshine stimulate the ideal business climate along Northwest Flonda's Gulf Coast. Okaloosa County has designs on your business with two prune industnal parks, wage rates to warm your heart, a young non- union work force, and a low cost of living to 0 strategic sun -belt location- Plus, the advantages of the Intracoastal Waterway, superb recreational faalities, ,md prox- imity to the world's largest air force base rellect our area's shades of success Why not check out our in- dustrial specs today• and well show you how Okaloosa County can brighten the future of your business! li Contact: Donna Olson, Executive Director Committee of 100 of Okaloosa County, Florida, Inc. 81 Deal Parkway, SE Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 (904) 243.5812 Circle Reader Service Card No. 475 Arlington Va., has prepared a lt page bibliography on impact fc. Chapters in New Jersey, Califon and Florida have focused_ on t topic, and the nation: t- p , voted a session to it at it t / L islative Forum. `Tile infraslructur, needed for growth canno be provided without sub stantial cooperation.' — Connors The history, as well as the late update on national linkage fee lit;: Lion, was addressed by Donald Connors o the law fine of Chow Hall & Stewart of Boston. He cot mented on key issues facing build, and the fundamentals of valid .s■ terns. In conclusion, Connors sal "The old notion of adversarial rel tionship between community and L. veloper will have no place in the 1 quired system of the future — the i frastrueiure needed for growth e; not be provided without substant: cooperation." Fees "not justified" A recent study by the \ \'ashingtc D.C.,-based Urban Land lnstitr, questioned the validity of fees as 0 nancing tool to pay for new int1 structure. The report, "Paying for Growth authored by Thomas Snyder and .\ chael Stegman, professor at 1. University of North Cara D partntent of Urban and \. ,ion Planning, concluded that CO111111111 ties often overstate the responsibi ties of new residents to pay for inft structure. "In response to changing ee nontic and political conditions, have rushed headlong to adopt u1t ever forms of private financing th they could legally defend to bui PLANTS SITES & PARf ' new infrastructure, often ignoring important long-run social, political, and economic issues," said the au- thors. `Traditionally, one gen- eration of residents have benefited from the infra - structure investments of prior generations.' — Snyder & Stegman Traditionally, one generation of residents have benefited from the in- frastructure investments of prior generations and they should expect to contribute in kind to future genera- tions, according to Snyder and Steg- man. The authors added that the theory of "intergenerational equity" should continue to be applied, as In the past, and that "only in those communities that are growing more rapidly tTiaun the inflation rate are special lees oil new development warranted." Snyder and Stegman noted that: • "Private financing systems based on the rational nexus doctrine are likely to produce underservecl windfall gains to established resi- dents." • "Development fees can cause sale prices and rents to rise for exist- ing as well as new housing." The re- port cited levies on new homes rang- ing from a few hundred dollars to as much as $20,000. • "Private financing often distorts the local budgetary process in unde- sirable ways. " • "The claim that development fees improve the efficiency of local land use decisions and the use of public facii'itics is largely without merit because of the way they are im- plemented." Real estate experts comment What has been happening around the country where fees have been in- troduced? Two Fort Lauderdale, Fla., real estate specialists corn - mented on the subject to Plants, Sites & Parks. `Everything being equal, you'll buy the site without the impact fees.' —Sutte Donald T. Sutte, president of Real Property Analysts Inc., a real estate appraisal firm, discussed a hypothet- ical corporate location decision in- volving two parcels — one of which required upfront outlays for linkage fees. "Everything being equal, you'll buy the site without the impact fees," said Sutte, who added, however, that the needs of_the firm would dictate the choice, "I'm going to buy where the road is paved if 1 need a plant in six months. Business cycles don't allow you to wait. A site that is completed and ready to go can make the differ- ence," he said, Carl Maynard, managing partner of the development firm of Damonc/ Andrew Ltd., said that impact fees affect the size of land development, the economics of land sales and ulti- SEPTEMBER•OCTOBER 19187 matcly "tend to remove some build- ers from the market," Maynard In discussing costs and permit reg- ulations, he said that, when city re- quirements are imposed on top of re- gional ones, "those numbers pile up and get substantial." According to Maynard, impact fees on a 4- or 5 -acre site, depending on location and use, could run from $400,000 up to $1 million. 1-le added that in planning a spec- ulative project, a builder knows that the costs of constructing buildings and infrastructure are fairly well fixed, and that there is a limit to what the market will bear in terms of 'rental income, "Therefore, you back up to what you can afford to pay for the land," Maynard added that his Michigan partners had never encountered im- pact fees bel•ore expanding to Flor- ida, "They have learned that it is an additional cost of doing business here," he added. In New Jersey, where fees have be- come an emerging "hot issue" in re- sponse to the state's explosive s a grand opening you wore t t+aht td hiss The eomrnunities that compr ise tlne bf the strongest, most diversified econdmic climates In the U,S, have joined forces to provide the assistance you need for the development, expansion or relocation of your business, It's one -stop shopping at its easiest. And all it takes is a phone call, We're twenty -one counties strong and the center of our nation's agri- business and heavy equipment industries, You'll find our air, rail, water and interstate accessibility second to none. Combine this with our central location and you'd be less than a day away from one -third of the nation's population. The companies that call Central Illinois home include the largest casualty insurance company in the U.S, as well as the largest employer in Illinois, Equally divided among manufacturing and service industries, Central Illinois employers generate an annual payroll in excess of 86 ):billion for our labor force of nearly 700,000, Circle Reader Service Card No. 964 growth, Robert S. Powell, executive vice president of DKM Property Corp., said that because they are lo- cal in nature, they tend "to create a competitive advantage from one area to another," "They create an inequity which is intolerable," he added in explaining that a builder, faced with linkage fees in one town — which can run as high as $3 a square foot — might opt to locate a project in the next commu- nity if it does not impose similar charges. In commenting on adopted pro- grams in other areas of the country, Ann Cibulskis, research associate with the American Planning Associ- ation, said, "None of the funds col - Continued on page 139 , c ar Central Illinois htyr to ai'No Tolle0s universities plus research fac Iiitles`that }tinge 1 from agriculture and indtist.ty to iiiedieal • science and bio- technology. +' Call or clip the coupon below for a detailed Site Kit, complete with a demographic self - portrait of Central Illinois that includes employment statistics, educational and research facilities, transportation and utility data and community profiles. Central Illinois Corridor Council 1809 Woodrield Drive • Savoy, Illinois 61874 • 12171373 r Please nish a Central Illinois Site Kit. ti (NAME) (COMPANY) (STREET ADDRESS) L . Is•rs•ri •l 17.11'1 rrn'i•ra PSP 987 -J In cooperalioh with the Illinois Illinois Department of Commerce and . ono oiona. Community Affairs, Corridors of Opportunity Program LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Continuer/ front page 137 lected in Hartford, (Conn.), have yet provided any child care. It's too soon." She added that dollars collected for housing in Boston and Chicago have still not produced any buildings. The fees in Boston — a total of $6 a square foot on projects in excess of 100,000 square feet which require zoning relief — are being legally challenged, and in Chicago, imple- mentation details are still being worked out. California San Francisco, which began assess- ing linkage fees in 1981 for officc projects exceeding 50,000 square feet to raise money for low -cost housing and mass transit, has since added charges for child care, open space and public art, According to Cibul- skis, a recent cap on development approved by voters in that city, how- ever, will probably slowdown those programs. Builders of nonresidential projects in Concord, Calif., are assessed one - half of 1 percent of development costs to help meet local child care needs, and in Los Angeles, under a newly approved state law, the school board expects to receive $50 million a year front its new fees. They are $1.50 per square foot on new resi- dential projects and 25 cents per square foot on commercial and in- dustrial development, Impact fees to support education in California were first introduced in 1978 following the passage of Prop- osition 13, which set limits on prop- erty tax increases and required a two - thirds vote of the electorate for change. The California Supreme Court upheld the use of the fees in 1985. In Florida, a court case has also upheld the assessment of fees for im- provements. Comprehensive plan- ning and development legislation ap- proved in 1985 and 1986 has ex- panded the concept. The latest city in the state to join the growing number of communitcs adopting impact /linkage fees is Miami. The measure "will help us estab- lish funds to build infrastructure to handle the impact of future growth," said Joseph W, McManus, assistant director of the Miami Planning De- partment. The levies will vary according to the type of construction and area of the city, according to McManus, who added that, without the use of fees, the city would be required to pay for the improvements front the general fund or by issuing bonds, The plan- ning department official said that funds not spent within six years will be returned to the developer. He said that the city commission adopted the measure following the failure of the Florida Legislature, during the recent session, to act on pending bills to establish standards and guidelines for the imposition of fees. The Miami measure is expected to generate more than $42 million by the year 2005, with most of the money coming from downtown de- velopment. The levy will affect all SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987 new construction except single -fam- ily homes and nonprofit, city -spon- sored projects. Earlier in the year, the Florida Ad- visory Council on Inter- Governmen- tal Relations issued a report, "Im- pact Fees in Florida," which noted that 18 of 66 counties and 40 of 56 cities surveyed were charging impact fees. According to a spokeswoman for the council, although there are 393 cities in the state, only those with a population greater than 20,000 were queried. In addition, for the pur- poses of the survey, Duval County was counted as a city. LIbsessed, independent. continually searching - possessed even. All descriptions which have at one time or another been applied to both the creative genius and entrepreneur in their pursuit of an ideal, Michael Faraday was such an individual. A natural philosopher and brilliant chemist, the practical application of whose cliscoveries has made other - perhaps less gifted men - a fortune. Had he been able to live and work in Glenrothes, things might have been very different. The study revealed that an aggro- gate total of 154 impact fees were as- sessed by the 40 cities, with sewer and water leading the list. The counties levied a total of 41 fees. Road im- provements led the list. At the time of the study, impact fees were also being investigated by GLENROTHES D E V E L O P M E N T C O R P O R• t I O N FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: JOHN N[COMBIE, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, GLENPOTFIFS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, BALBIRNIE HOUSE, GLENROTHES, FIFE, SCOTLAND KY9 6NR. TELEPHONE: 0591) 51341. TELEX: 711155. Circle Reader Service Card No. 863 staff in 16 cities and 26 counties. In addition, measures authorizing int- `All developers are it terested and willing top reasonable costs for a rea- sonable program.' — Goldfein pact fees were in the final stage of adoption in 16 cities and 12 counties, according to the spokeswoman. Morton Goldfein, vice president of law and public affairs for Hartz Continued on page /41 He would have had no shortage of back -up from companies already established in the town. Our science park would have delighted him. And here in the heart of Scotland, he would have had the most breathtaking scenery in Europe to inspire him and even in his day, he could have played golf at St Andrews - something you can still do. If like us, you too are in pursuit of excellence, everything you need is available to you here. \Ve'd like your company: 139 [ OCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Court case may affect impact fees A recent ruling by the U.S, Su- preme Court may affect the impo- sition of some impact fees, but ex- perts predicted that, in most cases, cities and counties will continue the practice of assessing develop- ers for roads, sewers and other improvements. In overturning a decision by California officials that required owners of private beachfront property to give the public access to the beach as a condition for al- lowing them to build, the court . stated that governments may not place conditions on development that are not related to the devel- opment itself. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said, "Unless the permit condition serves the same governmental purpose .., the building restriction is not a valid regulation of land use but 'an out - and -out plan of extortion'. " Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Cynthia Pols, an attorney with the National League of Cit- ies, said, "The immediate ques- tion of what the decision means (in terms of itnpact fees) is hard to speculate." She added, Itbwever, that the validity of a fed;will probably de- pend on its purpose. According to Pols, impact fees that "will bene- fit or enhance " h` project and have a direct relationship to the devel- opment will preljttbly continue. The court decision is not ex- pected to have any effect on the impostion of linkage fees in Flor- ida, according to attorney Nancy Stroud, because, by law, revenues collected from fees in the state can only be used for the purpose for which they were assessed. Stroud is a partner in the law firm of Burke, Bosselman & Weaver, which helped draft a number of local Florida fee ordi nances and has defended several cases, including the 1983 Long- boat Key case, which, according to the attorney, was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court justices in their re- cent decison. She said that the justices agreed, in principle, that the dedication of and for park purposes in the Longboat Key case "was all right." According to Stroud, the U,S. Supreme Court decision stated that, "Any condition attached to a permit must substantially fur- ther the police power purposes for which that permit was issued." "The way (that) fees have been calculated (in Florida) have gener- ally allowed for a closer nexus re- lationship than the California sit- uation," she said, She added that the California approach, in general, is different than all other states." ❑ SEPTEMBER.00TOBER 1987 Continued from page 139 Mountain Industries in New Jersey, said, "All developers are interested and willing to pay reasonable costs for a reasonable program." He added, however, that in New Jersey, linkage fees have become a "critical issue," with several mea- sures pending in the Legislature. DKM's Powell explained that a three -part legislative package — "Transplan" — introduced by the Commissioner of Transportation, would permit the state and county governments "to control the pace and direction of growth," raise money from the private sector for highway improvements, and restrict access to state highways. He added that NAIOP members, property owners, developers and some municipalities have expressed concern with the bills. 'No one can tell from the measures what it will cost' a developer to com- plete a project. — Powell Another measure is also pending in the Assembly Municipal Government Committee at the time of this writ- ing, which would permit municipali- ties to impose a tax on developers, "with whatever formula it deems ap- propriate," or to require a dedica- tion of land in lieu of tax payment as a precondition to the issuance of a site plan or subdivision approval. In discussing Transplan, Powell said the bills were "too broad" and included no standards. Under the legislation, the comnissioner would have the right to develop administra- tive rules which could restrict new access as well as terminate existing access points on state highways "if alternative means of egress were available." Powell said that because of a lack of standards or limitations in the Continued on bottom of page 143 HERE'S A SWITCH MORE..,FOR LESS Take a highly educated and productive workforce, Combine that with a documented study by Fantus Company showing an operating cost savings as much as 64% below even some of the lowest urban areas. And, you have one of Utah's Small Cities. Located in the middle of the western market, 45 million strong, with rapid access to air, rail and freight lines, , . one of UTAH'S SMALL CITIES could be just the thing for your bottom line, More, , . forr less, Nice switch, don't you think! Write or call us for additional information: 1 - i 1 T� SMALL CITIES INC. THANK YOU. TO: vuh Small Gilles, Inc. (5150 Suite Office 'Wilding, Delxtrtment 951' Salt Lake City, UT 84114 • 1 ROM: NAME (1151x, ITV, STATE, ZIP. t'I( (55 UTAH O E C011/13e Cl /dteMeladef.'prvIdOiltit 4 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Facers changs Business needs replace incentives The rules may be changing in the site selection game. Although most states arc still actively seeking new facilities to ensure jobs for their resi- dents, the days of throwing "big bucks" at companies to land a pros- pect may he on the decline. Financial incentives, however, in some instances may still be the decid- ing factor in the final analysis, said Robert de la Vega, assistant to the commissioner of the Minnesota De- partment of Trade and Economic Development. "But it is no longer the guiding factor," He said that general or specific business needs take precedence over tax incentives. Referring to a recent study he pre - pared while executive director of the Governor's Commission on the Eco- nomic Future of Minnesota, de la Vega said that "basic business rea- sons drive location decisions." The paper, "Case Studies of Busi- ness Location Decisions in Minne- sota," was based on interviews with 10 business executives about 12 spe- cific locations decisions their compa- nies recently made. Six of' the firms had headquarters in Minnesota. Direct cost factors Direct cost factors were the decid- ing element in at least seven of the decisions, according to de la Vega. He said that, in some cases, the cost of labor was foremost but direct, measurable business costs were cen- tral.' "Sometimes, a public incentive werwoomezeiMMTIMIRRIPI Continued from page 14/ bills, they could cause dire economic results. Developers could be assessed 100 percent of the cost of building bridges and overpasses, and because the fees could be retroactive, a firm could be assessed millions of dollars for an existing building, with no way to recoup the charges. "No one can tell from the measure what it will cost" a developer to complete a project, said the real es- tate executive. In addition, the legislation would require the state's 21 counties to eventually have overall authority of land use a responsibility which has traditionally been delegated to mu- nicipalities, according to Powell, He said that not only would it "add one more layer of bureauc- racy" but that plans for a state plan- ning commission 'are well under way" and that, within a year, spe- cific proposals are expected which deal with New Jersey's growth on a regional basis. In addition, a spokesman for the Governor's Office of Policy and Planning said that a study had been inititated to determine how develop - ers should be assessed to help fund mass transportation, sewers and af- fordable housing needs along the Hudson River Waterfront, an area which has been and continues to ex- perience explosive growth. ❑ SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987 g on game plan may push a decision one way .,. Some companies do not really con- sider incentives, relying on the gen- eral business factors to guide them. Executives are, however, keenly aware of the state -to -state competi- tion. "Businesses want to be wanted and feel they are a part of the commu- nity. Estrangement arid alienation can be powerful psychological bar- riers and, although the numbers are there, people, not computers, still make decisions," added the assistant commissioner. de la Vega said that the results of the study indicated "There is no point in spending money on a pros- pect you will not get." He added that a growing number of states are questioning the entire premise of spending dollars to and new plants and are beginning to care- fully "evaluate the results," "If you don't have the basics, you're not in the running. But, if you are in the running, then offering in- centives may send a signal to a com- pany that they are important to you." SIOR report Reinforcing the results of the Min- nesota study was an early -year report in Perspective, the publication of the Society of industrial and Office Continued on page /45 kitiv 1 it +tl;t - a tilt CdUH E@ tldinl dii nn>t Cd Mtghte bil6 ^A itd M ; 1811 gipd y ' {�_ [LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION ('nndnued Pratt page /43 Realtors (SIOR). It noted that, while studies prior to 1960 indicated that basic cost factors were the dominant locational factors, recent research shows that the list has increased. In addition to basic cost factors, quality of life, state and local taxes, education, business climate, infra- structure and a skilled labor force have been added to the site selection list. "Advanced technology activities are particularly footloose in terms of the traditional cost - oriented factors. Thus, while traditional locational factors continue to be important, they have declined in importance," stated the report. Writing in the Perspective issue, two economics professors at Wright State Univeristy in Dayton, Ohio, — John P. 13lair and Robert Premus — concluded, "Locational decisions are seldom on/v location decisions. They are part of a larger corporate plan- ning process," After reviewing literature on the topic, the authors concluded that the following generalizations can be drawn: • "First, the economic factors of CAROLINA INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY tra +1AR1101i k, 4 m Unbeatable transportation links Direct access to Agua Fria Freeway and across the street from Glendale Airport. ra Infrastructure complete All underground utilities, including natural gas. Major streets and lighting completed. r+ Parklike atmosphere Offering lakes, parks and landscaping. n Choice sites now available 0.8 to 100 acres. Contact: Dick Melick, (602) 264 -8286 t t n 3131s111 1css Park Si es now available Circle Reader Service Card No. 957 1,669,811 sq. ft. on 284 acres Manufacturing complex w /automated warehouse 11 Q 11 t C R C KEENAN (803) 254-2300 Ostendorf - Moms 1- 800.334 -2128 Circle Reader Service Card No. 603 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987 location — labor, markets, transpor- tation and, t0 a lesser extent, access to raw materials — are the most im- portant influence in industrial loca- lion studies, but the relative rankings of these traditional locational factors vary among the studies." • The traditional economic factors of location are becoming, as a group, less important. • The primary impact of technical change has been to reduce the signif- icance of 'proximity to raw mate- rials' and to increase 'proximity to markets' as a locational factor. • State and local taxes have had an important effect on business loca- tion, particularly within metropoli- tan areas where business property taxes can vary substantially among jurisdictions. • There are many more locational factors today than in the 1960s. Industrial sites The location or relocation of in- dustrial properties present special problems different from those en- countered in an office - related reloca- tion, according to Richard C. Mac - Dertnott, senior vice president of the Valuation and Technical Services Di- Canon Virginia Inc,'s facility, Newport News, Va, vision of Landauer Associates Inc. According to MacDermott, gener- ally the most important single ingre- dient in an industrial location is the basic geographic location with re- spect to the cost of bringing raw ma- terials to the manufacturing plant versus the cost of shipping the fin- ished product to the appropriate — markets. "The geographically-central loca- tion of Tennessee, for example, has Circle Reader Service Card No. 751 been a major Factor in the selection of that state by firths such as General Motors, Nissan and American Air- lines for major installations," he said. Landauer, based in New York City, was an advisor to General Mo- tors for the Saturn plant site. In discussing specific require- ments, the vice president said that, when Landauer was asked by CBS Continued on page /47 145 1 rrt . ' Vista 21( 1(p311�I.JN has a \'Isla is beautiful climate per year with considerations. sea, Stable, Diego's dynamic t more, contact: Association, on, 92083 (619) '•!I\\ \S I i ,' h l u� ; � II ,..,,i,.:7;*,.;,.,„, . ( AP . ' ,III I,. l� r� \ 5./ I J ,7 �.... TTTT y t PofJ beautiful climate for growth. serious about growing with good companies. And our extends beyond our 3.10 days of sparkling sunshine endless recreational opportunities —to serious business Like, a productive work force. Outstanding access by cooperative government. Tax advantages. And, a superb North County with hundreds of acres for expansion. 20 201 1Vshingt gto 8lrct W Vista Washington Street, 726 -1122 ��� Southern California never looked so good. sN« � .".,., """ "° land, air and ocatlon In San To find of Dcvel elopmcn Vista, California [LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION ('nndnued Pratt page /43 Realtors (SIOR). It noted that, while studies prior to 1960 indicated that basic cost factors were the dominant locational factors, recent research shows that the list has increased. In addition to basic cost factors, quality of life, state and local taxes, education, business climate, infra- structure and a skilled labor force have been added to the site selection list. "Advanced technology activities are particularly footloose in terms of the traditional cost - oriented factors. Thus, while traditional locational factors continue to be important, they have declined in importance," stated the report. Writing in the Perspective issue, two economics professors at Wright State Univeristy in Dayton, Ohio, — John P. 13lair and Robert Premus — concluded, "Locational decisions are seldom on/v location decisions. They are part of a larger corporate plan- ning process," After reviewing literature on the topic, the authors concluded that the following generalizations can be drawn: • "First, the economic factors of CAROLINA INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY tra +1AR1101i k, 4 m Unbeatable transportation links Direct access to Agua Fria Freeway and across the street from Glendale Airport. ra Infrastructure complete All underground utilities, including natural gas. Major streets and lighting completed. r+ Parklike atmosphere Offering lakes, parks and landscaping. n Choice sites now available 0.8 to 100 acres. Contact: Dick Melick, (602) 264 -8286 t t n 3131s111 1css Park Si es now available Circle Reader Service Card No. 957 1,669,811 sq. ft. on 284 acres Manufacturing complex w /automated warehouse 11 Q 11 t C R C KEENAN (803) 254-2300 Ostendorf - Moms 1- 800.334 -2128 Circle Reader Service Card No. 603 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987 location — labor, markets, transpor- tation and, t0 a lesser extent, access to raw materials — are the most im- portant influence in industrial loca- lion studies, but the relative rankings of these traditional locational factors vary among the studies." • The traditional economic factors of location are becoming, as a group, less important. • The primary impact of technical change has been to reduce the signif- icance of 'proximity to raw mate- rials' and to increase 'proximity to markets' as a locational factor. • State and local taxes have had an important effect on business loca- tion, particularly within metropoli- tan areas where business property taxes can vary substantially among jurisdictions. • There are many more locational factors today than in the 1960s. Industrial sites The location or relocation of in- dustrial properties present special problems different from those en- countered in an office - related reloca- tion, according to Richard C. Mac - Dertnott, senior vice president of the Valuation and Technical Services Di- Canon Virginia Inc,'s facility, Newport News, Va, vision of Landauer Associates Inc. According to MacDermott, gener- ally the most important single ingre- dient in an industrial location is the basic geographic location with re- spect to the cost of bringing raw ma- terials to the manufacturing plant versus the cost of shipping the fin- ished product to the appropriate — markets. "The geographically-central loca- tion of Tennessee, for example, has Circle Reader Service Card No. 751 been a major Factor in the selection of that state by firths such as General Motors, Nissan and American Air- lines for major installations," he said. Landauer, based in New York City, was an advisor to General Mo- tors for the Saturn plant site. In discussing specific require- ments, the vice president said that, when Landauer was asked by CBS Continued on page /47 145 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Continuer/ from page 145 Records to find a 100 -acre manufac- turing site in the Southeast, "both usual and unusual requirements had i to be met." He said that the conventional re- quirements included a site area that had to have an adequate supply of semi - skilled labor and, to meet a tight construction deadline, all utit- ites had to be in place. "One of the more unconventional requirements was the need for the site to be free of excessive electromag- netic radiation that could affect the production of tapes," said Mac - Dermott. He added that the site had to be no more than one hour from a major airport so that "if Willie Nelson or Michael Jackson make a recording in California" the master tape can be flown immediately to the plant and production started the same day. Office location The Landauer executive said that, in office relocations, a major deci- sion which must be addressed ini- tially is whether to own or lease "hut even here the choice is not limited to these two alternatives. Joint ventures with developers frequently provide a hybrid position of part- tenant /part- owner which can result in an opti- mum arrangement for the relocated company." MacDermott said that infrastruc- ture problems can also affect office locations. He cited a major credit card operation which had to aban- don consideration of an otherwise suitable site due to the inability of the small, local post office to handle the potential increase in mail for the pro- . posed operation, Toni Arnold, a Phoenix, Ariz., real estate executive, offered a list of suggestions for corporate leaders wrestling with a location decision. "If you decide to build your own facility, make sure the land is cheap enough at the outset to offset costly front -end zoning, permit processing, bureaucratic bungling and construc- tion time." The president of Allen Tenant Ser- vices and former head of' Del E. Webb Corp. said, "While real estate is an appreciating asset, it may also lock you in long -term. If the facility is too specifically designed for your singular use, you may have real problems expanding it or ultimately selling it." Arnold advised that, if leasing is chosen, make sure the space is ex- pandable "with a series of options designed to facilitate your own growth." He also suggested that executives walk through target buildings before making any decisions and drive a five -mile radius around the property to view the arca. What's important? In reviewing site selection cases, Plants Sites & Parks interviewed cor- porate officials to determine what factors they considered most impor- tant for their firms in the decision making process. One executive is from a company now screening sites for a proposed research - oriented cen- ter, the other represents a newly SEPTEMBER.00TOBER 1987 opened plant in Virginia, U S West Inc., a Denver -based telecommunications firm, which was an off -shoot of AT&T's break -up, plans to announce sometime this month where it will locate its pro- posed research and development cen- ter. The facility is expected to cost ap- proximately $60 million and will eventually employ 1,500 people, ac- cording to David Mack, a spokes- man for the company. He said that the firm sent requests for proposals to all 14 Midwestern LET'S FACE IT. TODAY'S BUSINESS WORLD IS JUNGLE TOUGH. ONLY THOSE BUSINESSES WITH DISCERNING SURVIVAL SENSE COME ,'. OUT ON TOP. t .. 11 \„ V r ❑11 n'uI HAN ITT VII 0I411 N I Iln MID and Western states where it operates, specifying five general categories: ed- ucation; quality of life; business and employment climate; transportation; and access to technical communities (other types of technical, research - oriented facilities already in exis- tence). According to Mack, the responses were evaluated internally and, at the time of this writing, the site selection committee and chairman of U S West were preparing to visit all the states "and create a dialogue." In Newport News, Va., production began last June at Canon Virginia Inc.'s copy plant. The $26 million, 289,000 - square -foot facility is lo- Circle Reader Service Card No. 697 Good business knows clever judgment begins with location. The it metro Birmingham area has become the Southeast's prime business address, The business reasons are obvious; Birmingham offers strategic location, free job training for a capable and enthusiastic labor force, reasonable taxes, flexible financing and a sophisticated transportation network, For complete information on locating In the metro Birmingham area, contact Mpn opme Board, 2027 etro First olita Avenue Devel North , Birmingham, Alabama 35203, 205/328 -3047 _V 1 / Instinct and strategy ... it makes for good business when you locate In Birmingham. Circle Reader Service Card No. 427 sated in the Newport News Applies, Research Center and is the first American manufacturing facility for the Japanese firm. At the time of this writing, 85 workers were employed at the New- port News facility, where corporate officials estimated that between 700 and 1,000 Canon dual -color copiers will be produced initially each month, with the number rising to 4,000 a month at full production. The workforce is expected to reach 1,000 within three to five years as the first phase of the plant is expanded to 540,000 square feet and additional products — such as electronic type- Continued on page 175 147 lny,'s ..471 Oak. 11081 Dods ..472 m Is <om• :on- 1 3 t. r. In 474 the .NIl I an led cll. 175 he ere as 76 ue co ,ly t. 77 ry I lh ' a- 3 • LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Continued from page 147 writers and laser beam printers — are phased in. At the dedication ceremonies, Fu- jio Mitarai, president and chairman of Canon Virginia, said, "Beginning with our first investigation of this site, Canon has enjoyed the tireless efforts of the offices of the governor and mayor as well as the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council. Why clicl Canon choose Newport News? We could have gone any- where in the country," said Hajimc Hirai, corporate public relations and advertising director, He added, however, that the com- pany did want to be close to its cor- porate headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., and to its major market area, which is the East Coast. Canon Inc.'s American subsidiary — Canon U.S.A. Inc.— employs 3,200 people. What was Canon looking for? Ac- cording to Hirai, company officials had a list of 100 to 150 points to check out on its site selection list. He added, however, that land and the environment were very important factors. He said that the firm plans TAUNTON TO ••• the place to be Circle Reader Service Card No. 342 S EPTEMBER. OCTOBER 1987 to eventually locate a research center at the site and was therefore seeking a high -tech area "where there are a lot of resources." He felt this was important to help Canon "acquire and keep the right workers." To date, 'We've had about 16,000 applicants, which is a considerable number. ' — McLean The company purchased 164 wooded acres in the Applied Re- search Center for 85,000 an acre, ac- cording to Stephen Ffunley, assistant to the director of the Newport News development department. The center borders CEI3AF (Continuous Elec- tron Beam Accelerator Facility), a physics research lab now under con- struction. it will be operated by a consortium of 37 Southeast colleges under contract from the U.S. De- partment of Energy. According to Hirai, there were no financial incentives involved in the company's decision to locate in the • right spot in the heart Of the state's newest growth area • Available land in Myles Standish Industrial Park, the i'aght garden -type development next to I -495 • Available industrial space in existing buildings *_Available financing through local Industrial Development Financing Authority • Available labor pool at all levels • Supportive municipal government that works for you • An infrastructure ready for major growth. . . . and a quality of life second to none to enjoy. For all the information you need, contact: Richard L. Shafer Taunton Development Corporation Taunton Industrial Development Commission 14 Merchants Lane, Taunton, MA 02780 61 7- 824 -5856 or 824 -5857 produced in rnapera(inn with the Bristol C'nunl0 Deoelnp+nrn( Conant, Inc. Circle Reader Service Card No. 1026 Open Your Eyes Focus On • J t • Right-To-Work State • Pleasing Social South • The Right Site Natural Environment • Quality labor Force • 'Transportation Central • income Tax Credits • Business Finance Packagin nsaS Kale B. Gaston South Central Kansas Economic Development District lover Park. Place, Suite 580,727 N. \C51co. \('ichit: , KS 67203 CALI, 800 - 544.3025 Virginia city except rot the benefits derived from the state's industrial training program, Preparation for that training be- gan in the summer of 1986, accord- ing to Don Reilly, director of Indus- trial Training, Virginia Department of Economic Development (DED). Last fall, Reilly and William Mc- Lean, who was placecl in charge of the state's training for Canon, trav- eled to Japan with five Virginians hired by the firm as managers. The state employees stayed in Japan 10 days; the new Canon managers, two months, Following Reilly and ivlcLean's re- turn, DED began advertising for ap- plicants and the first pre- cmplov- ment screening sessions by the agency began lass November. The initial courses were three hours long, three nights in a row, according to Mc- Lean, who added that the process has now been shortened to two nights. To dale, "We've had about 16,000 applicants, which is a considerable number," said McLean. According to the industrial train- ing official, potential workers must go through a "lengthy process." They are initially directed to the local employment commission for testing. Those considered suitable are se- lected for pre - employment training Continued on pgcc /77 100% of our 715 acres of industrial land is in our Enterprise Zone. Cape Girardeau, Missouri's Enterprise Zone * An investment tax credit of up to 10 ",. * A 50 ", stale income tax break for a period of 10 years, * A 50 ", local abatement of city and school property taxes. * A $100 tax credit for every three -month period for new employees, * A lax credit of $400 for every new employee whose training was not government funded. The People & The Price Make Us e e p ecie GREATER CAPE GIRARDEAU DEVELOPMENT CO. P.O. Box 98 • Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0098 • 314 335 Circle Reader Service Card No. 363 Sierra Vista, Arizona More than just a pretty place .. . We Offer: Outstanding Business Climate Foreign Trade Zone "139 Employee Training Programs Industrial Site Assistance Close proximity to Mexican border Contact: Sierra Vista Economic Development Foundation P.O. Box 2380 Sierra Vista, Arizona 85635 ( 602r459-6070 Circle Reader Service Card No. 662 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Continued from page /75 and, from a total of approximately 21 which go through the initial ses- sions, only about 15 remain. Canon makes its selection from those final applicants. The company is reimbursed for each group of trainees that go through the training cycle, Our spon- sorship of the training process is for 160 hours for each worker," which McLean said means that the proce- dure usually lasts until the workers are 50 percent to 60 percent efficient. "It's very exciting, since Canon is has all the following advantages • Cooperative Local Government • Low Cost Land Lowest in Coastal Southern California • 10 Industrial Parks - Up to 120 Acre Pads - New Buildings Available • Large Labor Pool - Skilled - Unskilled • Employee Training Program • Financial Packaging Assistance . Heart of the Major Growth Area Southern California CONTACT: OCEANSIDE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL 510 4th Street - Oceanside, California 92054 Page 13. Pratt, Executive Director (619) 722 -1534 Video Tape Available Upon Request • Smog Free • Mediterranean Climate • Expanding Commercial Opportunities • Growing Affordable Residential Housing • Ready Access to: Regional, National, and International Markets • Key Location for the Pacific Basin • Educational & Recreational Facilities the first Japanese firm to locate here. We look at this as a test case," said the industrial training project man- ager. According to McLean, in previous years a number of European compa- nies "sat on the fence" waiting to see how other European firms would prosper in Virginia before "jumping in," Ile said that the same thing may happen with Japanese firms follow- ing Canon's move. For additional information on available sites, circle No. 95 on the Reader Service Card. ❑ Circle Reader Service Card No. 741 MAKE MORE - PAY LESS SEDALIA, MISSOURI Fact Book * Manufacturers Directory * Training and Retraining Aid * Enterprise Zone Benefits Model Sedalia / Pettis County Development Corporation Box 1266 • Sedalia, Mo. 65301 • (816) 827 -0884 Circle Reader Service Card No. 364 New study heaps farms assess building needs Where do site selectors turn when trying to evaluate a facility? Two Cornell University professors have helped develop a new program called ORBIT -2 which they believe will solve the dilemma. It identifies 17 key facility issues relating to information technology and organizational change. "These issues represent critical building decisions that all organiza- tions can expect to face over the next \. Wisconsin Minnesota �•� Michigan Iowa 1. u1 °' y ®JAN ESVILLE / Mooney LeSage & Associates, Ltd. Circle Reader Service Card No. 413 Circle Reader Service Card No. 407 10 to 15 years," said Frank! 13eckcr, a principal in Facilities R search Associates with Willim Sims. Both men are also professors of facility planning and management in the Department of Design and Envi- ronmental Analysis at Cornell Uni- versity in Ithaca, N.Y. According to Becker, a rating pro- cess was developed "that enables an organization to objectively and con - C'o,linued 00 /mge 205 Elegantly Appointed Former PARKER WORLD HEADQUARTERS Janesville, Wisconsin 7 Stories - 131,000 Square Feet For Sale or Lease Immediate Occupancy • Outstanding Condition • Luxurious Interiors • Flexible Design • Computer Room • Energy Efficient Design • Easy Access to Rock County Jet Airport • Central to National Markets • Access to Fiber Optic Network • Security System Properties 400 South Executive Drive, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005 (414) 797 -9400 Don't let taxes take a bite out of your profits!' Sioux Falls, SJ lets you polish your bottom line with: ✓ NO state corporate or personal income tax ✓ NO personal property tax or inventory tax ✓ LOW real estate taxes ✓ LOW energy costs ✓ LOW workers comp rates ✓ LOW unemployment insurance rates ✓ HIGHER PROFITS! Call TOLL FREE to find out why SIOUX FALLS is pick of the crop! Call 10800- 351.1477, Ext. 238 Sioux Falls Development Foundation Rover Hainje, President • 1 31 East loth Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57102 SEPTEMBER.00TOBER 1987 177 MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY COUNCILMEMBERS FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES DATE: FEBRUARY 22, 1988 SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FOR 2 -25 -88 DECISION RESOURCES Decision Resources was retained by the City of Eagan during the late fall of 1987 to perform a community survey that primarily addressed attitutes toward a community center. There were approxi- mately 400 households sampled and each person responding to a telephone call was asked approximately 115 questions with the interview lasting approximately 20 minutes. The first item on our agenda at the workshop session is a joint meeting between the City Council and the Advisory Parks and Recreation Commission to review the results of that survey. A representative of Decision Resources will be there to present the results with time allotted for questions and answers. QUALITY INDICATORS During the past several months there have been many comments expressed by residents about quality of development. Last fall there was resident feedback suggesting that our growth be slowed while examining measures to insure quality projects as the city continues to develop. During the Council interviews for commission and committee appointments, the most common comment expressed by residents was again a slowing of the growth and some assurance that quality indicators will guarantee a strong community image of quality growth in years to come. This office has coordinated two (2) exercises in response to the City Council's direction to look at quality indicators and respond to revised development standards. The first was review of the City staff's internal application and review process which has been redesigned to provide more thorough review and analysis by all City departments. The second is an effort to suggest certain changes in current development policies (specifically the zoning and subdivision ordinaries) that will provide a new criteria that °� promote developeand builders that traditionally develop and construct higher quality projects. In addition to myself, members of the management team will present a series of findings that suggest methods in which the City can enhance quality development at the meeting on Thursday. Cities in Minnesota and nation -wide are meeting and performing strategic planning sessions to determine what type of community they desire in the 1990's and well into the 21st Century. Enclosed for your review and reading material are some articles that have appeared in professional journals that share various forms of quality standards that might be of interest as we all prepare for Thursday evening's meeting. It is anticipated that 45 minutes to an hour be allowed for Decision Resources with the remainder of the meeting planned for discussion regarding new development standards. Hopefully the discussion on development standards will lead to a staff direction by the City Council to prepare ordinance amendments or policy changes to allow the City to meet its objective to further enhance quality development. There are no items for Other Business to be considered at this time. At the suggestion of the City Council, the meeting is scheduled to end at approximately 9:30, and certainly no later than 10:00 p.m. City Administrato SUMMARY OTHER BUSINESS 24 A forest of new construction grows In front of hillside town houses and condominiums in San Diego Not in My Neighborhood California leads a grass -roots movement to slow development ohn Morris will never forget the day four years ago when two bulldozers arrived in his tranquil West Los An- geles neighborhood. The 38- year -old accountant was already harboring doubts about life in the city. It takes him an hour to drive a mere 15 miles to work on the packed freeways, and he no longer wears contact lenses because the smog stings his eyes. Fear of toxic chemicals keeps him from setting foot in nearby San- ta Monica Bay. But when the corner gas station was leveled and replaced by an ugly mini - mall, Morris revolted. "My life has be- come an endurance test," he moans. He is now a zealous activist in the biggest grass- roots political movement to hit California since the property tax revolt a decade ago. A new battle cry —Slow Growth — is erupting from once placid neighbor- hoods plagued with congested streets and schools. Fed up with sprawling condos, office towers and mini- shopping cen- ters plunked down among single- family houses, residents are demanding limits on unbridled real estate development. The state may never be the same. Last June voters in Los Angeles ousted City Council President Pat Rus- sell, a staunch ally of Mayor Tom Bradley and developers, replacing her with an un- known who promised to slam the brakes on overbuilding. Bradley has now modi- fied his pro - growth policies to protect his chances for re- election in 1989. In San Francisco, where densely packed office towers have overshadowed the city's natural skyline, voters in No- vember rejected a proposal to build a base- ball stadium downtown. In last month's mayoral runoff election, they spoke even more forcefully by overwhelmingly reject- ing Establishment Candidate John Molin- ari in favor of onetime Neighborhood Activist Art Agnos. Meanwhile, San Fran- cisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, along with dozens of other California cities, have passed the most severe growth restrictions in the state's history. While the most dramatic slow - growth rebellions have occurred in California, similar if less intense movements are emerging across the country. Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin last week called on the legislature to enact a state- wide growth- management plan to provide Vermont with "greater control over our destiny." In New Jersey a statewide commission has been appointed to draft a similar plan by 1989. Last fall three pro - growth members of the board of supervi- sors of Fairfax County, Va., a Washington suburb, were ousted by proponents of slow growth . A backlash against development was probably inevitable, particularly in rapid- ly developing Western states, where many residents consider densely packed urban centers uninhabitable. Says Gerald Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, Calif.: "We were in favor of progress until we found out what it looks like," This ur- ban claustrophobia is largely a bipartisan phenomenon. In conservative Orange County, Calif., Republicans have joined with liberal Democrats on a ballot initia- tive to require developers to pay for the impact their projects have on city streets and services. Says Thomas Rogers, a co- sponsor of the measure and a self - described right - winger: "I've got a right to peaceful enjoyment of my property." That "right" has been jeopardized by California's surging population. Greater Los Angeles, with 8 million residents, is expected to surpass the New York City area as the nation's most populous me- tropolis in the 1990s. Neighboring Orange County is projected to swell 39% in the TIME, JANUARY 25, 198• next 20 years, to 3 million people, while average rush -hour freeway speeds plunge from 36 m.p.h. to an unbearable 10 m.p.h. In once sleepy San Diego County the pop- ulation has more than doubled since 1960, to 2.2 million. Says Maureen O'Connor, the Democratic mayor of conservative San Diego and an advocate of growth con- trol: "Development is a negative word in this community." Frustrated by unsympathetic city gov- ernments, residents are gathering signa- tures and forcing initiatives onto local ballots, overwhelming the resistance of politicians and the developers who fi- nance their campaigns. Of 17 slow - growth measures on California ballots last November, 15 passed. "There is a rage out there," admits Sanford Goodkin, a real es- tate consultant in San Diego. "Developers are scared to death." In Los Angeles slow - growthers gath- ered enough signatures to force Proposi- tion U onto the ballot in 1986. Approved by two- thirds of the voters, the measure halves the size of new buildings on much of the city's commercially zoned property. In San Francisco voters approved an ini- tiative that reduced the annual limit on new office space by half. In San Diego, where the once inviting hillsides are being covered by endless rows of identi- cal- looking houses, municipal services are swamped by surging demand. Last Au- gust the city council set a temporary limit on new housing at 8,000 units a year. In part, California's slow - growth movement is a product of the state's most celebrated previous initiative. Proposition 13, which passed in 1978, severely re- stricts property taxes. Unable to stick lo- cal taxpayers with the rising cost of ser- vices, cities have been forced to cut back on improvements, despite tremendous growth. Now, as the strain on roads, schools and water supplies becomes un- bearable, local governments are forcing developers to pick up the tab with heavy "impact fees." In San Francisco commer- cial developers must put aside money for low- income housing, parks, transporta- tion, child care and even public art. A lthough a forced slowdown of new building reduces the demand for costly expansion of city services, it inflates the cost of construction, real estate and rents. Says Karla Rainer, 31, a renter in San Diego: "These growth controls will probably kill my dream of owning a home. They've just turned this whole town into a seller's market." Many neighborhoods see no alterna- tive, particularly bedroom communities that once provided a tranquil escape from urban congestion but now resemble mini- cities themselves. In the past decade, sub- urbs have been swamped by an influx of jobs and development: about 60% of all office -space construction now takes place in the suburbs. Tired of fleeing growth, many residents are deciding to fight. To critics, this amounts to little more than a thinly veiled effort by affluent and largely white neighborhoods to exclude strangers while boosting the value of their homes. Observes San Diego's Sanford Goodkin• "A stranger is defined as anyone who bought a house the day after I did." He and others claim that the effect of growth controls will be most severe on the poor, cutting jobs and investment in their neighborhoods. But developers have never been eager to build in poorer areas, and many of those neighborhoods are equally concerned about congestion. In Los Ange- les, Proposition U passed by large margins in all 15 council districts, including Watts and other low- income communities. For now, developers are on the defen- sive, turning to the courts for relief and hop- ing that rising unemployment and real es- tate prices will eventually bring voters to their way of thinking. They could be in for a long wait. Says Kenneth Bley, a real estate lawyer in Los Angeles: "There are simply more voters than developers." Only now are enough of those angry voters making their numbers felt. —By Jon D. Huh/Los Angeles Florida's Growing Pains . C harles and Dianne Jones moved to Jacksonville last Sep - tember to escape Houston's depressed economy and stretch their dollar a little further in a state known for its low taxes. What they found along with the Florida sunshine were inadequate schools, clogged roads and poor social services. "We have a 16- year -old daughter who comes home from school with a different problem every day," says Mrs. Jones. "She can't get this; the school doesn't provide that. You get three cars on the road, and you have a traffic jam." Signs of decay are everywhere in Florida. The state's wa- terways are polluted, and its public health system is woeful. The prisons teem with criminals who are often released before their original sen- tences expire to make room for others. More than 300,000 newcomers arrive an- nually, straining a system already near the breakpoint. The state department of edu- cation estimates that it must absorb 800,000 new students and build 933 new schools during the next decade just to keep pace with growth. Rookie Republican Governor Bob Martinez hoped to finance the future with a 5% tax on the services industry, Florida's s` largest and fastest - growing sector of the economy. The tax, which became law last July, affected services from pet grooming to lawyers' fees. It was expected to produce $800 million in the first year and provide a solution to the state's need for money. But in September, Martinez called for ' a repeal of the tax amid a blizzard of criti- cism from advertisers, real estate agents and citizen groups who complained about Clogged roads In P f .fi alm Beach County inequities and red tape. Last month the legislature replaced the services tax with a penny increase in the state sales tax. Critics contend that the new 6% duty will raise no more than half of the estimated $52.9 billion that Florida will require for roads, schools, prisons and hospitals in ten years. The search for new money won't be easy. The state constitution bans a personal income tax, and other reve- nue raisers are equally unpalatable. "The people of Flori- da have not yet grasped the enormity of our financial problems," says Sam Bell, chairman of the Florida house appropriations committee. "We're not even talking about improvements here. We're just trying to keep from going under." At first, says Joe Serio, former Florida director of the American Association of Retired Persons, retirees often oppose fiscal measures need- ed to deal with Florida's problems. "But," he adds, "after a while they notice the long lines of autos wherever they go and the dif- ference in the quality of the libraries from where they came from." Many Floridians seem willing to pay for better services, but they share a widespread suspicion that the government is not suffi- ciently frugal In a recent study by Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit taxpayers group based in Tallahassee, the average respon- dent believed the government wastes a third of every dollar it spends. Says Reed Gidez, 28, who moved to Tampa from New Jersey a year ago: "I would be willing to pay more taxes if state leaders could convince me that they were actually going to do some- thing with the money." For the leaders of the fourth largest state in the nation, that will remain a challenge for years to come. —By Cristlna Garcia /Tallahassee TIME, JANUARY 25, 1988 25 ON' ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Will We Live in Accidental Cities or Successful Communities? IN THIS ISSUE: A wave of poorly managed growth is transforming America's suburbs and small towns, changing some suburbs into "ac cidental cities" and small towns into suburbs. This transformation is bringing to these com- munities many of the drawbacks of big cities, such as. traffic conge,Sti9:. , with „_few,_of the l�osi- five qualities that can make cities exciting and enjoyable places. While citizens, officials, and planners ponder what to do, some of the ingre- dients critical to making a community more livable - -open space, rivers and other natural features, scenic and productive agricultural lands, historic buildings—are deteriorating or disappearing rapidly. Flow can localities effectively manage growth and protect their special places? A review of sev- eral communities contains some answers. This issue examines those answers and takes a look at the Successful Communities Program, a new initiative of The Conservation Foundation that offers help to changing suburbs and small towns. This issue of the Letter was written by Todd K. Buchta, a member of the Communications staff of The Conservation Foundation. It is based in part on research conducted for the Foundation by Christopher J. I)uerksen, a former senior associate now with the Enterprise Foundation. 1987 No. 6 Fairfax County, Virginia, would seem to be doing quite well. More than half of its residents have household incomes greater than $50,000 a year, hold white - collar jobs, and are college graduates. Business is booming— within the coun- ty, the commercial crossroads of Tysons Corner has re- portedly become the ninth largest central business district in the United States.' Yet on November 3, 1987, in a Fairfax County elec- tion widely viewed as a referendum on local development, voters swept out of office a 12 -year incumbent regarded as the architect of the county's rapid growth and resulting snarled traffic. Despite all the signs of success, many in Fair- fax are obviously dissatisfied with its predicament and searching for alternatives. Fairfax County, just west of Washington, D,C., is only one of the many areas in the United States reeling from the consequences of rapid growth. From Maine to Florida and . California, close -in suburbs are becoming accidental cities, with many of the negative and few of the positive charac- teristics of traditional downtowns. Fairfax's recently rural Tysons Corner has 70,000 jobs, but, in the words of one consultant, "community life and institutions are almost en- tirely lacking in a way we normally understand downtowns as functioning. It's not a service center for the community. There's no historic identity, no schools, hospitals, govern- ment centers, libraries. "' Like a skipping stone that sends ripples across a pond, the transformation of suburbs like Tysons Corner has sent out waves of growth across the landscape. Rural areas are feeling the pressure, as new subdivisions in small towns fill with commuters, linking these towns more tightly to urban centers and ways of life. Fifty miles north of New York City in the rustic community of Somers, new Pepsico and IBM office complexes are bringing in 4,000 more people. The area's rural character, prized by the town's 15,000 current residents, is endangered.' In California's Contra Costa County, the unincorporated farm community of Oakley is concerned about becoming a bedroom community for San Francisco and is struggling to plan its future before it is too late.' As once pastoral towns such as these experience the reality of urban expansion, special strategies will be needed to protect their distinctive character. Of the many consequences of mindless growth, con- gestion seems to be attracting the most widespread atten- tion. On Long Island and outside San Diego and Philadel- phia, roads are increasingly crowded, while "rush hour" periods and commutes are steadily lengthening. National- 'i he Cunsvrvaliun I'011nlliniV❑ 1987 l'y, the number of cars is growing twice as fast as the number of peo- ple. Motorists are traveling twice as many miles per person as they did in 1960. In 1975, two in five urban in- terstates were congested at rush hour. Ten years later, it was three in five.' nderstanding the spread of the accidental city requires a look at changes in the nature of suburban areas. Metropolitan areas of the United States have been growing since the end of World War II. In 1950, 5.9 of U.S. land was desig- nated as "metropolitan "; by 1980, metropolitan areas made up 16 of U.S. land. By 1984, 76 of Ameri- cans lived in metropolitan areas, and 45% of them lived in suburbs.' Once almost solely residential, many suburbs now have "more jobs than bedrooms ": two- thirds of all jobs created between 1960 and 1980 were in suburbs, a shift that has brought a corresponding change in commuting patterns. The number of people who commute to a suburb has grown twice as fast as the number commuting to a central city. Now, nearly half of all commuters travel to a suburb to work. The long- accepted vision of urban regions, which assumed that most workers would have jobs downtown, is increasingly becoming obsolete. Signs of unhappiness with the con- sequences of rapid growth are every- where. Aside from elections such as that in Fairfax County, .1anc1 use regulations often provide the most convenient lever that citizens can pull to exert control over local quality of life, and they are pulling it. In 1986, Californians in various communities voted on 47 growth and development issues; in over 70% of these cases, voters favored growth management and stricter controls on development.' Citizens are also speaking with their wallets. In November 1987, voters approved bond issues in Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island representing $300 million of funding to help preserve open space, recreation lands, agri- cultural lands, historic sites, and decaying urban areas. Rhode Island's bond issue providing $65,2 million for open space preservation and park rehabilitation passed with an over- whelming 77 of the vote. Concern about urban growth and the resulting quality of life is not new; growth issues in the early 1970s received significant public attention, and the homogenization of the American landscape brought about by unsightly commercial strip devel- opment was decried then as now. What is new is the crescendo of na- tional attention to growth, thanks in large part to the visibility of equally widespread traffic congestion. Yet citizens, planners, officials, and developers have no clear vision against which to measure the success of growth management efforts. Victoria Tschienkel, former secretary of Florida's Department of Environ- mental Regulation, states: I think that we can probably take care of pollution - related problems in the state but it's going to be tough.. , . [Elven if we do that I'm not sure that this is going to be a very nice place to live, because of the densities of the popula- tion and lack of sense of community. Florida could end up as just one con- venience store after another. If we can't come up with an image of what this state should be we can protect the en- vironment, but will we still be glad to live here ? n important report on the American landscape makes specific recommendations to respond to the concerns expressed by Tschienkel and others. The 1987 report on Ameri- cans Outdoors, - prepared by--- the -- President's Commission on Ameri- cans Outdoors, speaks to the need for protecting "special places" as an essential component of quality of life and an important means of address- ing the growing homogenization of place." The commission urges state and local governments to help shape urban growth, recommending that "cornmunities target parts of their local heritage, including open space and natural, cultural, scenic, and wild- life resources, and build prairie fires of action to encourage that growth occur in appropriate areas and away from sensitive resources." "We each have the choice whether we want our communities as they grow to become a jumble of unsightly devel- opment and noisy concrete deserts, or whether we will preserve fresh, green pockets and corridors of living open space that cleanse our air and waters and refresh our populations," the report states. "Many experts have told us that the next five to fifteen years will be a critical time for preser- vation decisions in America. " To some, the commission's call may seem unrealistic: can communi- ties today really afford to protect historic buildings, open space, and other amenities? Given the economic outlook, however, there is mounting evidence that communities cannot af- ford not to. Research is showing that a comrnu.. nity's livability and quality of life is an important factor in retaining ex- isting businesses and attracting new ones, particularly in the most dy- namic sectors of the economy, such as health care, electronics, and ser- vices. Factors vary widely from in- dustry to industry, but a 1981 report revealed that the third most impor- tant location factor (after labor climate and proximity to markets) was an area's attractiveness to man- agers and engineers." For 35 of the firms surveyed, a community's liv- ability— including such factors as a good educational system and recrea- tion and cultural facilities —was a must factor. It was most important to firms employing high percentages of white - collar workers. Other studies confirm the impor- tance of quality of life in business siting decisions. The conclusions of c$ William K. Reilly, President Published bimonthly by The Conservation Foundation, 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037. © Copy- right 1987 by The Conservation Foundation. ISSN: 0091 -536X The CF Letter is abstracted or indexed by PAIS Bulletin, SAGE Journals, and Environmental Studies Institute, Santa Barbara, among others. Extra copies of single issue: Up to 14 copies, $1.50 each, 15 -24 copies, $1.00 each, 25 -49 copies, 759 each. 50 -99 copies, 600 each. 100 and over, 504' each. Postage in- cluded at lowest surface rates. Add 500 per order if bill- ing is required. Claims for missing issues will be fulfilled only within six months of issue date. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Conserva- tion tion foundation Letter, 1250 24th Street, NW, Waish- ington, DC 20037. Suburban areas such as this San Francisco Bay community are in danger of losing the special assets which lend them distinction and character. an Austin, Texas, quality -of -life study very likely apply to other com- munities: "Not only does a favorable quality of life help hold down the wages required to remain competi- tive, but it is especially important for recruiting and retaining the highly skilled workers required by Austin's growing high -tech economy... Those workers have many options for employment in other locations, some of which have a quality of life rated even higher than Austin's. "" Quality of Life likely will be even more important to business in the future. The Bureau of Labor Statis- tics projects that the fastest- growing occupations to the year 2000 will be in high -skill fields such as engi- neering, computer programming, nursing, law, and accounting. The people in these professions are the same ones whom the Austin study identified as placing more importance on quality of life in choosing a place to live. r° <<° l_ he challenge of growth must be met locally. Zoning and other forms of land -use authority in the United States rest with local government, and local officials and citizens clearly have the most intimate understanding of their situations when it comes to crafting appropriate solutions to prob- lems. Yet few of the localities in the path of growth may be able to antici- pate its consequences in time to re- spond effectively. Moreover, recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have created uncertainty about local power to address these issues." In response to these needs, The Conservation Foundation has begun a concerted effort to make national land -use and conservation expertise available at the local level. The cen- tral goal of its new Successful Com- munities Program (see box on page 4) is to help changing suburbs and small towns respond to growth by identify- ing and protecting the natural and cultural resources that give a com- munity its distinctiveness and add to its quality of life. The prospect for successfully re- sponding to growth is not as grim as it may first appear. While citizens may despair that increasing traffic congestion and homogenization inevi- tably will degrade their community, there are signs that communities can and will take significant steps to im- prove the quality of life in their neigh- borhoods and local environments. For example, since a landmark 1978 Supreme Court decision affirm- ing local authority to protect historic structures, the number of local pre- servation ordinances that control demolition and alteration in historic and architecturally significant neigh- borhoods has risen from 1,000 to 1,500. Residents in towns such as Westmont, Pennsylvania; Kenne- bunkport, Maine; and Grosse Pointe, Michigan have gone to great lengths 3 v e. 4 THE SUCCESSFUL COMI.MIUNITIES PROGRAM: Helping to Save Special Places For decades, The Conservation Foundation has provided national and state leadership in land -use management and preservation, ap- plying its extensive experience in fashioning innovative approaches to the conservation of land and other natural and historic resources. Now, in response to the continu- ing degradation of the American landscape, the Foundation has in- itiated the Successful Communi- ties Program. The - Successful Communities Program will foster the adoption of community strategies to identify and protect distinctive resources — including greenways, scenic byways, free - flowing rivers, wetlands, shore- lines, historic structures, and other resources of special concern. These strategies will go beyond preserva- tion, seeking also to assure that future growth respects the benefits that protected resources can pro- vide. Successful Communities will help communities to build and create in sensitive ways, as well as to preserve and protect. The pro- gram includes three components: • Assistance to leadership com- munities. As the core of its work, Successful Communities will assist carefully selected "leadership communities" to develop and adopt wise conservation strategies. It will serve these communities by helping concerned citizens to create the local awareness and tools that make conservation hap- pen. To this effort, Successful Communities will bring The Con- servation Foundation's acknowl- edged expertise in consensus building and its long experience in planning and preservation. The involvement. of Successful Communities will be carefully tailored to local needs. In some communities, officials and other citizens may want only brief con- sultation about successful conser- vation strategies. Others may seek immediate assistance from the program's "field team." Still others may want long-term assis- tance in creating community awareness and fashioning and im- plementing conservation strate- gies. Small, catalytic grants will be available to spur innovation in a few selected areas. • The Successful Communities Trust. Besides providing technical assistance, Successful Communi- ties will help some communities through an independent, not -for- profit land trust, the Successful Communities Trust. The tax - exempt land trust is a tool of enor- mous potential that may be used by participating communities in support of their land conservation objectives, including the protec- tion of naturally and historically significant "special places." The Successful Communities Trust will be active only to the extent that ex- isting trusts cannot intervene. It will complement the work, for ex- ample, of the American Farmland Trust, which is concerned with the protection of agricultural land, and the Nature Conservancy, which specializes in the preserva- tion of natural diversity. By hav- ing access to an affiliated land trust, the Successful Communities Program will be able to assist directly with the implementation of land conservation and develop - ment plans and to participate in the real estate marketplace as a representative of the public interest. • Research and Policy Develop- ment. In its research, Successful Communities will pay particular attention to policy issues, as they unfold in Washington and state capitals, that affect the ability of communities to successfully manage growth. Working cooperatively with other organizations, Success- ful Communities will serve as a principal follow -up effort to the work of the President's Conn - mission. Developing policies based on sound analysis will help ensure that the desires of communities to retain their distinctiveness are reflected in federal and state policies. Research at the state and national level will identify the trends and techniques that reflect changing needs and values. Research al the federal, state, and local levels will also enable Successful Communities to serve America's changing towns with technical assistance. Its services will include a Guidebook to Suc- cessful Communities, a how -to manual on what snakes some areas more livable than others, and a Successful Communities. Newslet- ter to keep communities informed of opportunities and innovations. Successful Communities will be directed by Douglas P. Wheeler, an attorney and conservationist with long experience in govern- ment and the not -for- profit sector, now a Conservation Foundation vice - president, and Michael Man - tell, director of the Foundation's Land, Heritage, and Wildlife Program. "Helping local communities kindle the `prairie fires of local ac- tion' called for by the President's Commission on Americans Out- doors to ensure wise development is a demanding task," says Doug Wheeler. "It will require patience, perseverance, creativity, and the development of a new consensus to anticipate and respond effec- tively to changes in the special communities where we live and work. It will require working closely with local partners —the in- dividuals and organizations at- tempting to make their communi- ties livable for the long run. Through Successful Communities, The Conservation Foundation will bring a national perspective and considerable expertise to the resolution of difficult local development issues. No less than the livability of our communities and the very character of the American landscape are at stake." 1 Uradatii CY in Commentary A Landmark Global Treaty at Montreal On September 16, 1987, at the con- clusion of a conference held in Mon- treal, representatives of 24 nations from every continent signed a treaty to limit production and consumption of several chemicals that are believed to cause virtually irreversible damage to the fragile stratospheric ozone layer. Among the signatories were nearly all of the world's major pro- ducers and consumer countries. In addition, other nations among the nearly 50 in attendance indicated that they would probably join in the com- ing months. The accord provides for a near- term freeze, followed by scheduled reductions, in use of several chloro- fluorocarbon (CFC) and bromine (halon) compounds. Depletion of the ozone layer caused by these synthetic chemicals would result in increased ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface, with potentially sig- nificant adverse implications for human, animal, and plant life. In ad- dition, CFCs have the qualities of a "greenhouse gas," thus contributing to the global warming trend and the resulting dangers for agriculture and rising sea levels. Against these risks were weighed the costs of replacing chemicals useful in refrigeration, air conditioning, plastics, insulation, aerosol sprays, fire fighting, and computers. Several features of the Montreal treaty, and the process by which it was achieved, mark it as a historic ac- complishment with important lessons for future international environmen- tal cooperation. First, it was unprece- dented for the global community to impose controls on an important in- dustrial sector before actual damages to human health and ecology were registered. This was not a response to an environmental disaster, such as Chernobyl or the Rhine River spill. Rather, it was a conscious preventa- tive action, on a global scale, which involved several years of collabora- tive scientific research and analysis, and arduous intergovernmental nego- tiations to reconcile numerous diverse and conflicting interests. Second, the treaty could never have been accomplished without close cooperation between govern- ment policy makers and the inter- national scientific community, work- ing at the frontiers of modern science. Only relatively recent —and still evolv- ing— advances in computer modeling of atmospheric chemistry and satellite measurement of ozone and trace gases could enable governments to undertake costly controls in advance of actual recorded damages. (It is worth noting that the widely publicized "hole" in the ozone layer over the South Pole was not factored into the negotiations because of the lack of evidence that this phenomenon could occur outside of the unique Antarctic climate.) Third, in the face of remaining un- certainty concerning the extent both of future ozone depletion and of potential deleterious effects, the par- ties undertook a unique process of risk assessment. Government officials, scientists, and representatives of in- dustry and environmental groups met as individuals in a series of informal workshops, without predetermined national positions. To a degree that surprised even many participants, this innovative process was able to achieve a cooperative spirit and a degree of consensus even before the actual negotiations began. The treaty negotiations themselves covered only four formal sessions in the 10 -month period from December 1986 to Sep- tember 1987. Considering the com- plexity of the issues involved — political, environmental, economic, scientific, technological, trade, geographical —this was an impressive achievement. Fourth, the United Nations En- vironment Program (UNEP) played a critical role in this process. This small UN agency, with an annual budget of less than $40 million, spon- sored the workshops and negotiations and provided an objective international forum without the extraneous political debate that has so often marred the work of other UN bodies. The political sensitivity and diploma- tic skills of UNEP's executive direc- tor Mostafa Tolba, himself a scien- tist, were indispensable during the often hard negotiations. UNEP was the very model of how a UN agency should function. Fifth, the leadership role of the United States, which had as early as 1978 undertaken major controls on CFCs, and which is the center for scientific researclr_on this subject, was a major factor. Especially during the period from fall 1986 through spring 1987, a series of diplomatic initia- tives, bilateral scientific and policy missions, and use of international media all served to reach foreign policy makers and publics —which in some countries were initially hostile or indifferent —with the rationale for the U.S. position. The treaty as eventu- ally signed was, in fact, based on the structure and concept initially ad- vanced by the United States late in 1986. The U.S. private sector and Con- gress made important contributions to the process. U.S. environmental groups helped inform foreign public opinion of the dangers of ozone layer depletion, while American industry was far ahead of European and Jap- anese producers in acknowledging its responsibility and supporting further controls on both CFCs and !talons. And the,U.S._ Congress, through hear- ings, resolutions, and proposed legis- lation, served notice to the rest of the world that, if an acceptable inter- national accord were not attained, it was prepared to legislate unilaterally, with trade restrictions against coun- tries not accepting their share of this global responsibility, While the Montreal treaty is not perfect and will require further tech- nical and legal clarification, it does represent a prudent international in- surance policy in response to a very complex set of issues and uncertain- ties. An important innovation is the firm schedule for reductions in con - surnption and production of the con- trolled chemicals, which provides clear market incentives to industry to develop new technologies and substi- tute products. (In this connection, The Conservation Foundation, to- gether with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada, is cosponsoring a conference and trade fair in January 1988 on CIF PUBLISHES PROCEEDINGS ON RISK COMMUNICATION The Conservation Foundation has published the pro- ceedings of a top -level conference of experts on risk communication —the transmission of information about health and environmental risks, their significance, and the policies aimed at managing them. This process can range from putting warning labels on consumer products to the interaction among government officials, industry represen- tatives, and the public with regard to risks and their management. The book, Risk Communication, was edited by J. Clarence Davies, Vincent T. Covello, and Frederick W. Allen. The conference was held in January 1986 in Wash- ington, D.C. Among the contributors were Lee M. Thomas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency; William D. Ruckelshaus, former head of the agency; Frank Press, presi- dent of the National A.cademy of Sciences; and Alan McGowan, president of the Scientists' Institute for Public Information. The report examines the responsibility of communicators to understand a risk and communicate it in such a way that the audience can make informed decisions; the ways govern- ment and industry officials can promote credibility and trust; and the role of the media in reporting accurate and non - sensational information. Also included are case studies illus- trating successes and mistakes. (1987. Paperback, 143 pages. $15.00) REPORT EXAMINES GRANTS FOR STATE PARKLANDS The federal program that has provided money for state and local parks needs to be evaluated and redesigned to meet the nation's changing recreation needs, according to a new Conservation Foundation study, State Grants for Parklands 1965 - 1984. Since 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), in addition to funding federal parkland ac- quisition, has provided $3.2 billion to help states and local governments buy and develop parklands for over 30,000 state and local recreational projects. Total funding under LWCF is $6.8 billion. substitutes and alternatives to CFCs and batons.) Another significant ele- ment of the treaty is that it is crafted as a dynamic instrument, which can be adapted to changing conditions, such as implications of the still emerging scientific evidence on the Antarctic ozone "hole." In sure, in undertaking collaborative preventa- tive action to protect future genera- tions from potential dangers, the nations represented at Montreal charted new paths in environmental cooperation and established both a precedent and a standard by which future international negotiations will be measured. —Ambassador Richard Elliot Benedicic, a career diplomat, is currently a senior fellow at The Conservation Foundation. He is on detail from the U.S. Depart- ment of State, where he was deputy assistant secretary and principal U.S. negotiator for the Montreal treaty. "The Lancl and Water Conservation Fund has created a remarkable legacy of parklands," says author Phyllis Myers, a Foundation senior associate. "The question is not whether there should be a partnership, but what form it should take for the next generation." The LWCF is scheduled to dissolve in two years and Congress is now gearing up for a major debate on its future. State Grants for Parklands examines the fund's use by states and local governments and suggests new directions. Among the changed circumstances, Myers notes, are the large. number of private groups working to conserve and manage parklands; the increased interest in protecting fragile natural areas and historic and cultural resources; and the complexity of new concepts for greenways and trails. The study explores possibilities for a new fund, including measures to nurture creative activity by private groups and individuals; small grants to spur grass -roots innovation; and a self- generating, stable source of income with some degree of insulation from the annual congressional appropriations process. (1987. Paperback, 21 pages. $8.50) WESTERN WATER STUDY PUBLISHED The Conservation Foundation .has published a research paper examining the implications of increasing competition for water supplies in the West and the shift to market forces to resolve this competition. Called Options for Protecting Social Values in Western Water Transfers Out of Agricul- ture, it was written by Foundation associate Philip C. Metzger. Metzger points out that the days are over when prospec- tive water users can just take a number and join a line to claim water from a stream. Also gone are the days of massive new federal water development projects. "The era of man- agement has arrived," he says. "This management era should logically provide the tools that would permit users to shift water to the places of greatest need or demand; specifically a legal system that enables most transfers of water rights to be made without great ado." The paper ex- plores possible techniques for achieving this goal. (1987. Paperback, 34 pages. $5.00) to protect their majestic elm trees." The urban renovation efforts of Austin and Baltimore have reaped much acclaim— Austin has built a popular trail system along the creeks in the limestone hills around the city, and Baltimore has built a festive mar- - ketplace using its harbor as a draw- ing card. To emulate the success of such places, communities across the United States are realizing that they must manage growth more effective- ly. But what specifically do com- munities manage for? What does it take to make a community distinctive and thus successful? Research at The Conservation Foundation has sought to determine what factors have led to successful communities. Christopher J. Duerk- sen, a land -use attorney and former senior associate of the Foundation now with the Enterprise Foundation, investigated a diverse set of com- munities whose efforts.to protect and enhance livability have been success- ful. Duerksen's work has identified some factors that appear critical for success:" • Successful communities build , their land -use planning around assets that make them distinctive._ Identifying distinctive assets — historic buildings, rivers, and strik- ing views —and designing planning efforts around them has rallied citizen support and led to many acclaimed community revitalization projects. The asset chosen by San Antonio, Texas, was a small river that at one time was to be destroyed. When the San Antonio River flooded clown - town San Antonio in the mid- 1920s, proposals were made to control the river by burying it under concrete. However, a young architect had a vi- sion of the river as a beautiful canal lined by trees, a flagstone walkway, shops, and art galleries. He took that vision to the San Antonio Conserva- tion Society, and together they per- suaded local officials and the business community that the San Antonio River could be a great asset to the city. It took over 30 years, but today the Riverwalk is a great amenity for downtown and the focal point of the city's tourist and convention trade. Nearly $1 billion in revenue for the Poorly managed growth contributes to the loss of natural features such as these wetlands in California and adds to the degradation of the American landscape. San Antonio economy is now being generated by tourism. w Successful communities build their land -use planning around a vision of what the community could be. Without a vision, a river does not become the site of a Riverwalk. Com- munities have a great opportunity when a crisis is recognized, when a river floods or when traffic is suf- focating a neighborhood. At such times, by focusing on a vision with popular appeal, successful communi- ties have converted public anger and frustration into enthusiasm for capitalizing on local assets and re- juvenating the community. Obviously, not every community has a scenic river or breathtaking view of a mountain range. Nearly all, however, have some asset —often un- noticed —that can serve to make the community distinctive. Near Boston, the Massachusetts town of Lowell used unlikely assets such as olcl fac- tories to spur a renaissance. In the middle to late 1800s Lowell was the crucible of the Industrial Revolution in the United States and home to ear- ly experimentation with assembly lines and automation. But in this cen- tury, Lowell declined as industries, particularly textiles, moved to the South. Buildings were abandoned; unemployment skyrocketed in the 1960s and 1970s. While Lowell's prospects seemed grim, the community identified its assets, defined what was unique about them, and created a vision of Lowell proud of its heritage from the industrial Revolution. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas helped Lowell gain federal designation as a national historic park. With federal planning assistance, the local government re- stricted the demolition of old build- ings and set guidelines for renova- tion. Today, one old building has been turned into a state museum to chronicle the Industrial Revolution. Old factories have been rehabilitated for senior citizen housing. New con- struction abounds, including a large hotel built by the Hilton Hotels Cor- poration to service tourists and the revitalized business community. • Successful communities go beyond ecological and economic con- siderations in land -use regulation and pay attention to aesthetic concerns. For decades, planners have sought to fashion successful communities through economic development and environmental planning measures. Local governments have provided in- centives to attract businesses and establish job training centers in high - unemployment areas. Through zon- ing techniques and engineering solu- tions, local authorities have tried to ensure that sewage facilities are ade- quate and that new construction does not occur in flood plains. But successful communities have realized that this is not enough. In 5 response to public demand, success- ful communities are not only con- tinuing their traditional efforts, they are paying greater attention to build- ing design, tree protection, historic preservation, landscaping, and signs. In Sanibel Island, Florida, em- phasis is being placed on protecting vegetation to help maintain the original appearance of the barrier island on which the city is built. The city's planning advisory committee reviews each site plan and advises developers on how to avoid destroy- ing natural vegetation. If indigenous species and natural vegetation are destroyed in the development pro- cess, they must be replaced or com- pensated for elsewhere on the site. The Sanibel - Captiva Conservation Foundation runs a native plant nursery, which can supply plants to developers and homeowners for land- scaping or revegetating sites damaged during construction. In Lubbock, a town on the west Texas plains, a key component of the quality -of -life improvement effort was to remove the billboards and signs that were starting to overwhelm the town's wide streets. Now, less ob- trusive signs allow travelers to notice the town's attractive Spanish -style ar- chitecture. • Successful communities go beyond regulations to secure quality development. In some cases, regulations are too blunt a tool with which to fashion a livable community. While regulations are essential in establishing a min- imum code of conduct, they do a bet- ter job of preventing the worst than of creating the best development and are least effective where economies are stagnant. To supplement regula- tions, other tools can be used, includ- ing private land trusts that acquire critical parcels of land and public- private partnerships that rely on a mix of public and private funding and initiative. Not - for - profit land trusts can make an especially important con- tribution to promoting successful communities by acquiring land or development rights to protect places vulnerable to the effects of growth or change. In an innovative approach, Philadelphia's Natural Lands Trust has acquired through donation Meadow Farms, a large farm in an area subject to intense growth pres- sures. While seeking to protect the farm's most sensitive land from devel- opment, the Natural Lands Trust has made several other parcels available for sale. These portions are subdivided and sold with strict conservation ease- ments and restrictions to homeowners for limited development purposes. Proceeds from these sales will be used for the farm's long -term management and the protection of surrounding open space. • Successful comm are spurred by "hometown heroes" — persistent local individuals who spear- head land -use conservation and plan- ning efforts. While the challenge of growth must be met locally, few localities may be able to antici- pate its consequences in time to respond effectively. 6 Whether they are local politicians, neighborhood activists, or persistent county residents, leaders with tena- city are critical to successful com- munities. Although growth is viewed by most citizens as an intractable problem, individual citizens in fact do make a difference. Among the many such individuals identified in the Foundation's re- search is the Chicago area's Gerry Adelman, who has worked with vari- ous organizations and continually prodded citizens and officials in order to realize his vision of a linear park running from Chicago down the Illi- nois- Michigan Canal to the Mississip- pi River. Today the precedent - setting Illinois- Michigan National Heritage Corridor protects historical resources of canal towns while providing re- creational assets and a boost to eco- nomically depressed communities. Along the corridor, a warehouse in Lockport has become a state museum and restaurant. In Joliet, old steel mills are being converted to an office complex that will be marketed by em- phasizing the attractiveness of his- toric locks and canals. • Successful communities have ef- fective quality -of -life lobbies that can ensure continuing positive government response. Alongside "hometown heroes," effective quality -of -life lobbies pro- vide a measure of continuity in leader- ship for the duration of sometimes lengthy preservation efforts. In San Antonio, for example, the San An- tonio Conservation Society both con- tinues as a watchdog and contributes money to promising redevelopment projects, not only along the San An- tonio Riverwalk it helped establish but throughout the city. In Fredericks- burg, Virginia, representatives of Friends of the Rappahannock appear regularly at local zoning board and planning commission hearings to make sure elected officials recognize the political constituency behind pro- tecting the Rappahannock River. The organization also hosts river cleanups three or four times a year to remove trash, raise awareness, and gain sup- port for the river. On a statewide level, 1,000 Friends of Oregon has made the critical difference in numer- ous land -use decisions. To achieve success, communities cannot ignore aesthetics. Controls on signs can hell avoid unsightly thoroughfares. • Successful communities have savvy developers. The developers behind projects that make communities successful have several characteristics in com- mon. They work hand -in -hand with the community before and during the development process. They sell their vision and their product to the whole community, not just to local officials and business leaders. They are often willing to take a chance on projects that traditional developers and bankers are afraid to touch. They pay attention to environmental and aes- thetic concerns and listen to the con- cerns of neighbors. Often, these developers have local ties and in some way have to live with the consequences ORDER FORM Please send me the following Conservation Foundation publications. No, of Copies Title SHIP TO: Name Address City of their projects. The motivation of such developers need not be altruistic. In this period of heightened citizen concern over development, failing to take the time for community involvement can re- sult in rejected project proposals. But "savvy" approaches can also be pro- fitable— witness the financial success of developer James Rouse's popular Faneuil Hall in Boston and Harbor - place in Baltimore. • Savvy developers need smart communities. Innovative, participation - oriented developers are most likely to prosper with communities that can respond creatively to new ideas, that can use a variety of tools and techniques to accomplish their goals, and that are willing to sit down at the table with developers to fashion approaches that meet public as well as private needs. Baltimore is one example of a community that flexibly used multi- ple planning techniques to ensure that development of Harborplace could take place and was sound. Successful communities are also careful —they learn to negotiate with developers effectively to make sure they receive an acceptable return on every local dollar spent. This is par- ticularly important with small com- rnunities, which often have less plan- ning expertise and are eager for large development projects. Without prop- er review, such projects may end up draining, rather than enriching, the Local economy. s the Foundation's work con- tinues, these observations on success- ful communities will undoubtedly be refined. Still, the factors for success identified here can serve as guideposts for those communities planning their own futures. Communities that have failed to identify their distinctive assets and that have ignored aesthetic considerations may now wish to re- examine their strategies. Communi- ties without quality -of -life lobbies to sustain the call for growth manage- ment from one election to the next may need to establish one. While there is an increasing wealth of knowledge about what makes suc- Price Shipping and Handling $2.00 Total Enclosed State ZIP Check, money order, or purchase order must accompany all orders. Payment must be in U.S, funds. Please allow 4 -6 weeks for delivery. Prices subject to Change without notice. 7 The Conservation Foundation will hold a conference entitled "Successful Communities or Ac- cidental Cities? Managing Growth to Protect America's Special Places" in spring 1988 in Fort Worth, Texas. This gathering of concerned planners and devel- opers; representatives from con- servation, historic preservation, and community organizations; and government officials will ad- dress the challenges before subur- ban and small -town communities that are faced with the prospect of becoming accidental cities unless they can begirt to manage growth cessful communities, the burden rests with America's changing suburbs and small towns to recognize and react to their particular predicaments in posi- tive ways. The alternative is final vic- tory for urban sprawl, as accidental cities fill in the spaces between tradi- tional cities, - devouring cultural assets and natural beauty while creating an unsightly urban mass with no sense of place and little worth caring about. Notes: 'William K. Stevens, "Defining the 'Outer City': For Now, Call It I-Iybrid," The New NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES TO BE HELD 1250 24th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 more effectively. . The Successful Communities Program also is preparing a new publication, the Successful Com- munities Newsletter, which covers the latest developments in growth management and efforts to protect special places in suburban and small -town communities. For conference or newsletter subscription information, contact: Successful Communities The Conservation Foundation 1250 Twenty- fourth Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 (202) 293 -4800 York Times, October 11, 1987. 'Ibid. 'Amy Dunkin, "The Welcome Wagon Won't Roll Out for Pepsi and IBM," Business Week, May 18, 1987. `Kathy Bodovitz, "Surviving Contra Costa's Growth: A Farm Town Tackles Its Urban Future," San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 1987. 'Clemens P. Work et al,, "Jam Sessions," U.S. News and World Report, September 7, 1987. °U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1986 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office, 1986), p. 19, table 20. 'Based on July 1, 1984, estimates. See Donald Starsinic, Patterns of Metropolitan Area and County Population Growth: 1980- 1984, prepared for U.S. Department of Com- 12 55121MEISTE795A EDWARD hIEISTER OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR CITY OF EAGAN 3795 PILOT KNOB ROAD BOX N 21129 EAGAN merce, Bureau of the Census (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985),, p.2, table A, and p. 7, table F. "Kiplinger California Letter, 23 (July 16, 1987): 7. 'William K. Reilly, ed., The Use of Land: A Citizens' Policy Guide to Urban Growth, a task force report sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (New York: Thomas Y. Cro- well, 1973). i°Quoted in Christopher J. Duerksen, Aesthe- tics and Land -Use Controls: Beyond Ecology and Economics, American Planning Associa- tion Planning Advisory Service Report No. 399, p. 1. "See Conservation Foundation Letter, No. 2, 1987. 1 9'he President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, Americans Outdoors: The Legacy, The Challenge (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1987), pp. 215 -16. "Roger W. Schmenner, Making Business Location (Englewood Cliffs, N,J.: Prentice - Hall, 1982); and Roger W. Schmenner, "Loca- tion Decisions of Large Firms: Implications for Public Policy," Economic Development Com- ment 5 (January 1981):5. "Dowell Myers, Priorities in Austin's Quali- ty of Life (Austin, Tex,: University of Texas, School of Architecture, 1985). "See First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of Los Angeles 107 S.Ct. 2378 (1987) and Notion v. Coastal Commission 55 U.S.L.W. 5145 (June 26, 1987). • 1 'Personal communication, Stephen Dennis, National Center for Preservation Law. ''Tara Bradley - Steck, "The Nightmare on Elm Street: Towns Fight to Save Stately Trees," Associated Press news story in Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1987. See also Duerksen, Aesthetics and Land -Use Controls. "Christopher J. Duerksen, Successful Com- munities, in manuscript. Non - Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No, 9693 Washington, D.C. 1987 No. 6