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Louisiana
Glendening Credits Citizen Advocacy and Community Groups for Making Smart Growth a Priority Issue
''Smart Growth is becoming 'THE' issue in state and local politics and it is the citizen advocacy and community groups that are bringing it to the forefront and keeping it there!'' said Smart Growth Institute President, former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening in a speech to some 200 officials, activists and business leaders gathered by Plan Baton Rouge and Forum 35 at the city's Old State Capitol.
The former Maryland governor noted that since his 1997 Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation initiative, the idea has spawned programs in 27 states and earned commitment from leaders as diverse as former Utah Republican Governor, EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt and former U.S. Energy Secretary, New Mexico Democratic Governor Bill Richardson.
In Maryland, Glendening said, the new philosophy was, ''Sorry, the state will not pay to subsidize sprawl.'' The goal was to protect and enhance towns and cities, identify and preserve the best farms and natural areas, and save taxpayers from the high cost of the new infrastructure and services demanded by sprawl, he noted, pointing out that the state helped build in older communities and designated growth areas, but all outside construction required full private or local funding for roads, water and sewer lines, and schools, with developers or area officials having ''to explain -- to customers or taxpayers -- why they are driving up the cost of a project.''
All the state's 157 municipalities and the heavily urbanized expanse inside the Baltimore and Washington beltways became Smart Growth areas, while all its 23 counties were required to designate Priority Funding Areas, with a minimum housing density of 3.5 units per acre, current water and sewer services, and relevant 20-year population projections.
While the state aided growth in target areas, it also saved nearly 400,000 acres in eight years -- about a quarter of its protected land total.
Describing himself as ''a passionate environmentalist,'' the governor stressed the crucial importance of density in the fight against sprawl. ''Density, design and mixed-use development go hand in hand economically and socially,'' which includes new issues of community participation and affordable housing, he said, calling Smart Growth ''a political battle of wills.''
Telling its advocates to lead officials and business leaders ''in the right direction,'' he said, ''We have to show business groups that building and redeveloping in smart growth areas is also where they will find the profits.'' And the biggest profits are in downtown and ''carefully designed, high-density, mixed use growth areas.''
With some trying ''to pit conservatives versus progressives on Smart Growth,'' but with Maryland having proved that the so-called choice between economic growth and environmental protection is a ''false dichotomy,'' the governor called Smart Growth a conservative idea, since it saves money, and urged Baton Rouge residents to continue their strong push for a better quality of life.
He closed with remarks on the nation's ''three great waves of environmentalism.'' In the early 1900s, the first wave was led by President Teddy Roosevelt and Sierra Club founder John Muir, securing preservation of Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and other great natural areas. In the 1960s, the second wave was spurred by Rachel Carson's book ''Silent Spring,'' leading to overhaul of federal and state environmental laws and bans on many toxic air and water pollutants. The third wave should be a movement toward Smart Growth, the governor said, concluding, ''If we are going to be successful in this third wave, we must stop sprawl.''
7/6/2004
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