City Officials Think Regionally to Tackle Transportation, Housing and Environmental Issues
California’s population, estimated at 37 million in 2010, is
expected to grow to nearly 60 million people by the year 2050. As
California grows, issues affecting cities are increasingly
regional in nature. To help manage this growth and its associated
challenges, city officials are participating more extensively in
regional planning efforts.
Perhaps foremost among these efforts is the regional planning for
sustainability currently under way in each of California’s
urbanized metropolitan regions. This planning effort is aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks,
which contribute to climate change. In the process, regional
planning can help local communities address shared challenges,
such as improving air quality, meeting housing needs, fostering
economic development and providing transportation networks to
serve a growing population.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Regional Planning
Cars and light trucks account for about 30 percent of
California’s greenhouse gas emissions. When other types of
vehicles are included, transportation overall accounts for 40
percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions.
California is seeking to cut carbon emissions generated by cars
and light trucks in two ways:
- Reduce the amount of carbon that each vehicle emits, through measures like fleet efficiency standards and a low-carbon fuel standard. These measures require vehicles to use less fuel and fuel to use less carbon (for more information, see the state’s AB 32 Scoping Plan at www.ca-ilg.org/AB32ScopingPlan); and
- Reduce the frequency and distance that people need to drive. In this vein, a recent state law (SB 375) modifies the regional planning processes for transportation and housing with the goal of creating transportation networks and land-use patterns so people will drive fewer miles in their cars.
Sustainable Communities Strategies: Linking Transportation, Land Use and Housing
The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in each urban region
is charged with developing a Sustainable Communities Strategy as
part of its regional transportation plan, demonstrating how
changes in land-use and transportation patterns and investments
can meet regional greenhouse gas reduction targets set by the
California Air Resources Board. This requirement does not apply
to regional transportation planning agencies that are not within
the jurisdiction of an MPO (for a list of the metropolitan
regions and a timeline of SB 375 activities, visit www.ca-ilg.org/RegionalPlanning).
The Sustainable Communities Strategy provides each metropolitan
region with a tool for synchronizing three state-mandated
planning processes:
- The regional transportation plan (RTP);
- The regional housing needs allocation (RHNA); and
- Updating the housing element of the General Plan for each city and county in the region.
A Sustainable Communities Strategy provides a regional framework
for growth that identifies the “general location of uses,
residential densities and building intensities” within the region
as well as areas sufficient to meet the region’s housing needs
and a regional transportation network adequate to serve that
growth.
“We are in the midst of preparing a Sustainable Communities
Strategy, and we have a special set of challenges in the San
Francisco Bay Area,” said Union City Mayor Mark Green, president
of the Association of Bay Area Governments, speaking to a
gathering of local officials in October 2010. “We have a
population of 7 million, a tremendous amount of economic
activity, and 101 cities and nine counties — not to mention
hundreds of special districts. The only way we can achieve
sustainable growth is through partnership and collaboration.”
How Do These Regional Plans Affect Local General Plans?
SB 375 specifically provides that cities and counties retain
ultimate authority over local land-use decisions. Cities and
counties are not required to amend or update their General Plan
to conform to the land-use patterns included in the regional
transportation plan and the Sustainable Communities Strategy.
However, because the regional transportation plan, regional
housing needs allocation and Sustainable Communities Strategy are
based on a common set of land-use assumptions, these regional
plans offer a collective vision that may influence how local
general plans evolve over time.
For example, to achieve the region’s greenhouse gas reduction
target, the Sustainable Communities Strategy could include
land-use patterns that differ from those previously envisioned in
the region. However, the assumptions used in developing the
strategy must be grounded in what the local governments are
reasonably likely to include in their plans and approve.
In addition, the housing element of a city or county General Plan
must include goals and policies for how the locality will provide
for its share of the regional housing need, including zoning and
land-use policies. Because all general plans must be internally
consistent, local officials may revise other plan elements (such
as land use and circulation) to reflect the land-use assumptions
contained in the updated housing element. Local jurisdictions may
also decide to amend their general plans to be consistent with
the Sustainable Communities Strategy and to help streamline the
environmental review of development projects.
Involving the Public
The success of California’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions through coordinated regional and local planning will
depend in large part on the extent of public support for the
proposed changes to land use, transportation and housing patterns
included in regional and local plans. Public support in turn
requires that residents and stakeholders be informed, consulted,
involved and heard as local officials make decisions about the
future of their communities through the regional planning
process.
Both state and federal law include requirements to facilitate
public participation in the development of regional
transportation plans. SB 375 includes separate, additional
requirements for public participation in the development of
sustainable communities strategies. In addition, state law
requires local governments to make a diligent effort to achieve
the public participation of people of all income levels when
updating the housing element of the General Plan.
City officials can play a leadership role in developing regional
approaches to help solve local problems by encouraging their
constituents and other members of the public to actively
participate in regional planning — and by participating in that
planning process themselves.
Additional Resources
- SB 375 and Regional Planning
- Planning Sustainable Communities
- Understanding the Basics of Land Use and Planning
- Participating Effectively in the Planning Process
- Land Use and Planning Websites and Organizations
This whitepaper originally appeared as an article in the March 2011 issue of Western City magazine.
A PDF of this whitepaper is available for download at right under “Documents & Resources.”