In comments on Jim Bacon’s 7 November post “ Stupid Growth in Maryland” a frequent commentor makes a common error concerning the fundamental causes of human settlement pattern dysfunction.
In the US of A, states are constrained by the federal constitution, however, within that framework states are free to ‘centrally plan’ or ‘delegate’ most powers that impact human settlement patterns – shelter, transport, utilities and distribution of land uses to list a few.
The Home Rule and Dillon Rule debates concerns what municipal Agencies (counties, cities, districts, townships, villages, et. al.) can do, ABSENT specific guidance from the state.
There are 50 variations of state control / delegation of powers but NONE of them result in functional settlement patterns at the Regional or SubRegional scales. (A second commentor did not read the original WaPo story which demonstrated that Montgomery County, MD was the site of stupid growth.)
If one understands what they are looking at and takes into consideration the existence of specific infrastructure investments and some superficial municipal variations – e.g. five acre lifestyle zoning in Fairfax County, VA and a hobby farm / McMansion zone in Montgomery County, MD – from 50,000 feet:
THERE IS NOT ONE WHIT OF DIFFERENCE IN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS.
At the Cluster, Neighborhood and Village scales there are some differences(the Zentrum of Annapolis is Alpha Village scale). There are some components that MAY be a large as Community scale (the Zentrum of Savannah for example)but those are historical artifacts, not the result of intelligent settlement pattern guidance since Euclidean Zoning was embraced by the Supreme Court. (Every one of the Planned New Communities designed since 1965 has been disaggregated by the forces noted below.)
The reason there is not one whit of difference between the settlement patterns in Maryland, Virginian, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, el. al. is that human settlement pattern is driven by far more profound forces than federal / state / municipal controls or politics.
EMR wrote a book about those forces: The Shape of the Future. EMR is about to publish a second book titled TRILO-G that opens with a PART titled ROOTS OF THE HELTER SKELTER CRISIS.
Thrashing around on the fridges of the central issues will only put off the time when citizens can start the process to establish a sustainable trajectory for civilization.
Look for the light at the end of the tunnel.
EMR
Sunday, November 08, 2009
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16 comments:
"Metro barred inspectors from tracks, data show
Dispute encapsulates what many call a major flaw: lack of effective, enforceable oversight leaves transit systems policing their own safety."
WAPO
For the most part auto drivers also police their own safety: But then, it actually IS their own safety.
RH
"197.352 Compensation for loss of value due to land use regulation. The following provisions are added to and made a part of ORS chapter 197:
(1) If a public entity enacts or enforces a new land use regulation or enforces a land use regulation enacted prior to December 2, 2004, that restricts the use of private real property or any interest therein and has the effect of reducing the fair market value of the property, or any interest therein, then the owner of the property shall be paid just
compensation.
(2) Just compensation shall be equal to the reduction in the fair market value of the affected property interest resulting from enactment or enforcement of the land use regulation as of the date the owner makes written demand for compensation under this section.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to land use regulations:
(A) Restricting or prohibiting activities commonly and historically recognized as
public nuisances under common law. This subsection shall be construed narrowly in favor of a finding of compensation under this section;
(B) Restricting or prohibiting activities for the protection of public health and safety,
such as fire and building codes, health and sanitation regulations, solid or hazardous waste regulations, and pollution control regulations;
(C) To the extent the land use regulation is required to comply with federal law;
(D) Restricting or prohibiting the use of a property for the purpose of selling pornography or performing nude dancing. Nothing in this subsection, however, is
intended to affect or alter rights provided by the Oregon or United States Constitutions...."
On the upside of such a regulatory regime, Hidgson wrote, "current landowners will be compensated for regulatory taking, at least those carried out under Bill 36, as already occurs with outright acquisitions" by the province.
However, he wrote, "the level of compensation, whether for outright appropriation or regulatory taking, is the issue most in need of address. Bill 36 compensates landowners for regulatory taking, which places the expense of regulation back on those to benefit most, general constituents," meaning taxpayers.
"However, this form of compensation does not extend to Bill 19," Hodgson wrote. What's more, he warned, "although referred to frequently in the bills, there are serious problems with the precision of the terms 'market price' and 'independent evaluation.'
"Hence, further research and creative remedies will be needed if landowners are not to pay a disproportionate price for infrastructure and environmental regulation."
Hodgson's report urges that under the new legislation, "losses created by forced acquisition, over and above fair market price, and the limitations associated with independent third-party evaluations could be acknowledged and, where possible, creatively remedied."
The need for such remedies, he wrote, "is a call for research into processes for appropriation that inflict little harm on landowners while still providing for the needs of the constituency."
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Well, At least the province of Alberta gets it.
RH
Minimum density zoning causes concern (10/25/2009)
By Sarah Elmquist
What may be the final draft of the proposed new Winona County Zoning Ordinance has been taken to the public, and as the 350-page document approaches a final vote from the County Board, it’s clear some residents are confused and angry about the new rules.
Most of the questions and comments during an informal hearing on the draft ordinance Thursday centered around minimum density requirements. The new ordinance proposes the minimum acreage to build a nonfarm dwelling without a special permit for western townships at 80 acres, and 40 acres minimum for the eastern townships. For about half the county, that standard has doubled from the current 40-acre minimum building requirement.
The 80-acre density standard is meant to encourage those wanting to build on their land to instead seek a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). If awarded a CUP, a property owner could build on a much smaller parcel, and county staff and government would have a say in where such a dwelling would go -- with an emphasis on marginal, nonproductive spots.
But many in the audience feared that the standard could instead work against preserving farmland in Winona County, and in the end actually encourage nonfarm dwellings be built on large, productive tracts of farmland if permits aren’t approved or when landowners don’t want to navigate government red tape or go through public hearing processes.
While a CUP is a more flexible permit to obtain than the current variance requirement for building on smaller parcels, some in the audience weren’t convinced that such a permit would be easy to get. And some said that it is that flexibility that results in “gray areas” within the current ordinance, and can result in more arbitrary decisions from approval boards.
Steve Jacob shared the different responses he’d had from county staff in acquiring building permits for his property. He said he had no trouble getting such permits years ago, but more recently, county staff had told him that the spirit and intent of the same existing ordinance had changed since, and not granted the permits. When the “spirit and intent” of this new ordinance changes, he said, county residents will be left with the one per 80-acre standard to turn to.
Eugene Hansen agreed. “I wonder if George Washington could see the state of affairs right now, would he have ever bothered trying to get out from under King George?” he asked. “I’d rather deal with him than you,” he told county staff.
Others objected to the density standard coupled with restrictions on steep slopes and setbacks from trout streams, saying that the new regulations were cutting out virtually all buildable land within the county. “It’s just stealing rights. It’s robbery is what it is,” said Jacob. “If you can name one place where the ordinance gives us anything, I can name 100 where it takes things away.”
Winona Post
RH
Geez EMR,
I thought we shouldn't read or believe The Washington Post, it being a denizen of the MSM and all.
Peter Galuszka aka "second commentator"
The Shape of the Future?
http://www.rockinst.org/pdf/government_finance/state_revenue_report/2009-10-15-SRR_77.pdf
Darrell:
That would be nice.
Humans can now officially be called an urban species. More than half of the global population now live in cities and the United Nations says that by 2030, 60 percent of us will live in them.
Yet according to U.N. Habitat, the world's cities emit almost 80 percent of global carbon dioxide as well as "significant amounts of other greenhouse gases."
CNN
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Is this what you call a sensible trajectory?
RH
Despite only representing 2 percent of the world's surface area, they are responsible for 75 percent of the world's energy consumption. London, for example, requires a staggering 125 times its own area in resources to sustain itself, according to the New Scientist.
-----------------------------
I'd say that was a pretty big fringe.
RH
"the cities may be internally efficient, the problem doesn't just lie in the stuff that gets consumed within city limits. More often than not the bigger environmental issue lies in how that stuff gets to the city in the first place."
"the oil that provides much of the energy to move resources into and out of cities itself often comes from distant oil fields."
"Manhattan sells services ... and in turn draws upon industrial outputs, which of course include steel and glass. It is also no accident that Gary, Indiana, is near Chicago and those rather aesthetically thrilling factories off the New Jersey Turnpike are right outside New York City ... Praising Manhattan is a bit like looking only at the roof of a car and concluding it doesn't burn much gas. Manhattan supports its density only by being surrounded by a broader load of crud."
From All about Cities by Rachel Oliver
RH
Peter said:
“Geez EMR,
“I thought we shouldn't read or believe The Washington Post, it being a denizen of the MSM and all.”
EMR says:
It is much more complex than that.
If one lives in the Washington-Baltimore NUR of comments on activities here, one needs to read WaPo because 1.5 million others do and one needs to understand what they are being told.
Second, one can believe what is written IF it squares with the evidence. In this case WaPo was quoting a study by a MD think tank that said that as practiced in MD Smart Growth was not achieving its goals – including in Montgomery County.
Third, WaPo still employs a number of dedicated writers (like you Peter) with a good set of tools but they work in a dysfunctional context as laid out in THE ESTATES MATRIX.
You may have missed the message to you in the “Warren’s All In Bet” post. Here is a repeat with clarifications and spell check:
“EMR got a call from JMK.
“He did not post a story assignment, he just wants a list with asterisks.
“He has bonafide journalism skills but works for a MainStream Media newspaper (aka, owned by an Enterprise) that hires editors that think Bethesda and Arlington are "suburbs."
“JMK's editors own stock in the Enterprise and part of their compensation package is stock options so the fire wall between pleasing advertisers and getting out the news is a joke.
“He wants out but cannot find the sort of media outlet that you say exists.
“If he uses his name in his posts he will get fired and not be able to support his aging mother, wife and three children. (His wife was fired by MainStream Media TV outlet and also cannot find a job.)
“Please help if you can.”
Darrell:
Thank you for the citation.
You may not realize it yet but that reinforces EMRs view of the Shape of the Future.
NO ONE can afford to continue on the unsustainable trajectory.
Read “Green Metropolis” with care.
EMR
"Miami recently found that its electricity bills were 10 percent lower in areas with more than 20 percent tree cover compared to those areas without any trees, the New Scientist reports. "
From the same Article.
RH
"CAFE standards may reduce fuel
use in vehicles by improving fuel economy, but they also reduce the fuel costs of driving, potentially increasing demand.
Experiments with CAFE in our model showed that this so-called rebound effect will increase vehicle use by about 8 percent and presumably accidents and traffic congestion as
well."
"Spatial Development and Energy Consumption"
RH
"Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs, and chickens?
The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, co-authors of "Livestock and Climate Change".
A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, pigs, and poultry. But recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang finds that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions. "
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6294
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If that is correct, and if we reduce global emissions by 20%, then what do you suppose the price of a chicken will be?
RH
"Lou [Dobbs] has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere."
WAPO
Advocacy journalism?
Is that the same as agenda driven drivel?
RH
"We are testing the waters, but we have no plans to go abroad yet. The Indian market we think is inexhaustible. If you take the Indian population, there are 1.3 billion. There are about 3 million cars -- not even 1 percent. . . . But in the middle class, there are 300 million people, and quite a few will graduate from two-wheelers to four-wheelers. The only restrictive fact is the roads. We have to make more roads to move the cars. "
Gee, you think they have adequate Publc facilities laws in India?
RH
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