Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/04/1999

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MARCH 1999 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Zoning Fallout: The Implications of Urban Growth Area Designations ByNedFarquhar The surge of public interest in urban growth boundaries and urban service areas across the United .States has made great news. The media are full of stories about new efforts to create "smart growth" with a variety of tools. None has attracted more attention than the urban growth boundary. The attention to urban growth botmdaries comes because the tool can be both effective in preventing sprawling urbanization and easy to employ, with or without other planning mea- sures. Growth boundaries generate controversy because " homebuilders, developers, and real estate agenu o~en see i' them as a serious threat. In fact, judging from its internal and external communications, the National Association of Home Builders has its thumb pressed more attentively to the pulse of the urban growth botmdary phenomenon than to any other major planning issue nationwide.' This issue of ZoningNews is not about the pros and cons of urban area and boundary designation, bur instead about how the designations may affect zoning and land use. Whether or not they are effective, urban growth boundaries and service areas do have distinct effects. In contrast with a UGB, the rural area beyond the USA might be allowed to grow and change rather significantly--for instance, to convert from agricultural to suburban use. Light commercial and retail uses might be allowed and even encouraged. Lao. downers might compete to provide new, green- style developments that don't require urban services such as water and sewer and will not overload road capacity. Hobby farms and ranchettes would not be unlikely, but they would not necessarily be the precursor to suburbanization that would require services. Also in contrast with a UGB, there is less importance in implementing a USA by interjurisdictional agreement because its primary purpose is to provide efficient service and infrastructure delivery by a single government rather than to contain growth and change. Regional Growth Policy Areas UGBs and USAs: A Description An urban growth boundary (UGB) is a line that contains growth, usually accompanied by a regulatory prohibition on urban growth, and even low-density suburban growth, beyond "the line." The implemen- tation ofa UGB is primarily intended to control growth--to increase population density, to preserve a rural or agricultural edge, to prevent urban sprawl. Often, to be most effective ar preventing growth beyond the urbanized area, it must be implemented cooperatively by a number o f jurisdictions' that agree on the goal of channeling urban growth into desig- nated areas within the UGB. An urban service area (USA) is somewhat different, despite the fact that it may achieve some of the same planning goals as a UGB. Its primary purpose is to assure efficiency, predictability, and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of public services and infrastructure paid for by developers (and eventually home buyers) and taxpayers. Although it can be implemented in concert with the regulatory provisions of an urban growth boundary, a USA is simply an area beyond which a jurisdiction will nor provide basic urban services such as sewer and water, and will not provide public transit services or invest its money in significant road improvements. These limits on services might end up being the only practicable limit on the density and land-use changes that might occur outside the USA. The Twin CiHes urban service area. Both UGBs and USAs should be implemented in a long-term plan that identifies adequate land supply for reasonably anticipated population growth and economic development. Usually, the area within a UGB will contain 20 or 30 years of developable land supply. The designation ofa UGB may also indicate areas where density is intended to increase, and these areas might be scattered throughout the UGB. A complete plan for a UGB is likely also to incl'ude a staging plan for the delivery of urban services. 7g