Sunday, October 28, 2012

Even in Berkeley they are protesting against Plan Bay Area


Free Speech is our Right....Remember?
Berkeley, CA, United States., May 17, 2012  - The Institute for Population Studies (IPS) today announced a website designed to persuade regional developers, environmental groups, members of the public and government officials to reevaluate the assertions behind the Plan Bay Area real estate project, a directive to link land use policy with transportation infrastructure, per the requirements of California law S.B. 375, theSustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008.  

The new website, located at  www.PlanBayAreaMyth.org , suggests the plan may be driven by a small influential faction with financial interests in urban real estate development, instead of by the social and environmental concerns being touted, such as carbon emissions reduction, improved air quality, public health and safety, sustainable job creation, enhanced access to publictransit and affordable housing options.  Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign a petition  requesting a more thorough disclosure of funders, use of taxpayer dollars in promotion of the plan, inclusion of public input, and methodologies used in determining the jobs, housing and carbon emissions data.  "Little-known provisions in this plan make it clear this is business as usual for developers. They're asking us to trade suburban sprawl for vertical sprawl, while California's environmental goals and legal protections get trampled.  The plan ties billionsinfederal andregional funding to real estate development, exempts developers from critical environmental review, places local zoning authority in the hands of a nine-county panel, loosens affordable housing requirements, and uses a per capita measurement for carbon emissions instead of total emissions," said Searle Whitney, IPS President.  "Combined, these allowances give realtors, bankers and developers a green light to build and sell without community input, as long as it's within one half-mile of a major bus route.  Meanwhile, Bay Area residents are being sold a bunch of environmental greenwash about cleaner airandless traffic.  It simply does not square with the facts."   Specifically, the website says Plan Bay Area's numbers on job creation, population growth, foreclosure rates and housing demand were initially based on outdated estimates generated by the California Department of Finance during the housing bubble that led to the Great Recession.  According to Hing Wong, senior regional planner with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), current projections are based on "internal modelling," though no information regarding ABAG methodology for arriving at jobs and housing estimates is available in the ABAG report, "Jobs-Housing Connection Strategy," revised May 16, 2012.   PlanBayAreaMyth.org also shows how the stated carbon emissions reductions from the plan are implausible and may result in an actual emissions increase, rendering compliance with California law A.B. 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, unlikely. The stated purpose of S.B. 375 is to "enhance California's ability to reach its A.B. 32 goals by promoting good planning with the goal ofmore sustainable communities."  

Officials for the city of Palo Alto unanimously rejected housing mandates and regional growthprojections set by ABAG and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the two agencies responsible for implementing the "Sustainable Communities Strategy" under S.B. 375.  The city's reasoning was reported as being because "...the regional strategy would turn Palo Alto into a city of residential high-rises without achieving any significant environmental benefits."  For more information about Palo Alto's analysis of the plan, read their City Council Staff Report.  Additionally, officials for the city of Corte Madera recently voted in favor of ending membership to ABAG, citing a lack of local input to the regional real estate plan

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