A s elected representatives of Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo County respectively, we have spent countless hours considering and planning for the future of our communities. As part of our elected positions, we also serve as the president and vice president of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, a transportation planning and funding body consisting of representatives from the county and all seven cities.
These responsibilities put us on the front line of dealing with growth issues in our region, and we have come to understand that choices about growth will have profound effects on our economy, our environment, our health and our quality of life. We believe that smart growth principles are not just fashionable ideas; they are essential values that we must implement to remain a vital and functional place to live.
The basic forces at work are formidable. First, as California grows past a population of 37 million people, we must use land efficiently in order to protect important resources such as watersheds, open space and ag lands. Protecting these resources is fundamental to sustaining all our communities.
Second, if we continue old growth patterns, we will not be able to afford the necessary infrastructure (i. e., roads and safe water supplies) to support future growth. Similarly, local governments will struggle to provide basic services, such as police and fire protection. At the county level, we already see increased costs directly related to providing public safety and emergency services in developing rural areas—and we see increasing congestion in areas where road construction cannot keep pace with growth.
Finally, our state government’s response to global climate change will soon have direct effects on our general planning process, through the greenhouse gas reductions mandated by Assembly Bill 32. As greenhouse gas reduction targets are mandated—and the cost of individual automobile trips spirals upward —the smart growth shift away from sprawling rural development toward more compact forms will become more important than ever.
Therefore, we embrace the principles of smart growth as an effective means to solve these very real problems. The shift of future growth toward urban areas will allow us to focus scarce infrastructure funding for the greatest positive impact. It will also provide more efficient use of water resources and allow local governments to make better use of tax dollars. Beyond the clear financial benefits, smart growth will yield more livable communities with better and more efficient transportation choices.
Unfortunately, some who oppose the adoption of smart growth strategies have played to fears that high-density, crime-ridden housing will be imposed on cities and seriously degrade the quality of community life. The experiences of communities from San Diego to Santa Barbara to Portland, Ore., to Boulder, Colo., and beyond quite clearly show these are not the outcomes of smart growth planning. We see walkable livable economically vibrant communities growing in many parts of the country as a result of careful planning for the future.
We need to apply these ideas in San Luis Obispo County. We will accomplish our goals only through cooperation. To go beyond policy and implement intelligent workable growth will take cooperation between the county and the cities. We see hope in creative ideas expressed by the city of Paso Robles, which proposed that they would plan for a greater amount of housing if they could be assured of increased transportation funding. While that idea was tabled in the current round of discussion, we hope that it gets further consideration by all jurisdictions. That sort of incentive-based approach could yield valuable results.
We realize that a significant change such as the shift toward smart growth takes time to accept and implement. Opinion polls conducted by SLOCOG show that a vast majority of county and city residents support the philosophy of compact urban development and preservation of open space and natural resources. We believe that continued public education and the success of innovative projects will lead the movement toward smart growth and a positive future for our entire region.
John Shoals is mayor of Grover Beach and SLOCOG president. Bruce Gibson is the 2nd District supervisor for San Luis Obispo County and SLOCOG vice president.
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