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ADMINISTERING David Levinson,
These problems…fiscal imbalance, traffic congestion, air pollution, the movement of jobs away from minority groups…are susceptible to rather precise formulation and study; alternative ways of coping with them can be conceived and evaluated with a certain rigor; the obstacles to remedial action are primarily political (and to a certain degree economic)…what is most important, something can be done. -- James Q. Wilson (1970)
After all… How many homebuyers would be interested in cheap houses without roads, water, sewers, schools, parks and other urban amenities?
What is growth management? • Growth management is about affordable housing…but it is also about environmental protection, efficient provision of infrastructure, coordinated patterns of land use and transportation, adequate revenues to finance development needs, and healthy preservation of open space. • It is about doing each of the above in accordance with goals that the public has chosen. • Close and well coordinated actions between land use control (and planning) and capital investment. • Distinguished from more traditional plans by their intent and scope rather than by the implementing techniques they use. Ultimately, growth management is about regulating the: Amount, timing, location, character of development
Waves of growth management • concern over how much growth would be allowed, • where and when growth would be permitted, and who would pay for it, • what kind of growth is allowed or encouraged.
Regulations Incentives Spending Information/education Federal State Regional Municipal Growth ManagementApproachesLevels
Issues? Is growth management all motherhood and apple pie? Together, identify at least three instances in which there may be negative consequences of growth management programs.
Costs of Growth Management • Housing affordability • Inflation? • Artificial constriction of supply • Other? • Open space • Diversion to other areas • Exclusion of certain populations • Other?
Montgomery County, MD: Motivation • Desire for Adequate Public Facilities • Limited Public Resources • Congestion • Balance Jobs & Houses • Focus Development Around Transit • Constrain Growth in Corridor • Later - Support Affordable Housing
The Complexity of the Problem • Infrastructure capacity absorption depends on underlying technology and a development’s: • location, • timing, • density, and • character • Infrastructure serves multiple uses and users • Multi-dimensional bundle of attributes • A flow not a stock • May have a “capacity” or a “standard”
Planning Process • Monitoring should be linked to • Master plans • Capital Improvement Programs • Financing System • Development Regulation
Decision Frameworks • Proactive vs. Reactive • Categories vs. Continuum • Single vs. Multi-Dimensional • Incremental vs. Comprehensive • Coordinated vs. Fragmented
Historical Overview • 1974: APFO, Report recommending Staging Policy For Each Area • 1970s: Series of Policy Reports • 1980: Comprehensive Staging Plan <failed> • 1981-6: Comprehensive Planning Policies (Planning Board) • 1986: Interim Growth Plan • 1987-Present: Annual Growth Policy (Planning Board & County Council) • 1997: Alternative Review Procedures
Externality Theory • An externality is “a commodity bundle that is supplied by an economic agent to another economic agent in the absence of any related economic transaction between the two agents. (Spulber).” • Arise from lack of property rights. • May be positive or negative. Positive include consumption externalities and network externalities. Negative include congestion, pollution, accidents, etc. • First Best Solution: Internalize Externality: Polluter Pays Principle. • Transactions costs may make internalization difficult.
Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) • Second-Best Solution: Regulate Developer • Infrastructure Has Multiple Attributes - A Doctor Looks at More Than Temperature, Planners Should Consider More Than Capacity • The Right MOE’s Vary Based on Facility Being Analyzed, • MOE’s Should Consider Not Only Current Status of System, but also Its Direction of Change.
Attributes of Good MOEs • Complete • Aggregates Well • Aligns with User Experience • Measurable • Predictable • Useful in Regulatory Context
Criteria for Selecting MOE • It aids in identifying opportunities to increase the systemwide net benefits through public investment in improvements or changes in management, • It minimizes the cost to achieve necessary measurement accuracy, and • It produces the right incentives.
Data Sources and Collection • Supply Data • Measured - Engineering Cost Study • Predicted - Statistical Cost Study (Many Projects) • Demand Data • Measured - Operating Agency Utilization Data • Predicted - Statistical Forecasts
Financing Alternatives • Developer Funded Roads • Trip Mitigation • Impact Fees or Taxes • Development Districts • Development Approval Payment
Second Best Development Regulation: Minimizes the Cost of: • Prevention • (Build) The cost of infrastructure required to maintain the performance indicators (Engineering or Statistical), or • (Manage) The cost of demand and supply management to maintain the performance measures. • Damage • (Accept) The cost to the community of worsening the performance indicators in the absence of the infrastructure.
Lessons Learned • Dividing Responsibility • Categorizing the Continuous • Single Dimensional Standards • Measures of Effectiveness • “Rational” Planning • Bringing Distant Dangers Near
Summary • Externalities Provides Underlying Rationale for Development Regulation • Unfortunately, “First Best” Solution (P=MC) is Not Always Feasible • Regulating Supply is a “Second Best” Solution • Multiple Measures of Effectiveness are Required to Understand Impact of Development on Capacity Utilization
Conclusions • Select Measures of Effectiveness • Collect and Forecast Data • Establish Standards (Absolute or Relative) • Open System to Peer Review and Public Scrutiny • Answer Not Whether Development, But How • Implement Monitoring System in Regulation
Problems inherent to Talk of growth management • Excessive talk about height, bulk, scale, or volume-to-capacity ratios. Rather than experience or quality of life. • Tend to talk in terms of incomes, mixing incomes, and bringing more of "that" income into my neighborhood. In turn we talk less of where the school teacher is going to live? • We tend to talk in terms of regulation…forcing people to do things. Rather, can we not make $$ and do the right thing at the same time? • We tend to focus on the supply of public services for me and my community. This in turn steers conversations away from the supply of public services for a more common good
Low density zoning • Building permit caps • UGBs • APFO • moratoria Land use controls Slower growth Shift toward Single-family Fewer rentals Lower rental affordability Racial exclusion
What is land use planning? …public sector planning for privately owned land and privately managed land markets. The preparation of plans for cities, city fringes, and rural areas that indicate the future development pattern of those areas. …also included is the development and management of legal mechanisms such as zoning regulations, subdivision controls, and differential tax programs to induce and facilitate private land owners to bring about the land use pattern broadly outlined in the land use plans. (Harvey Jacobs ’89)