Recent “Smart Growth” Articles and Reports as of 2/23/2006

Area Transit Authority With Taxing Power On Horizon – The Capitol Times - Feb. 23, 2006

On The Road Ahead: Regional Transit Legislature May Be Asked To Create New Taxing Districts

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=tct:2006:02:23:545355:FRONT

The development of commuter rail, streetcars and more buses in a growing Dane County argues for a self-funding regional transit authority, transit planners say, and a bill being prepared for the Legislature would permit just that.

But in Wisconsin, regional transit authorities that have the power to raise their own funds in the same manner as a school district or a municipality are something new.

The first of these was set up last year to oversee and fund the extension of Chicago's Metra commuter trains northward from Kenosha to Milwaukee.

A board with representatives from Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine, and Gov. Jim Doyle's office, has the power to collect $2 on every car rented in the region.

While southeastern Wisconsin opted for a rental car fee, a bill being prepared for the Legislature would allow any region to set up a transit authority. The authority could operate like a city council or school board, complete with the power to levy taxes.

Talk Of Benefits And Drawbacks Surround Finished Highway 12 –

Wisconsin State Journal – November 3, 2005

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:2005:11:03:533301:FRONT

Under the terms of a 1999 agreement, forged by Falk with then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, the state provided $250,000 so that towns could develop smart growth plans that outline how and where development should occur.

The agreement also provided $5 million to help Dane County reduce the impact of sprawl through the purchase of development rights from landowners. The program pays cash and, in exchange, the landowner agrees not to develop the property.

Three farms, totaling 328 acres, have used the development rights program and have been paid about $1.3 million. Falk announced Wednesday a proposal to use $165,000 to purchase a conservation easement on a 55-acre wooded tract from Ted Thousand and Darcy Love in the town of Roxbury.

Falk Pushes Purchasing Rights To 250 Acres – The Capitol Times – June 10, 2005

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:2005:06:10:418691:LOCAL/WISCONSIN

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has proposed buying the development rights of almost 250 acres of farmland in an effort to keep sprawl from sneaking into the northwest part of the county.

The purchase price is reimbursed by the state Department of Transportation, and $5 million is available to the county as part of the Highway 12 reconstruction project. If the latest proposal is approved, the county will have spent just over $900,000 on farmland development rights along Highway 12.

Falk Tells Towns: Protect Farmland – The Capitol Times – May 26, 2005

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=tct:2005:05:26:416989:METRO

County Executive Kathleen Falk is threatening to veto all zoning petitions, including new subdivision plats, in rural Dane County unless town leaders put more protection guarantees in their land use plans to keep farmland as farmland.

The county executive's edict to towns is on the heels of an understanding between Falk and town of Windsor Chairman Alan Harvey, stating the town will put $500,000 into a purchase of development rights fund, where farmers get paid by the town to keep farming and promise not to sell their land to developers. In exchange for the purchase of development rights plan, Falk will not veto the Wolf Hollow subdivision in the designated urban area of the town south of the village of DeForest.

HUD Report – “Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing” – February 2005

http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/wnioc.pdf

A major change in the development climate over the past decade is the rapid emergence of the smart growth movement. Some smart growth principles, such as higher density development, can facilitate the development of affordable housing. A number of communities, however, have used smart growth rhetoric to justify restricting growth and limiting developable land supply, which lead to housing cost increases.

Perhaps the most potent and, to date, intractable cause of regulatory barriers to affordable housing is NIMBY sentiment at the individual, neighborhood, and community levels. Residents who say “Not In My Back Yard” may be expressing opposition to specific types of housing, to changes in the character of the community, to certain levels of growth, to any and all development, or to economic, racial, or ethnic heterogeneity. In any case, the intention is to exclude, resist change, or inhibit growth.