'Social power' endorsed by planners

Growth scenarios that would reduce urban sprawl, increase demand for public transit and preserve farmland were endorsed Friday during a ground-breaking meeting on the future of the Sacramento region.

About 1,400 people attended the regional forum at the Sacramento Convention Center, hoping to signal a shift away from growth policies of the past.

"Economic power and political power have been the only two kinds of power at the table," said author Malcom Gladwell. "If you want to change that process and change that outcome, you've got to bring this third kind of power - social power - to the table."

The participants from the six-county Sacramento region pored over land-use maps and used interactive clickers to voice their opinion of what the region's future should look like.

"This is almost like a happening with this many folks in the region to come together to analyze transportation and land-use patterns," said Jeff Foltz, Yuba City's city manager.

Three percent of the meeting's participants were from Yuba County and 6 percent from Sutter County, according to information collected during the session.

The group also was 77 percent white. Half said they had household incomes of at least $101,000. Only 18 percent said they were renters.

"When I saw those numbers statistically for this group, it seemed somewhat disproportional in terms of what the region actually is," said Foltz. "You have to take that into account when we're trying to put all the pieces together, especially with this group."

Similar meetings about different growth strategies were held throughout the Sacramento region as part of a "blueprint" process. About 5,000 people participated.

Martin Tuttle, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, one of the co-sponsors, said Friday's event was "the beginning of the first ever regional discussion of land use in the Sacramento region. We're finding early in this process by being slightly smarter on land use we can have a tremendous impact on traffic congestion and improving air quality."

The San Francisco Bay Area, with its gridlock, was cited as an example of poor planning.

Tuttle said the goal is for the SACOG board to approve a preferred land-use plan later this year after city councils and boards of supervisors have been briefed.

"The federal government will not sign off on our transportation plan unless there's a reasonable expectation that those land uses are going to be implemented," he said.

SACOG is "not imposing any regional mandate that communities develop in a certain way," Tuttle said. "We had hoped they would be open to the information, and they would make decisions on land use that maximize the benefit of our transportation investments."

The region is going to need billions of dollars through 2050 for transportation project capital costs.

Under Scenario A, which follows existing growth patterns, the figure is pegged at $14.7 billion. But under Scenarios C and D that call for higher housing densities with more infill, the figure drops to $13 billion.

Scenario A would lead to 661 square miles being urbanized through 2050, according to SACOG. Under Scenario C, it's 293 square miles and under D it's 244 square miles.

The projected Yuba-Sutter population in Scenario A is 394,000 in 2050. In Scenario C it's 313,000, and in Scenario D it's 322,000.

"Today we have most of the local leaders and planners here, and they grasp the new concept, the smart growth concept and (can) come up with better, smart growth instead of dumb growth," said Tejinder Maan, Yuba County's Environmental Health director. "I'm looking forward as our area grows that each community maintains its identity."

Smart growth principles include a variety of transportation choices, a mix of housing, compact development, use existing assets, mixed land uses, preserve open span and encourage distinctive community designs.

SACOG has developed a database of 750,000 parcels in the region, Tuttle said. Some jurisdictions, including Wheatland, have expressed interest in using the information as they update their general plans.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Harold Kruger can be reached at 749-4717. You may e-mail him at harold_kruger@link.freedom.com.