The upcoming race for Monroe County Executive will very likely feature a debate about "smart growth" and whether county-wide or regional control over development is needed to protect and improve the environment.
With industry and other identifiable point sources of pollution in their fourth decade of strict environmental regulation, the attention of policy makers has focused increasingly on more diffuse sources of environmental impairment, such as vehicle exhaust, stormwater runoff, impairment of watersheds from loss of open spaces, and abandonment of brownfields. As commercial and residential development continues to sprawl, town-by-town, converting farmlands and other open space to buildings and roads, regional planning has emerged as a potential tool of environmental protection as well as urban social planning. Ill-conceived sprawl development is regarded by many as the primary long-term threat to the woods, wetlands and other open spaces that are the foundation of a healthy Lake Ontario watershed.
Within the State of New York there are 932 towns, 62 cities and 554 villages, and each of these 1548 units of local government has the power to adopt its own zoning regulations and to impose subdivision controls. These local governments are divided among New York's 62 counties, which have limited planning authority and no zoning authority.
As the growth of metropolitan areas beyond city, town and village boundary lines has accelerated, the debate over regional planning has intensified. Growing concern over the effects of uncoordinated growth in adjacent municipalities has been complemented by a change in philosophy which questions whether traditional zoning and subdivision control could be used more effectively to enhance the quality of life.
Proponents of Smart Growth cite impressive statistics to support the view that uncoordinated growth has had a dramatic and personal impact on all Americans. As an example, the U.S. reportedly loses farmland to development at an average rate 625 square miles per year. On March 13, 2003, it was reported that New York State lost 1000 small farms in 2002 alone. From 1992 to 2001 Monroe County lost 27,400 acres of farmland, reducing the amount of farmland in the county by 23% from 121,100 acres to 93,700 acres.
From 1983 to 1995, the U.S. Department of Transportation calculates that the average length of daily commutes increased 36%, that the number of miles we drive increased 25%, and that as compared to 1982 we spend 236% more time in traffic.
In the 1990's, the State Legislature enacted at least 31 land use statutes designed to facilitate better planning and development. For example, the Legislature specifically added statutory authority for intermunicipal cooperation in comprehensive planning and land use regulation granting express statutory authority for cities, towns and village to enter into agreements to undertake comprehensive planning and land use regulation with each other or one for the other. For purposes of land use law, two or more municipalities may create consolidated planning, zoning and other boards, create a comprehensive plan, provide for joint land use administration and enforcement and create intermunicipal overlay districts. However, the growth of this tool has been slow with only a relatively small number of agreements currently in effect.
Commentators note that although the statutory framework is in place, the as yet unmet challenge is to structurally move New York's local governments into meaningful regional partnerships while avoiding political "hot buttons" such as a direct affront to the notion of local home rule control.
Additionally, although the Legislature adopted a series of planning reforms in the 1990s, recent efforts to enact additional reforms and Smart Growth initiatives have failed.
Legislation introduced but not enacted included measures to: establish a Smart Growth and Economic Competitiveness Task Force and a Smart Growth Local Assistance Office; establish a New York Smart Growth Compact; create local Smart Growth Commissions; establish a Smart Growth review board; and create a Smart Growth revolving loan fund. However, in 2000 Governor Pataki created the Quality Communities Interagency Task Force by Executive Order. The Task Force report issued in January 2001 made 40 recommendations to improve planning. Although legislative reform has stalled, the Governor has used the Task Force to promote environmental policy such as the preservation of open space and to advocate reform of the State Superfund to promote redevelopment of brownfields.
On July 9, 2002, Governor Pataki created the Task Force on Local Government Reform. He directed the Task Force to "review and evaluate an inventory of local government reforms ... and develop innovative new reforms aimed at making government more effective and efficient at the village, town, city and county levels." On January 9, 2003, the Task Force issued a Progress Report. The preliminary recommendations of the Task Force related to local government organization and planning propose adopting a new statutory procedure for merging counties, cities, towns and villages and updating the procedures for village dissolution. The Task Force proposes to issue a full report by August 2003.
There is no doubt that regional controls will provide the means, if exercised wisely, to protect environmental quality by controlling and directing development and creating the means to steer investment toward the reuse of brownfields. The political debate to come should not focus on city versus county, or solely on consolidation of local governments, but on the full-range of potential benefits, including environmental protection, and whether these benefits outweigh the cost of further reducing the importance of the town and city as our basic units of government and land use planning.