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October 2001 farmland preservation report Page 7
<br />Book Review
<br />downzoning 227.000 acres from
<br />a 3 -acre minimum lot size zone
<br />into two zones, one area to be a
<br />1:20 area -based allocation with
<br />option to cluster at 1:10, and the
<br />other a 1:50 area based allocation
<br />with option to cluster at 1:20.
<br />The county will hire a consultant
<br />to rewrite the zoning ordinance
<br />and produce mapping. Land-
<br />owner support is widespread,
<br />according to Kendra Briechle of
<br />the Dept. of Building & Develop-
<br />ment, with two large groups of
<br />landowners petitioning to be
<br />downzoned as well, but too late
<br />in the process to include them.
<br />The zoning changes may not oc-
<br />cur until next summer. County
<br />officials have stated they cannot
<br />guarantee development proposals
<br />submitted before then will be
<br />grandfathered.
<br />In Indiana ... Elkhart County
<br />has created a tax increment fi-
<br />nance (TIF) district to use reve-
<br />nues to purchase temporary re-
<br />strictions on farmland, the closest
<br />an Indiana locality has come to a
<br />farmland protection program.
<br />The state has no program.
<br />The Nature Conservancy has
<br />put up a $2.5 million match for a
<br />CREP enhancement program, .
<br />targeting the Tippecanoe water-
<br />shed for permanent water quality
<br />easements.
<br />In Illinois ... A survey con-
<br />ducted by the Northern Illinois
<br />FUniversity for the American
<br />Farmland Trust shows over-
<br />whelming concern in the Mid-
<br />west about loss of farmland.
<br />More than half of respondents in
<br />the Midwest said they favor fed-
<br />eral assistance for farmland pro-
<br />tection, the highest percentage of
<br />any region in the nation.
<br />Kane County has earmarked
<br />$5 million this year from royal-
<br />ties from the Grand Victoria ca-
<br />sino in Elgin to fund its farmland
<br />protection program, the first in
<br />the state. The casino cash is ex-
<br />pected to reach $15 million for
<br />the program over the next five
<br />years, protecting about 2,500
<br />acres.
<br />The regional city will be great, but mean-
<br />while, farmland preservation is essential
<br />The Regional Cit)�: Planning for the End of Sprawl
<br />by Peter Calthorpe and William Fulton.
<br />14,'ashington, D.C.: Island Press, 2001, 304 pages, paper, $35.
<br />Reviewer/ by Toni Daniels
<br />Contributing Editor
<br />Four out of every five Americans live in a metropolitan region. These
<br />regions produce about one - quarter of the nation's agricultural output, in-
<br />cluding most of the fruits and vegetables. Suburban sprawl has long been
<br />the bane of farmland preservationists. Whether it takes the form of arterial
<br />commercial strips, residential subdivisions, office parks, or McMansions
<br />on 5 -acre lots, farmland is taken out of production, probably forever.
<br />"We can't save our farms unless we save our cities," declared former
<br />Michigan Farm Bureau President Jack Laurie. And he's right. One of the
<br />causes of sprawl has been the decline of many of America's major cities
<br />and the exodus to the ever - expanding suburbs. Even in the booming Sun
<br />Belt, much of the new growth is happening in the suburbs and ex -urbs.
<br />It is often said that Americans hate two things: sprawl and density. The
<br />Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl brings hope and proof that
<br />good urban design and suburban re- development can create medium- to
<br />high - density places where Americans want to live. The authors, noted New
<br />Urbanist architect Peter Calthorpe and planning consultant and journalist
<br />William Fulton, make a strong argument in favor of walkable, human -
<br />scale, mixed -use, transit - oriented development with public spaces.
<br />If applied, these guiding principles can transform metro sprawl into effi-
<br />cient, attractive, and globally competitive regional cities. The authors offer
<br />case studies including Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City, and nearly 50
<br />pages of color drawings to illustrate actual development and re-
<br />development projects in cities and suburbs.
<br />Calthorpe and Fulton recognize the importance of farmland preservation
<br />in helping to structure and limit the size of the regional city. But they dis-
<br />cuss only the King County, Washington farmland preservation program
<br />where 12,000 acres were preserved in the 1980s. Since then, rapid growth
<br />in greater Seattle has turned many of the preserved farms into rural estates
<br />for executives of the new Information Economy. Here, the authors, both
<br />Californians, reveal their West Coast bias. Dozens of counties and munici-
<br />palities on the East Coast are successfully using the purchase of develop-
<br />ment rights combined with land use regulation to direct growth.
<br />Calthorpe and Fulton emphasize the importance of greenbelts, urban
<br />growth boundaries, and urban service boundaries. Yet they duck the tough
<br />political issue of how to put them into place. While it is essential to create
<br />well- designed, livable cities and suburbs, ultimately people will return to
<br />live in those places only when pushing farther into the countryside is no
<br />longer an option. That's why farmland preservation techniques and poli-
<br />cies will continue to be urgent and essential.
<br />Tom Daniels is author of "When City and Country Collide. "
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