| If projections are correct, as many as one million acres of the nation's
most productive farmland may be consumed to accommodate the intense population increase
underway along Highway 99. The Fresno Growth Alternatives Alliance was formed to set
parameters for logical growth and development of the Highway 99 corridor. In a report
titled "A Landscape of Choice: Strategies for Improving Patterns of Community
Growth," the alliance establishes markers to guide lawmakers in planning for the
future of the corridor, and saving the country's most threatened farmland.
The alliance is made up of the American Farmland Trust, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce,
the Building Industry Association of the San Joaquin Valley, the Fresno County Farm Bureau
and the Fresno Business Council. They set down three guiding principles as the litmus test
for all planning decisions in Fresno County.
- To utilize our urban land as efficiently as possible.
- To develop livable communities that promote pedestrian and transit-oriented design.
- To recognize the need to protect our agricultural land, an irreplaceable resource.
The blueprint for planning and development provided in the alliance report spotlights
the following recommendations:
- Establishing and maintaining urban growth boundaries that protect agricultural land
direct growth and are administratively expandable.
- Revising zoning ordinances to allow moderate increases in the density of residential
development.
- Promoting mixed-use development that brings a variety of commercial and residential uses
to one site.
- Creating economically vibrant downtowns and village centers.
- Limiting the impact of automobiles by reducing street widths and planning for pedestrian
and transit uses.
- Reducing the amount of land consumed by commercial use parking lots in Fresno County.
- Developing cooperation with school districts to utilize sites for multiple purposes.
A grassroots civic education program on community planning is being launched to build a
consensus throughout the entire county for these planning principles.
You can order copies of the alliance report by contacting the American Farmland Trust,
1949 5th Street, Suite 101, Davis, California, 95616. The price is $10.00. The report is
also available on the Internet at www.biasjv.org.
If you have questions or comments about this story, please E-mail Executive Producer
Jerry Blair at jblair@kvie.org. |
