14—Lancaster Farmini
3'
Obstacles to Wise Land Use
What’s stopping some of our
best farmland from being
chopped up into subdivisions?
Or a quiet village from being
overpowered by sudden, “un
stoppable” development?
Or a recreation spot, unique for
its wildlife, from being developed
till it loses its main attraction?
In essence -- \vhal control does
the public have over private land
use? In a study on land and water
resources, ERS looks at this
question. It concludes that there
is an almost limitless variety of
tools or devices available to
governments to control land use.
The more general problem is that
they are not being used. This is
particularly true in rural areas.
The ERS study notes further
that those local governments
using the tools do not in general
devote sufficient resources to
make them effective.
Control by the general public
can take many forms - including
special purpose districts, but
most of the power is in the hands
of Federal, State, and local
general purpose governments.
The Federal Government has
the immense power to tax and
spend; the State governments
have a lesser power in this area
but they have broad regulatory
power; and local governments
have a more limited power to ta*
and regulate but the unique
power to hear and express the
views of individual citizens
through such means as council
meetings and, public hearings.
Traditionally, it is the local
government that regulates land
use, with the State governments
having delegated this authority
The main means have been
through zoning ordinances and
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subdivision regulations.
Building, housing, and health
codes are also widely used, but
are more limited in scope.
For rural land use, it may be
the county government that has
the greatest control or the town
or township, depending upon
whom the State authorizes. This
varies widely among the States.
Zoning of unincorporated or
rural areas is authorized in all 50
States covering land in more than
three-fourths of the 3,000 counties
in the U S.
However, local governments
usually have the option of either
adopting or not adopting land use
regulations.
In general rural areas are far
more deficient in the field of land
use planning and regulation than
urban areas. They’re less likely
to have a planning board, less
likely to have a full-time planner,
and they spend only about a third
of what urban areas do per
person for planning and
regulating land use in their
community.
Yet many of these rural areas
are where the action is in terms
of growth and they’re the least
able to cope with it.
Sometimes they lack the
legislation But often, they
simply lack effective en
forcement.
An example:
A small town in Vermont had
the “misfortune” to be near good
ski slopes. It suddenly became
one of the biggest growth sites in
the State -- lots were sold and
resold, nightclubs proliferated, a
huge condominium went up.
And the town of fewer than
2,000 permanent residents
couldn’t keep up with the services
required even after taxes were
doubled The new sewage
treatment plant became
inadequate with the new building
boom .. police costs soared ..
and traffic jammed for miles
through the town on winter
weekends
Vermont has one of the most
stringent land use laws m the
country Local officials, however,
say the State doesn’t provide
enough funds to communities for
land use planning, zoning, and
enforcement to make the laws
effective.
The National Commission on
Urban Problems reported that a
sample survey taken m 1967
showed Standard Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (SMSA’s) spent
three times more per person for
planning, zoning, and building
regulation activities than did non-
SMSA’s - essentially rural areas.
In addition to budgeting more
money for land use planning and
regulation, many communities
need to take up the option on
controls already available to
them.
Take for instance the case of a
predominantly agricultural
county in California that couldn’t
put a stop to land speculation
until much of its ranchland had
been subdivided. Developers put
in roads and mass-advertised the
acre lots as vacation and second
home sites.
It took several years, and some
trial and error, before the county
found effective regulation in the
form of zoning to stop the
essentially speculative sub
divisions.
But, as one official said, “If you
take a 1,000-acre ranch and
divide it up into roughly 900 one
acre lots, with the remaining
acreage in roads, you have
ruined the ranch. A ranch with
900 owners can never be
reassembled.”
That county wound up with
17,000 acres of vacant lots.
With the county’s current
zoning, developers who want to
change land zoned agricultural to
residential have to request a
variance from the planning of
fice. And it’s granted only if the
developer can present a good
argument why it should be done -
plus show an attractive plan for
development.
So far, most of the requests for
rezoning variances in the county
have been for expansion of an
existing community. And
development in these areas
usually causes no severe drain on
such county services as police
and fire protection and schools.
Just how many local govern
ments actually exercise their
authority to regulate land use is
not known. National statistics
aren’t regularly or
systematically collected
But from the 1967 survey by the
National Commission on Urban
Problems, it’s apparent that
rural local governments lag
considerably behind urban areas.
The survey showed only 48
percent ot the counties outside '
SMSA’s had a planning board ..-
compared with 80 percent of the
counties in SMSA’s
In addition, 70 percent of the
employees for planning and
regulating land use worked part
time in areas outside SMSA’s
compared with only 28 percent
inside SMSA’s For all
jurisdictions attempting tp
regulate land use, fewer than 1 in
4 had any full-time employees.
The President has recom
mended and the Congress is now
considering legislation to
establish 'a national land use
policy. Legislation that is
proposed would provide grants to
States to assist them in im
proving their land use planning
processes.
Most decisions would still be
made at the local level in rural -
areas. The States would,
however, be involved in decisions
of more than local concem-such
as environmental and regional
matters.
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In the decade ahead, the nee
to plan and regulate land use wi
increase as greater emphasis :
placed on maintaining ei
vironmental quality standard:
Practically all pollutio
problems have a land us
dimension.
This will take greater cooi
dination and integration of th
powers available to the differei
levels of government in 01
Federal system.