SPRAWL and Property Rights

MD State Department of Planning slogan: “Stop Sprawl, y’all”.

Secretary Hall- What is Sprawl? 2 acres

_________________________________

Carroll County Commissioners on Plan MD:

• Called for more time to review

• Created a Planning Bill of Rights:http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/commiss/MDPlanBillRights.pdf

Opposition to Plan MD

1) It is anti-property rights, and anti-free market

2)It usurps local government’s planning authority

Note: While some oppose Plan MD for both aspects, others only oppose it because of #2; those individuals agree with the overall concept, but believe it should be implemented locally.

Arguments for “Smart Growth”

These individuals that believe in smart growth may not like the state's usurpation of local authority but they do believe individuals believe some/all of the following:

• Climate change caused by humans threatens the existence of the world.

• Sprawl is unsustainable; government has a responsibility to drive people into sustainable communities.

• It is fiscally responsible to promote smart growth.

Arguments for “Smart growth”

• Sprawl contributes to social and environmental injustice.

• The government needs to promote good health by promoting walking/biking.

*************************************************

The arguments used in Cecil County:

• “We don’t want to become like New Castle County.”

• “Developers have been given special favors.”

Questions

Questions to Ask:

• What is a fair government? If you believe one special interest has had an advantage in the past, do you want to tilt government in the opposite direction in favor of the opposite special interest group?

• What choices will individuals have when they move to Cecil County?

Plan MD and Agenda 21

• Plan MD is modeled after Agenda 21:

• The premises and much of the language is the same although Agenda 21 is more comprehensive.

• The basis for these plans is that the free market/individual choice is “unsustainable” and central planning by “smart growth” advocates is necessary to determine where/how people live.

The Agenda 21 Charter

AGENDA 21: Table of Contents

SECTION I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC

DIMENSIONS • International cooperation to accelerate sustainable

development in developing countries

• Changing consumption patterns

• Demographic dynamics and sustainability

• Protecting and promoting human health conditions

• Promoting sustainable human settlement development

• Integrating environment and development in decision-making

U.N. Agenda 21 Charter

• Strengthening the role of workers and their trade unions• Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations: partners for sustainable development

• Local authorities' initiatives in support of Agenda 21

*The 2nd bullet point above is especially important because Agenda 21 policies are being implemented largely through the influence of Non-governmental organizations on our local governments nationwide.

*This is as much a social as well as economic plan.

To See the entire Table of Contents and Content of the U.N. Agenda 21 Charter, visit:

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/res_agenda21_00.shtml

Implementation

How is Agenda 21 implemented? Do we have anything to worry about?

• In most cases, Agenda 21 is being implemented locally through I.C.L.E. I. (International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives) or through NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) in partnership with local government; through Planning and Zoning and through Comprehensive Plans.

Local

Implementation• Several of our neighboring counties are

dues-paying members of ICLEI, including Harford County, Queen Anne’s County, and many townships in Chester County, PA.

• Plan MD is an anomaly. The policies of Agenda 21 are usually implemented in a more covert way.

Local Implementation

Cecil County has not joined I.C.L.E.I., so we don't have anything to worry about, right?

• Not so fast...I.C.L.E.I. is the NGO that has direct ties to the U.N. Agenda 21 Charter, but many other organizations are also advocating Agenda 21 at the local level.

• Also, state and federal mandates are economic drivers that are pressuring local governments to comply with the policies outlined in Agenda 21.

Strategies for implementation-

• Increasing Consumption Costs- inflated Gas Prices, Mileage tax (Making driving unaffordable), property, and other energy taxes

• Through zoning ordinances and regulations- down zoning of private property, transfer of development rights, taxpayer subsidized conservation easements, higher density zoning (Government manipulation of private property)

*By 2025, 55,000 acres of Cecil County will be in permanent conservation. (Local goal, not issued by Plan MD).

• Withholding funds to areas outside the growth area

Strategies continued:

• Government Funded Rail/ Transportation-oriented growth

• Eminent domain (The Kelo decision of the Supreme Court made this possible). Sprawled community or “sensitive” environmental areas may get down zoned or seized for reforestation or "community revitalization".

• Resistance to infrastructure expansion

• Opposition to variances(zoning, road, etc.)

• Regulations- Septic- being banned or overhauling current systems, etc. Making it too expensive to live in “sprawl”

• Using "tourism" as an incentive for preservation; eco-tourism • Pressure to mix low income (section 8 or other subsidized)

housing interspersed with regular housing

More Strategies

Through stakeholders- the tyranny of the majority. Stakeholders are those besides yourself who determine what to do with your property for the "collective good.”

Education- Environmental; environmental and social justice- both in school and on TV

http://www.nickjr.com/teachers/assets/BGH_Toolkit_ID_7_pdf_3_10.pdf

http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/

http://www.mdp.state.md.us/OurWork/kids.shtml

LOCAL Influences

1000 Friends of Maryland-

Local farmer, Previous Cecil County Commissioner, and treasurer from Commissioner Broomell’s first run for Commissioner, Phyllis Kilby, serves on the Board for 1000 Friends of Maryland.

LOCAL Influences

From the 1000 Friends of Maryland “Guide to Stopping Bad Development”:

"Variances can have major consequences. For instance, an owner planning a subdivision might apply for a variance to build an access road two feet narrower than that required by the code. A two foot variance might seem inconsequential, unless you learn that the developer does not own enough land to build the full width, and therefore needs the variance to develop the property. If that is the case, then preventing the variance may prevent the whole project." 

1000 Friends of MD continued

Another publication of 1000 Friends of MD, “Growing Smarter: Path to a Prosperous Maryland”:

http://friendsofmd.org/publications/reports-guides/growing-smarter-path-to-a-prosperous-maryland

• Addresses climate change• Supports environmental justice • Supports top down control of how and where

people live that is to be enforced through fees, taxes, and regulations 

• Supports smart growth • Supports Plan MD

1000 Friends of MD and Plan MD

Page 8 : "State-wide listening sessions have been held over the past two years, ensuring participation and input from stakeholders and the public in every region of Maryland. The next steps include synthesizing that input and drafting the plan, known as Plan Maryland. Plan Maryland is an opportunity to finally set clear visions and goals for Maryland and weave together housing needs, economic opportunity, transportation choices, food production, and environmental protection to make sure we invest efficiently in Maryland future.”

http://friendsofmd.org/publications/reports-guides/growing-smarter-path-to-a-prosperous-maryland

1000 Friends of Maryland Continued

The push for taxpayer funded rail; less cars

"Maryland needs convenient and affordable travel options that are available to everyone, in every community, at every stage of life. Even before gas prices skyrocketed, demand for services such as MARC rail in central Maryland or rural bus and shuttle service in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore increased. And the obesity crisis is driving a renewed interest in streets and neighborhoods that encourage walking and biking.” (similar to language in Plan MD and Agenda 21 that discusses health as a reason for implementing smart growth.”

More on 1000 Friends of MD

• The document mentions affordable housing (subsidized housing) – mixed with regular housing- social justice

• "Encourage jurisdictions to create stronger planning initiatives through the targeted use of, or withholding of, state funds and permits.”

More info. on 1000 Friends of MD

There is also info. on land preservation, TDRs (Transfer of Development Rights), subsidizing farmland, eliminating septic systems etc.  You can read through and see how it parallels other similar documents (Plan MD and Agenda 21).  The last page shows Maryland 2010 vs. 2030 under a smart growth scenario.  2030 looks like there is more open space than even now.  What will happen to the people currently living in those areas?

http://friendsofmd.org/publications/reports-guides/growing-smarter-path-to-a-prosperous-maryland

More quotes from 1000 Friends…

• A solution to the problem of too many cars on the road is to: "Explore transit in other areas of the state, including the rail connector in Cecil County, rail transit to Annapolis, light rail to Waldorf.”

• This proposal from this same document I found interesting in light of the recent derailing of the Artesian contract: "Discourage urban infrastructure extensions such as water and sewer to reduce pressure to convert land to residential uses."

Land Use ForumsThe 21st Century Republican Club, Partnership for

Cecil County, & Cecil County Democrat Club sponsored land use forums in 2006.  Skip Yust (the newest member of the Planning Commission) was chair of the 21st Century Republican Club at the time; Rupert Rossetti, Chair of the Partnership for Cecil County, later became a founding member of CLUA (Cecil Land Use Alliance). According to the CLUA website, “CLUA is an organization of citizens and neighborhood civic groups interested in promoting smart growth in Cecil County, Maryland. The alliance grew out of the Land Use Forums that were held in 2006.”

http://www.cecillanduse.org/; http://cecillanduse.org/clua/forum_orgs.html.  

LOCALLY:How has Agenda 21 been

promoted?2006 Land Use Forums:

http://cecillanduse.org/clua/forum_orgs.html

Which groups were represented?

(click the link to see the list)

All environmental groups; no groups representing the capitalist/business perspective or individual property rights perspective.

• Record of proceedings: Land Use Forumshttp://www.docstoc.com/docs/84003561/Cecil-Citizens-Land-Use-Forum-Record-of-Proceedings

More on the Land Use Forums of 2006

Who were the participants?• ARCA — Appleton Regional Community Alliance/ www.arca-md.org/Owen Thorne

• Augustine Parish Land Owners Association/Wendy Moon (Moon is also the treasurer for Eastern Shore Land Conservancy)

• Cecil Land Trust/Bill Kilby

• CHARGE — Cherry Hill Alliance for Responsible Growth & Expansion/ www.charge-md.org/ Lindsie Carter

• Colora Civic Association/ Web site coloracivic.org/ Hazel Jenkins

• The Conservation Fund/ www.conservationfund.org/ Joel Dunn

• Eastern Shore Land Conservancy/ www.eslc.org

• The Environmental Communication Foundation/Paul Hughes/ pyui@aol.com

• FORS — Friends of Rising Sun/ Ron Smith Sr.

• Friends of the Future of Chesapeake City

• Lawyers for the Bay/ Mike Pretl

• Liberty Grove Alliance/ coloracivic.org/Liberty_Grove/Charles Herzog

• Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenways/ www.lshgreenway.org

• Save Fair Hill/www.savefairhill.com/Ken Wiggins

2006 Cecil County Land Use Forums-

ParticipantsOne presenter, Joel Dunn of The

Conservation Fund, co-authored:“Cecil County’s Green Infrastructure Plan” http://www.conservationfund.org/sites/default/files/CecilCounty01.22.08.pdf

Please look over it.  This was presented to the County Commissioners in 11/2007. It is currently on file with the Cecil County Government as are other documents relating to development in Cecil County published by The Conservation Fund.

Cecil County Land Use Forums: The

Conservation FundSuggestions in Cecil County's Green

Infrastructure Plan include:

• "In suitable locations, minimum lot sizes should be reduced to facilitate economically viable cluster development and to avoid fragmentation of natural systems"

• increasing taxes and fees is described as a way to discourage unwanted growth. 

Cecil County Land Use Forums: The

Conservation Fund• According to The Conservation

Fund’s “Resourceful Communities Program", “Working with a network of over 250 grassroots and community organizations across the state, we take a balanced 'triple bottom line' approach that focuses on environmental stewardship, sustainable economic development, and social justice." 

• Their "triple bottom line" approach promotes sustainable communities, integrated affordable housing, and attempts to eliminate racism and promote social justice.

2006 Cecil County Land Use Forums

At one of the land use forums, Joel Dunn (Conservation Fund) cited this comment from The News Journal about a local farmer, who has associated himself with the TEA party: “_____, who owns a fourth-generation family farm near Fair Hill, said the forum helped him gain a broader understanding of land-use issues. He said more government money should be offered to farmers such as him who are considering whether to one day sell their farms. He doesn't want to sell to a developer, he said, but he might have to if the government cannot make a viable counter-offer.” I don't want to see it developed," said [the] 64-year-old Cecil County native, "but I've got to retire sometime”. News Journal 10 January 2006.

2006 Cecil County Land Use Forums

• Government solution to Farming= regulate then subsidize = control

• Social engineering through government manipulation of the free market / land use

Cecil County Land Use Forums: Lawyers for the

Bay • Another presenter at the forums was

Michael A. Pretl who is a member of Lawyers for the Bay. He later wrote and filed the articles of incorporation for CLUA. This tells a bit about him From the CLUA forum notes:

More on Land Use Forums

“Meanwhile as a volunteer for about 30 years in Baltimore, he [Pretl] was involved with more than a dozen activist community organizations involved in racial stabilization, housing and zoning issues, health care and the arts, as well as a number of progressive political clubs and election campaigns. 

More on Land Use Forums

• Pretl’s political donations are limited to progressive politicians in MD, and he is also listed on the board of the Citizens Planning and Housing Association:

http://www.cphabaltimore.org/main.cfm?page=1 • That organization wants to eliminate sprawl, focus

gov’t funding on redevelopment of existing communities, mandate section 8 “affordable housing” to be interspersed in all communities, and promote gov't funding for mass transit, which they believe is the next most important item for the gov’t to accomplish after passing the healthcare law.

The CLUA Connection

• CLUA's founders include two of our commissioners (Jim Mullin and Diana Broomell)

• CLUA’s bylaws state that their primary concerns is environmentalism and that they want to “responsibly manage growth”. Their goals are listed here: http://cecillanduse.org/.

• CLUA is a land use organization with no mention of property rights in the bylaws or goals.

• Responsible growth is synonymous with smart growth/sustainable development as indicated on CLUA's home page.

• 1000 Friends of Maryland is linked on their website.

The CLUA Connection:

Using Tourism to promote “smart growth”.• Tourism is another aspect of Agenda 21, and

and is mentioned in the CLUA bylaws. That's certainly not to say tourism is bad of course, but this version of tourism seems to fit in with the environmental/green agenda: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/susdevtopics/sdt_susttour.shtml;

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/iclei.pdf. • Tourism is presented as a way to promote open

space and preservation through government management. (Not a private venture).

The CLUA Connection

Resources to Learn About CLUA• http://cecillanduse.org/clua/Whig_070614.jpg• http://cecillanduse.org/clua/CLUA_Meeting_1.pdf

• http://cecillanduse.org/clua/CLUA_Meeting_2.pdf

• Info. On Paul Hughes (Board Member- CLUA, and presenter at the 2006 Land Use Forums):

http://dedo.delaware.gov/gebc/speakers/Panel_3.pdf

http://www.greenandsave.com/co-host-paul-hughes

Other affiliations of Paul Hughes

• http://www.climateprosperity.com/index.html• http://www.sustainablefinancialmarkets.net/participants/paul-e-hughes/

More local

Phyllis Kilby's (local farmer, Board Member of 1000 Friends of MD) husband and chair of Cecil Land Trust, appealed to the commissioners on 5/10/11 to ask for financial support and other help (grant assistance, etc.) for the preservation of farmland.  The goal is to put over 22% of Cecil County into permanent conservation by 2025 (This was a county decision, not a Plan MD decision).

Comprehensive Plan Forum- 2009

2009- Comprehensive Plan Forum:http://cecilyoungrepublican.com/2009/07/live-blog-feed-comprehensive-plan-forum/ 

This was a forum provided to discuss the Cecil County Comprehensive Plan (note: who is on the panel, the gentleman who wants transit centered development, comments by some of our past and present commissioners, the gentleman who thinks some people have a "hidden agenda" that is holding them up, etc)

Outcomes

End results:• Government controls energy consumption, as well

as other types of consumption

• Total elimination of what we have left of the free market

• Elimination of Private Property Rights (Collective Property Rights Replace Individual Property Rights) “Stakeholders” make decisions about what individuals can/should do on/with their property.

• Transportation/Travel Limited• Limitations on how/where you live

Outcomes of “Smart Growth”

Unintended Consequences:

• The Folly of Smart Growth from the Cato Institute (Portland, Oregon example): http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv24n3/otoole.pdf

• Interventionism vs. Free Markets: http://vimeo.com/8060498

• Let the Free Market Work:http://www.dallasfed.org/research/pubs/ftc/anderson_huggins.pdf

Conclusions

The issue is not sustainability or efficiency; the free market has always driven society to become more efficient- phones, computers, cars, etc. This is ultimately about control. Some well-meaning people do not understand the end game or the faulty premises and philosophies this idea of “sustainability” is based upon. These individuals are not bad or evil, they are just misguided, and really do not understand the importance of choices when it comes to land ownership in the USA.

Conclusions

• Responsible Growth = smart growth = sustainable development = environmental justice

• 2006 Land Use Forums were sponsored/co-sponsored by: 21st Century Republican Club, the Democrat Club of Cecil County, ARCA, and various other lesser known local land use groups, the Conservation Fund, Mike Pretl – the progressive Citizens Planning and Housing Association

• CLUA developed from the Land Use forums

• Many people involved in these forums are making planning decisions for our county today.

Conclusions

• The forums promoted the idea that centralized planning, not the free market creates economic and environmental sustainability.

• This vision is consistent with the U.N. Agenda 21 Charter for Sustainable Development and Plan MD

• This is based on the idea that the free market doesn't work. Individuals can't possibly make good decisions; central planners are needed to make decisions for them.

Cecil County Patriots

For additional resources on Agenda 21, visit http://cecilcountypatriots.ning.com/page/sustainable-development

Thomas Jefferson“The pillars of our prosperity are the most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.”

Benjamin Franklin“A free market is the means, under God, of establishing the freedom of our country entire, and of

handing it down complete to posterity.” James Madison

“Government is instituted to protect property. It is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties.”