Communities stopping sprawl

Local land use can have broad implications. That's why mobilizing communities to stop sprawl is so high on the Sierra Club agenda, both here in the Bay Chapter and nationally

• When we keep development off of agricultural lands, we're not just preserving a local greenbelt - we're also protecting irreplaceable soils needed to feed the world's population.
• When we save habitat for local California species, we're sustaining one of the world's great biodiversity hotspots.
• When we prevent automobile-oriented development, we're not just avoiding local traffic jams and smog - we're cutting down on the emission of greenhouse gases that are changing the world's climate.
• When we block expansion of suburbs, we're channeling growth inward where it can help revive rather than undermine our cities.

In short, local efforts to stop sprawl will help determine the nature of life - for people and for all organisms, for centuries if not eons to come.

Some success stories

Some of the articles in this Yodeler tell clear stories of success that can serve as inspiration - and as models for much of what we still need to do.

For example, the efforts in the last few decades to protect the wetlands of the South Bay have brought inspiring achievements. Florence LaRiviere, one of the central figures in this effort, recalls how some ordinary local people came together to defend these wetlands - and by sticking to the task they have kept away development and brought a large portion of these lands into public ownership. They continue to work to bring the remaining wetlands into public ownership and to bring restoration to this vast expanse of wetland habitat. For example, activists in Fremont have just submitted the signatures for a ballot measure to protect one more portion of wetland and accompanying upland at Patterson Ranch.

The people of Fremont and Union City have kept their hillsides largely free of development. Donna Olsen, chair of the Tri-City Ecology Center, tells how, by a combination of responses to immediate threats and through proactive ballot measures, these communities have preserved their greenbelt.

The city of Livermore has repeatedly repulsed developers. In the process, the community realized the need for a clear Urban Growth Boundary and got it passed. When Livermore voters, by almost 3 - 1, last November rejected Measure D, a development proposal for North Livermore, this consensus was the result of decades of political and educational work by a great network of activists.

The Bay Area has perhaps the most extensive wildland parks of any city. Norman La Force, who played a leading role in the establishment of the Eastshore State Park, describes how these parks are not just a wonderful recreational amenity but a key factor in delimiting our cities and blocking sprawl.

None of these stories is over - but these communities have developed teams of leaders and a local consensus of the voters that is likely to carry these ongoing efforts on to completion - or as close to completion as any environmental effort can ever come.

Today's efforts

Marin County has had great success in keeping development off of its western wildlands and much of Mount Tam and its Baylands. The county is currently revising its Countywide Plan, and this process gives the opportunity to move to the next stage in encouraging healthy development patterns and saving remaining Baylands.

The city of Richmond too is revising its general plan. The outcome may determine whether it can preserve the vast open areas along its Bayshore.

Albany voters have just placed a measure on the ballot to develop a waterfront plan to protect the city's Bayshore from development as a casino and megamall.

The closing of the inland portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station presents an opportunity to preserve some wonderful wildlands at the city's edge and to make them available to the community - but it also presents a threat of possible sprawl. The Bay Chapter is just beginning to study the possibilities for this large area.

Big-box stores are a major development threat to almost any community. The Bay Chapter has worked closely with activists who have so far blocked Wal-Mart from building a Super Center in Hercules that would undermine the city's carefully thought-out efforts at smart growth. Jeffra Cook places this struggle in the context of Wal-Mart's intensive efforts to expand in California and the Bay Area in particular.

The Sierra Club chapters adjacent to us are engaged in similar campaigns. Eric Parfrey, of the Mother Lode Chapter Executive Committee, and Melissa Hippard, director of the Loma Prieta Chapter, tell of their chapters' efforts to stop sprawl in the Central Valley and the Silicon Valley. Bill Allayaud, state director of Sierra Club California, tells of the difficulty of getting state-level action to impede sprawl.

This month's volunteer of the month is Jim Blickenstaff, who for many years has been a leader in the Bay Chapter's efforts to stop sprawl, especially in Contra Costa, where he lives.

Donald Forman