With a new legislative session in Sacramento and a new Governor have come a flurry of proposals for a state role in growth management.
One of the most closely watched proposals comes from Willie Brown, whose AB 4242 stirred interest during 1990. Speaker Brown has reintroduced his regional government measure as AB 3 in the new legislative session.
Like AB 4242, AB 3 would create regional development and infrastructure agencies in seven regions around the state. The bill’s most important new provision proposes a State Growth Management Commission that would be charged with reviewing the plans of state and regional agencies for consistency with a state plan.
A proposal for true state planning comes from Sam Farr’s AB 76. This bill would establish a Secretary of Planning to head a state planning agency which would prepare a comprehensive state planning report. Every city, county or regional planning agency would be required to file a report each year detailing its compliance with the state plan.
Given Governor Wilson’s avowed opposition to regional governance, any adopted bill, while sure to be influenced by the Democratic legislature, may more closely resemble Republican-sponsored bills.
Republican Senator Marian Bergeson will soon introduce a new growth management bill which would create incentives for voluntary regional collaboration among local officials and enable voluntary regional fiscal authorities to pay for regional scale public works.
In a separate development, Governor Wilson, who comes to his post with strong growth management credentials from his days as Mayor of San Diego, in January announced the creation of an interagency Council on Growth Management. Wilson named Los Angeles attorney Richard Sybert, already named as the director of Wilson’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), to head the Council. Wilson has also designated Sybert and OPR as his advisor on all growth management issues.
This new interagency Council will be comprised of officials from agencies affected by growth management and land use decisions, including the State Departments of Housing, Transportation, and Water Resources.
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