BUELLTON IS OUR TOWN

Advocates of unmanaged growth typically fight UGB campaigns with disinformation. The following are myths and falsehoods they often employ (taken in part from BIGGER NOT BETTER: HOW TO TAKE CONTROL OF URBAN GROWTH AND IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNITY by Eben Fodor (1999)).

Fact: The available evidence shows that residential development does not cover new public costs; that is, residential development brings in less revenue for local government than the price of servicing it. Many studies have now documented that new development tends to increase property taxes. Communities with the most rapid growth tend to have the greatest tax increases. New residential housing is heavily subsidized by current residents.

Fact: Former UCSB professor Harvey Molotch examined two decades of census data on growth and unemployment in the 25 fastest and slowest growing U.S cities and found no correlation. Although faster growing cities may create new jobs, they also attract new residents who don’t find jobs. The faster growing city ends up bigger, with a similar unemployment rate and more people without work.

Fact: The current housing market is in sharp decline and allowing the inventory to rise will further depress prices of existing homes. According to a study by the National Association of Home Builders, the surrounding environment is the single most important factor affecting market value of a home. Scenic vistas or small-town character add more value to a house than square footage, pools, or appliances. That is why median home prices in Lompoc and Santa Maria are in the $440,000’s while in Buellton they are $595,000 Growth controls will protect housing investments.

Fact: It is critical for a community to provide affordable housing and diverse housing options for its residents. The development industry has repeatedly used affordability to defeat UGBs. Many studies have now examined this complex issue (see below). A fair conclusion to draw from this literature is that communities have many ways to address affordability while still managing growth. If a city adopts responsible policies, housing prices need not increase faster in cities that limit growth than those that don’t.

The Impact of Growth Control Regulations on Housing Prices in California, by Michael Elliot, AREUEA JOURNAL, (1981).

The Link Between Growth Management and Housing Affordability: The Academic Evidence, by Arthur C. Nelson and others (The Brookings Institute, Feb. 2002).

Have Housing Prices Risen Faster in Portland Than Elsewhere? by Anthony Downs," The Brookings Institution Housing Policy Debate (2002).

Urban Growth Boundary Did Not Make Portland Unaffordable, by Philip Langdon, NEW URBAN NEWS (Mar. 2005).

Myths and Facts about UGBs.1,000 Friends of Oregon

Fact: To attract and keep a highly qualified workforce, businesses seek to locate in livable communities where their executives and employees want to live, work, and play. A study by Arthur Andersen Consulting found that business leaders ranked a high quality of life as a top factor in deciding where to locate. This factor is gaining in importance in today’s global marketplace where capital and employees are extremely mobile. Communities with unique identities and amenities such as scenic vistas, parks, recreational opportunities, distinctive restaurants, and good schools appeal to the emerging “knowledge-based businesses” at the core of America’s competitiveness in the 21st Century.

In addition, smart growth improves employee reliability and productivity. Sprawl increases taxes for residents and businesses alike. As people and commercial activity move away from town centers to the urban fringe, investment follows, threatening the economic health of downtown businesses.
See Smart Growth is Smart Business: Boosting the Bottom Line and Community Prosperity

Fact: For rural communities to prosper, they must actively adopt a development strategy in tune with the forces driving change. Community leaders must be actively entrepreneurial and help the community to shape a vision for its future, assess opportunities, identify assets and pursue an asset-based development strategy that government and business can invest in. Instead of taking the initiative, too often communities sit back and allow the forces of disorganized growth and expansion to operate on them—the tail wagging the dog. Communities can be shaped by chance or by choice. We can settle for what we get, or actively pursue what we want.

See Center for Rural Entrepreneurship

Facts: Studies by the American Farmland Trust and others consistently show that farmland and open space pay more in taxes than they require in services, providing a net surplus to the community. In contrast, suburbs cost more in services than they add in taxes and cause a net loss.

Fact: General plans and zoning describe how different land uses are to function together for the benefit of the community. A single-family homeowner cannot start a coal mining operation, or operate a smelter, or build a 20-story apartment building, or lease to a McDonalds on his residential property without first getting the land rezoned. Such a rezoning is unlikely because these uses would detract from the residential neighborhood and undercut stable property values throughout the city. Even though the homeowner might profit greatly by a change in land use, he would not be allowed to transfer the negative effects onto his neighbors. Similarly, owners of agricultural land are not entitled to change land uses, cashing out, and reaping windfall profits on land speculation. They have to go through a rezoning process. A community has the right to refuse on the same grounds that they would refuse a residential change of zoning: the change in use does not fit with the plans the community has for its future.

Fact: To call someone a NIMBY(Not in My Back Yard) is to accuse them of being selfish and concerned only with their own welfare. It is a way to discredit people, to label and stereotype them. In reality, NIMBY’s are those who care enough about the future of their community to get off the couch and work to protect it for all who live there. NIMBYs keep nuisances out of town. The world starts in our backyards. If people join together to preserve the quality of their backyards, the world will be a better place.

Fact: Our volunteers heard this complaint, sometimes offered quite vehemently, during our successful petition signature drive. Not true: the UGB has cost the taxpayers of Buellton not one dime. BIOT volunteers and donors have donated their time and money to cover all expenses because they believe that the people should decide Buellton's future.