🚀 go-pugleaf

This post for Greenbelt Alliance provided via the Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District. Please contact Greenbelt Alliance for further
information.


Greenbelt Alliance and ABAG to host working seminars on urban growth
boundaries

High-content, low-cost sessions this fall for Northern California
planners and general public on how to use long-term urban growth
boundaries to rein in suburban sprawl, protect greenbelt lands, and
revitalize cities

When:  Friday September 30 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) for planners
Saturday, October 1 (9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) for the general public
Where:  MetroCenter in downtown Oakland (on September 30) Laney College
in downtown Oakland (on October 1)

This fall, you can learn about the latest technique which planners,
environmentalists, public officials and even developers are exploring
to curb sprawl, revitalize cities and protect greenbelt lands:
long-term urban growth boundaries (UGBs).

Greenbelt Alliance and the Association of Bay Area Governments are
sponsoring two (2) day-long seminars on this potentially powerful
planning tool on Friday, September 30 (for public agency planners) and
Saturday, October 1 (for public officials and the general public).
Both seminars will be held in BART-accessible locations near downtown
Oakland: ABAG's MetroCenter on September 30 and Laney College on
October 1.

The seminars come at a time when there is a burgeoning movement in Bay
Area communities to establish long-term UGBs  from "greenline" efforts
in San Jose and a UGB planning strategy for Morgan Hill (both in the
South Bay) to the adoption of a 20 year UGB in Sebastopol and planning
for a long-term UGB in Santa Rosa (in the North Bay).

Nuts and bolts seminars for citizens and planners

Both sessions will feature local and statewide experts, local case
studies, and in-depth working groups on key issues related to
establishing long-term UGBs, including:

	technical and legal criteria for creating UGBs around Northern
	California communities; multi-jurisdictional agreements among
	counties and cities to maintain UGBs over the long haul;
	techniques for encouraging development inside UGBs; and
	communication and public participation strategies for creating
	and maintaining UGBs.

While the seminars will focus on the advantages of UGBs  such as more
efficient, contiguous development  they will also focus on the tough
issues raised by putting a boundary in place, such as the availability
of developable land, housing affordability, and the protection of
greenbelt lands outside the boundary and urban greenspaces inside the
UGB.  Planning experts from Northern California and Oregon (which has
two decades of experience with UGBs) will be on hand to address these
issues.

The planners' seminar on Friday will be especially strong in dealing
with the nuts and bolts issues that planners and planning agencies must
confront when contemplating and implementing UGBs.

High-content, low-cost seminars

Both seminars are designed for maximum learning and participation.
Registrants will have the benefit of interactive workshops, numerous
case studies, opportunities for networking with colleagues and experts,
extensive background materials (including helpful new reports on legal
and technical aspects of UGBs), and more.

They'll also benefit from the low registration fees for these all-day,
professionally-designed seminars.  The planners' seminar  which will be
kept small in numbers  costs $50 and includes lunch, as well as all
seminar materials and proceedings.  The Saturday seminar costs only
$25, and includes all proceedings and materials.  Lunch at this
gathering is available for a small, additional fee.  There is also a
$15 all-day rate for students.

Registration

To register for either seminar or obtain additional information, please
contact Greenbelt Alliance today at 415/543-4291 or 408/983-0539.


Greenbelt Alliance is the Bay Area's region-wide citizen land
conservation organization.  Founded in 1958, the organization is
dedicated to protecting the region's Greenbelt and enhancing the
livability of its cities.





-- 
                                             mrosd@netcom.com