Martinez must save property rights from antigrowth elites

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 31, 2001 | by Nancie G. Marzulla

When Mel Martinez took the reins as the new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), he had little reason to suspect that in addition to heading the nation's housing policies, he also would be handed the dubious distinction of being asked to unleash a 2,000-page blueprint for controlling every aspect of local land use across America from a "directorate" located in Washington.

Unless Martinez acts to stop it, in the next few days what benignly is dubbed the Legislative Guidebook will be jointly issued by HUD and the American Planning Association (APA). The guidebook is a comprehensive blueprint of model statutes and planning guidelines whose goal is nothing less than a centralization of land planning for state and local governments and elimination of the need for messy and "inefficient" local land-use control.

The Legislative Guidebook is the brainchild of an insular group of no-growth activists who found fertile soil for their antigrowth agenda at HUD during the Clinton administration. Flush with more than $1.7 million in HUD grant money, these activists (with the knowledge and input of only a select few) spent seven years crafting the guidebook.

Between July 1994 and June 2001, under the leadership of the HUD-APA "directorate" the project went through 11 amendments and expanded in nature and scope to the almost 2,000-page document it is today, filled with generic rhetoric that masks its true radical intent to federalize local government control and eviscerate constitutionally protected private-property rights. The general public, as well as minority- and small-business owners, farmers and virtually everyone affected by the guidelines, was excluded from the process.

Not surprisingly, then, the results of this exclusionary process is a product that is antibusiness and anti-private-property rights. Many provisions in the guidebook statutorily will take private-property rights without just compensation. One small example of the detailed level of control embodied in the guidebook is its treatment of ordinary commercial signs, which virtually every small business and restaurant has. After prescribing uniform size, shape and color standards by which every sign is required to look alike, the guidebook recommends an "amortization" plan, which will give small-business owners a limited period to enjoy their identical signs before they must be removed altogether, without payment of just compensation as required by the U.S. Constitution.

In contrast to its detailed level of minutiae, the guidebook also can be characterized by the sweeping breadth of the land-use planning issues it attempts uniformly to regulate. These include affordable housing, transportation, urban growth, neighborhood planning, economic development, public services, state facilities, taxes, zoning and subdivision, environmental policy, historic preservation, telecommunications and information technology, among others.

To encourage everyone from state legislatures to town councils to adopt these uniform standards, the same no-growth activists have convinced some federal lawmakers to introduce the Community Character Act of 2001 (HR1433 in the House and S975 in the Senate). It would authorize a grant program to the tune of $250 million over 10 years to be earmarked for state and tribal governments whose land-use planning activities are consistent with the terms and conditions embedded in the Legislative Guidebook.

Adoption of these no-growth laws has proved very expensive for local residents and home owners. For example, Portland, Ore., a model for the "smart-growth" initiative, has gone from being one of the nation's most affordable cities to one of the least affordable. Moreover, because the guidebook's proposals will restrict where people can live, it will help ensure not only that there is no affordable housing but no housing at all.

The guidebook has been slammed by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), head of the Congressional Western Caucus, who stated: "The Legislative Guidebook is a backdoor attempt to squash the rights of private-property owners. We must make sure that we respect the ownership rights of others."

Federal regulations already control far too many aspects of our lives and land-use decisions. Hopefully, Martinez will act to stop the uncontrolled growth of even more federal hegemony. Even if the guidebook moves forward, Martinez at the very least should give the regulated community a fair opportunity to review and comment on what amounts to a regulatory stealth bomb.

NANCIE G. MARZULLA IS PRESIDENT OF THE WASHINGTON-BASED DEFENDERS OF PROPERTY RIGHTS.