Building a Constituency for Change: The
Growth Alternatives Alliance

Greg Kirkpatrick

For the first time anywhere in the country, leaders of the agricultural, development, and business communities have collaborated on a course of action to accommodate population growth and protect important agricultural resources. The Fresno Chamber of Commerce, the Fresno County Farm Bureau, Building Association of the San Joaquin Valley, the American Farmland Trust and the Fresno Business Council have joined to form the Growth Alternatives Alliance. Together, these organizations have developed a common vision for the future that provides a wide range of affordable housing products, protects farmland and vital natural resources, and improves the quality of life for residents of Fresno County and its cities.

The San Joaquin Valley is one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions in California and the nation. While the state's population is expected to double over the next 45 years, the Valley's population is expected to triple. American Farmland Trust evaluated the impacts of this population growth in its 1995 report entitled "Alternatives for Future Growth in California’s Central Valley". The report concluded that continued sprawling development would result in the loss of more than 1 million acres of irrigated farmland and annual losses of $5.3 billion to the Central Valley economy by the year 2040. The study also found that the costs of low-density development could not be paid for with property and sales tax revenues and could result in a budget shortfall of $980 million annually in 39 Valley cities by the year 2040.

Controlling or changing population growth trends is nearly impossible; but it is possible to change patterns of growth, especially if a grass roots consensus for better land use planning can be developed among local stakeholders and decision-makers. Replacing urban sprawl with more compact and efficient patterns of growth on the urban edge and directing growth inward through infill development and neighborhood revitalization can accommodate the same number of people on much less land.

In July 1996, members of what would become the Growth Alternatives Alliance jointly issued a letter to the City of Fresno encouraging local leaders to adopt policies that would encourage and facilitate compact growth and urban infill to accommodate anticipated population increases. These organizations agreed that moderate increases in urban density and infill development were likely to have a number of positive benefits for the local citizenry and economy including:

• reduced consumption and conversion of agricultural and natural land to urban uses;
• lower housing costs as a result of greater efficiency in the utilization of infrastructure;
• feasibility of regional transit systems such as light rail;
• stronger sense of community and neighborhood;
• revitalization of urban centers and retention of infrastructure investments in the urban core; • improved delivery of public services and emergency response; and
• greater ability to attract new businesses due to improved quality of life.

The participating organizations then proceeded to form the Growth Alternatives Alliance. The primary objective was to reach consensus on a common vision for the future of Fresno County and its cities - one that would guide urban development while protecting our most important agricultural resources over the next 25-30 years. In April 1998 the Alliance released "A Landscape of Choice: Strategies for Changing the Patterns of Community Growth."

The 27 strategies focus on a number of actions that should be undertaken to enact three guiding principles:

1. Utilize urban land as efficiently as possible through compact growth and urban infill
2. Develop livable communities that emphasize pedestrian or transit-oriented design
3. Recognize the importance of agriculture and the need to protect productive farmland

These strategies encourage further collaborative efforts and public participation to define the specific standards appropriate for each community rather than dictating one-size-fits-all solutions.

The Alliance is firmly committed to creating a constituency for change that recognizes the benefits of building better communities. Over the last year the County of Fresno and all 15 of its cities adopted resolutions supporting the principles of "A Landscape of Choice" and directed their staff to implement the growth management strategies. Fresno County and the City of Fresno are presently incorporating these strategies into their General Plan updates and several other cities are adopting specific development plans for the patterns of growth envisioned in Landscape of Choice.

Greg Kirkpatrick
American Farmland Trust
1002 W. Main St.
Visalia, CA 93291
Tel: (559) 627-3708
Gkaft@aol.com

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