Editor's Note: Alex Wallace is an on-call GIS (Geographic Information Systems) support staff member for Parametrix. In November of 2009, he attended the APA conference in Vancouver, Washington as a Northwest Hub reporter. Here, Alex provides his take-aways from a presentation at the conference by the Cascade Land Conservancy.
Jeff Aken, Cascade Agenda Project Associate at the Cascade Land Conservancy, began his presentation by putting future Puget Sound population growth into context. Based on a prediction from the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Puget Sound area is expected to grow to 1.4 million people and 1.2 million jobs in the next 30 years. The question is how do we accommodate those people while still preserving a high quality of life?
Cascade Land Conservancy has developed two programs: the Cascade Agenda and the Community Stewards Program to address this question through natural areas preservation and by engaging citizens to guide local decisions about future growth and development in their communities.
The Cascade Agenda is a 100-year vision for Washington State that aims to protect one million acres of working forests and farms and 265,000 acres of shorelines, natural areas, and parks. In order to preserve and maintain these natural areas, communities must be built compact with connections to open space. The vision is linked to investments that cities must make to accommodate future growth and backed by involved citizens who desire smart growth.
To initiate the Community Stewards Program, Cascade Land Conservancy contacts engaged groups within a community to attend a workshop called Take Action Day. Take Action Day is an overview of the planning process that teaches citizens to participate in public meetings early, as well as framing techniques that focus on the issue with persuasive arguments. The second phase includes training interested citizens to become leaders as land use actions arise and build public support to help guide smart growth development they want in their community.
A great example of the power of persuasive citizens came when Walgreens proposed a standard store design on a corner street along 15th Avenue on Capitol Hill in Seattle. The area is composed of multi-storied condo and apartment buildings, so the Walgreens proposal was out of character with the present street design. Citizens got engaged early in the process and joined forces with Capitol Hill Housing to develop a plan along with Walgreens for 44 units of affordable housing apartments above the Walgreens storefront. Citizens searched for an alternative proposal based on their neighborhood values and were able to gather enough public support for the alternative consistent with compact development.
Allison Van Gorp, Urban Policy director of Cascade Land Conservancy, says framing the issue around community values is a critical first step for concerned citizens to take when speaking about a development issue. Public testimonies in front of the City Council and Planning Commission should put the issue in a larger context and identify opportunities and specific areas needing improvement pertaining to the development proposal. Community stewards should identify a messenger, someone who cares about the issue such as a teacher or firefighter, to convey the appropriate message to city decision makers. Lastly, involving the media on development decision-making is a powerful tool if done appropriately. Stories should avoid personal disputes with developers and instead frame stories around a changing community story where citizens may join and help impact the outcome.
Challenges in this program have involved trying to focus on smart growth principles and move away from the "not in my back yard" or NIMBY ideology. Difficulties will continue to include bridging neighborhood interests with long term growth and development issues and defining the best interests, trade-offs, and compromises within the framework of local and regional goals. The vision of the Cascade Land Conservancy Community Stewards program is to train the next generation of community leaders to spread the word about smart growth.
Alex Wallace is currently working as an on-call GIS (Geographic Information Systems) support staff for Parametrix, volunteering as an intern for Cascade Land Conservancy’s Community Stewards Program. He is interested in land use issues and engaging neighborhoods through the Community Stewards Program to participate in the planning process. Alex can be contacted at alex.s.wallace@gmail.com.
