I recently attended a planning session hosted by the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments to review the Berkley, Dorchester, Charleston county land use plan called “Our Region, Our Plan”.
The objective of the meeting was to receive input on the plan from a group of citizens who would through their participation establish a consensus to validate the conclusions of a previous working group who developed the plan under the leadership of a consulting firm. I found the premise that fewer than 200 citizens out of a tri-county population approaching 700,000 constituted a consensus less than compelling, despite being highly touted by the facilitators. The conduct of the review process was very tightly controlled with discussion of the four plans previously developed but no changes to the plans allowed. A straw poll was conducted at the conclusion of the meeting resulting in a simple majority of the participants preferring the most restrictive Green Infrastructure Scenario which from the way the process was structured, appeared to be the desired result.
If the review process was not sufficient to elicit concern where “Our Region, Our Plan” was being driven, the content removed all doubt the supporters of this plan were attempting to disguise the impact on the population of the tri-county. The fundamental change advocated by this plan is a significant restriction of personal property rights through a concept called urban growth boundaries (UGB). This concept comes from the playbook of Agenda 21 developed by the United Nations in 1992 and supported by Presidents H.W. Bush and Clinton. The Green Infrastructure Scenario desired by the proponents of “Our Region, Our Plan” envisions transitioning the population from suburban and rural areas to compact high density residential urban complexes where people can walk or bike to work, shopping and entertainment thereby reducing or eliminating the need for automobiles.
Reference to this vision can be found in the December 1, 2005 Special Report Sustainable Development: Transforming America by Harry Lamb of the Environmental Conservation Organization Hollow Rock, Tennessee. “Half the land area of the entire country will be designated ‘wilderness areas’ where only wildlife managers and researchers will be allowed. … Surrounding these wilderness areas and corridors, designated buffer zones will be managed for conservation objectives. … Buffer zones are surrounded by what is called zones of cooperation. This is where people live – in sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are defined by strict urban growth boundaries. Land outside the growth boundaries will be managed by government agencies, which grant permits for activities deemed to be essential and sustainable.”
Several states and municipalities have implemented elements of sustainable development frequently referred to as smart growth. The most notable and aggressive of these is Portland, Oregon starting in 1973. An econometric report focused on Portland’s smart growth initiative was prepared by Randall Pozdena, Ph.D of QuantEcon for the Center for Environmental Justice of the National Center for Public Policy Research in November 2002. The title of the report is Smart Growth and its Effects on Housing Markets: The New Segregation. The National Center for Public Policy Research made two significant observations based on the study:
“Expected home price inflation was found to be greater than expected in most of the states that embraced smart growth, including Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Colorado.”
“It is difficult to make a case for the site-supply restrictions promoted by advocates of smart growth. It is apparent both from theory and the available data that restricting the supply of developmental sites is bound to raise home prices, everything else being equal. Insidiously, the burden of site-supply restrictions will fall disproportionately on poor and minority families.”
In conclusion, the Policy Center determined “The policy of restricting growth through limiting site availability in favor of open land achieved none of its goals: reduced sprawl, more livable communities and decreased auto travel. It has, however, harmed individuals and families, disproportionately harming minorities and the poor.”
Two relatively recent actions by both state and county governments have found the negative issues of smart growth addressed by moving away from Agenda 21 initiatives. The following excerpt shows the Sate of Florida’s action
Every power grab in history enlisted legions of ‘useful idiots.’
So, too, is it that those who would diminish the right to private property, in particular, and capitalism, in general, recruit the feeble-minded to support their cause.
Those who would diminish the U.S. as a bastion of liberty and wealth creation, have a new tool—- Agenda 21. Agenda 21 was underwritten by the United Nations as part of their 1992 Earth Summit, when they adopted this concept developed by G. H. Brundtland, a vice president of the World Socialist Party.
More...
- Fred Brownbill, Oct, 2011
The state of Florida has repealed its 30-year old growth management law (also called “smart growth,” UN Agenda 21 , “compact development” and “livability”).
The primary reason given in the article was the significant increases in home prices caused by the growth management plan.
More...
Another example closer to home comes from Spartanburg.
Written by Bob Dill, Publisher
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
“Roger Nutt, a member of Spartanburg County Council, was instrumental in kicking ICLEI out of Spartanburg County. He discovered they are systematically undermining
our most basic rights as Americans.” ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is the U.N. instrument for local implementation Agenda 21 concepts.
“When I took office, taxpayers like you all who had done a lot of research brought to my attention Agenda 21 and all of its ramifications,” the Councilman said. “It really opened my eyes as to what was going on. I started doing my own research and putting all the pieces together. You don’t have to go very far, you just have to go to their website.”
As a member of the Charleston County Council, you are in a position to stop this egregious interference by an international organization on our rights as American citizens. I call on you to further educate yourself on the topic of Agenda 21 and vote to stop the Our Region, Our Plan initiative in favor of policies that preserve our private property rights.
More...
Cathy Tyler is a writer for Canada Free Press 
