Public invited to weigh in on how Bakersfield should grow
| Friday, Oct 23 2009 04:20 PM
Last Updated Friday, Oct 23 2009 04:20 PM
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HOW TO GO
The special Board of Supervisors meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday in the board chambers on the first floor of the County Administrative Center at 1115 Truxtun Ave., just west of Rabobank Arena.
Preliminary documents tied to the General Plan update can be viewed at www.bakersfieldcity.us/mbgp/index.html.
Bakersfield's future will be on display Monday night at the Kern County Administrative Center.
People who like to complain about traffic, bad air, the terrible economy and the half-built ghosts of housing developments that sprawl along the outskirts of the metropolitan area are invited to come.
People who don't like the idea of government tampering in the land development business will be welcome too.
Supervisors will get a briefing from county planning staff on the Metropolitan Bakersfield General Plan update -- and then supervisors and the public will have a chance to chew over some tough issues.
This won't be the last time the joint plan, currently being crafted by city of Bakersfield and county staff and consultants, will be discussed publicly.
But there are some big questions on the table and there is a lot of talking to do:
* How far out should urbanization occur before we stop build and out and work to fill in the vacant lots and empty areas closer to the city's center?
* Should there be areas of controlled growth where land development is more costly and difficult to do?
* How will we deal with legislation that requires us to reduce our production of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020?
* How can Bakersfield, a community that deeply reveres the automobile, be encouraged to drive less or use public transit?
In short, how does Bakersfield grow in the next 25 years?
Supervisor Mike Maggard, who went through the last general plan update in 2003 as a member of the Bakersfield City Council, encouraged people to get involved.
"I need to see if the public's perspective is any different than the last time we updated it. I hope the public shows up and shares with us their ideas," he said.
New state legislation, aimed at controlling the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, demands changes in the way local governments control growth.
"Whether you like this legislation or not, it's changing the way we do things," Maggard said.
Some of the solutions contemplated in the plan include three tiers of development -- one for now, one for after 2035 and one for after 2050.
"If we continue growing the way we have - on the periphery - our roads system is going to become more and more expensive," said county interim Resource Management Agency Director Ted James. We want to "see if we can't come up with better ways to address greater use of transit, better use of mixed-use development so people don't have to drive across town."
At the same time the goal is to try to maintain the opportunity for development that can fuel the local economy.
"Our challenge is especially magnified by the fact we're in an economic downturn," James said.
