Category Archives: Smart Growth 101

Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. The term ‘smart growth’ is particularly used in North America. In Europe and particularly the UK, the terms ‘Compact City’ or ‘urban intensification’ have often been used to describe similar concepts, which have influenced government planning policies in the UK, the Netherlands and several other European countries.
Smart growth values long-range, regional considerations of sustainability over a short-term focus. Its goals are to achieve a unique sense of community and place; expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources; and promote public health.

Local Gov’t 101 – What is the Township BOC?

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First in a continuing series outlining our various levels of local government in the greater East Penn area and how you can get involved in the decision making process! 

What is the Township Board of Commissioners? 

Lower Macungie is a township which is a level of local government. (Municipality) Local municipalities in Pennsylvania are either cities (like Allentown) Boroughs (like Emmaus or Macungie) or Townships. (Like Upper Milford or Upper Macungie)

Municipality -> County -> State -> Federal Gov’t

In Lower Macungie we’re governed by a board of 5 elected officials. The LMT BOC. In 2009 after a resident led advocacy effort we became a first class township. Previously we were 2nd. The difference is the organization. When we were 2nd class we elected 3 Supervisors. An argument was made by supporters (myself included) that a 1st class township is a more effective and transparent form of gov’t for a township as large as ours. In 2009 voters agreed 60-40% and we switched to 1st class.

Here is a great overview by Citizens for Change the resident group who advocated for conversion to first class township.

Commissioners are responsible for policy items such as setting the property tax rate, guiding growth policy, overseeing our park system and supervision of the professional staff including our planner, zoning officer, code enforcement officer and public works staff. Some hot button topics that will be discussed in the coming months include police protection, Smart Growth, storm water management and walkability.

To put it into practical terms that affect all homeowners, when you pay your tax bill, 3 local bodies have their “hand” in it. The School District, the county and your local municipality.  Growth decisions made in LMT also affect the school district in terms of enrollment and taxes. Land development decisions affect our taxes and our quality of life. Regulatory issues affect renters, homeowners and businesses in the township.

Commissioners serve on various committees that reflect other responsibilities. These were setup during the conversion to 1st class to make the decision making process more transparent. These include: Public Safety, Planning and Zoning, Public Works and General Administration. Some of these committees coincide with volunteer commissions and boards such as Parks & Recreation, Public Safety and Planning. These resident commissions advise make formal recommendations to the board. These are setup so that residents can attend these meetings to discuss concerns with commissioners in a less formal setting then a full board meeting.

How to get involved! Resident participation is key to local Government. Far too often residents become aware of issues when it’s too late. (Jaindl) It’s been my mission the last 2 years to ensure residents are aware of hot button topics. It’s very easy to get involved. In fact, our first class township is setup to be hands on. There are various committees and commissions residents can volunteer on. The township website always posts updates on what positions are available. You can fill out volunteer forms at any time and the township secretary will keep it on file and alert you when a position opens up.

Board of Commissioner meetings are the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month at 7pm. Committee and Commission meetings are always posted on the township calendar.

LMT Facts:
24 Square Miles
Over 30,000 residents (larger the the city of Easton!)
One of the fastest growing Municipalities in the State (40% growth over last 2 decades)

Next week: East Penn Borough Governments (Emmaus, Alburtis and Macungie)

 

Essential upgrades for walkable Willow Ln Elementary

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Enhanced safety features ensure safe walking routes for students and parents at Willow Lane

Here are some enhanced safety features I think need to be considered before students are permitted to walk to Willow Lane Elementary next year. Here is a link to the walkability study conducted by PA safe routes to school. The study makes dozens of recommendations which in my opinion should be considered the bare minimal acceptable improvements to the 3 designated walking routes. I would like to see the following additional safety features considered by township and district officials in an effort to go above and beyond the bare minimum.

1. Lighted LED crosswalks similar to ones installed on Main. St. in Macungie.

Lights are embedded in the pavement on both sides of the crosswalk and oriented to face oncoming traffic. When the pedestrian activates the system by using a push-button, the lights flash warning motorists that a pedestrian is in the vicinity of the crosswalk ahead. These should be installed where appropriate at the busiest intersections.
Cost: Ranging from 5000-12,000 per system

2. Stalker Boards in conjuction with flashing 15 MPH school zone signage.

Stalker boards are electronic signs that display the speed of motorists as they drive past a point. Completely self contained these units are proven to significantly reduce speeds in school zones. These should be used in conjuction with flashing yellow lights and 15mph zones. (See photo)
Cost: Ranging from 6,000-10,000

3. Raised crosswalk/Pedestrian Medians

At crossing points where guards will not be located on connector roads and interior driveways on district property raised cross walks or pedestrian refuges should be installed as a traffic calming and pedestrian safety device.
Cost: Raised Crosswalk-$2,500-$7,000

To stay informed on upcoming township meetings where walkability is addressed “like” us on facebook! www.facebook.com/friendslmt

Wedding Photos in a Shopping Center?

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I work in the wedding industry and this summer we had a client that wanted her formal photos taken inside the Promenade Shopping center. We thought ok here is a neat outside the box idea so we ran with it. But let me get back to that in a second.

Part of smart growth is taking pride in the built environment. A main tenet is “fostering distinct, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.” As I’ve said many times I don’t want “Anywhere, USA”, I want to be unique. A criticism of our township by residents is we lack a sense of community. (Visioning 20/20 Survey) The purpose of this tenet is to help foster one.

Smart growth creates interesting, unique communities that reflect the values of the people who reside there, and foster physical environments that support a more cohesive community fabric – Smartgrowth.org

While looking at these photos today I thought, here is really exceptional design. This is a shopping center so well done, so unique that a Bride wanted to get her formal wedding photos taken there. And they ended up fantastic. Clearly when the developer and community planned this place, they took pride in their built environment.

Our township is currently reviewing our standards. This is a no-brainer. Our commercial standards are antiquated and reflect out-dated thinking. Frankly this is long overdue.

Today I sent a letter to our elected officials challenging them to really re-think the way we build our “places”. There’s no denying what it says about a community when you can shoot formal wedding photography inside one of their shopping centers. In my opinion thats the bar.

Take it a step further…

By creating attractive communities with architectural elements that reflect residents, there is a greater likelihood that buildings and neighborhoods will retain their economic value over time. – Smartgrowth.org

Economically we’re competing with Saucon Valley for regional shopping dollars. The taxpayer has already invested in the by-pass to facilitate this. If we want to compete, if our goal is to be exceptional and really set our selves apart as a place that holds value then when designing Hamilton Crossings and shopping centers in general is it crazy to ask the question: Could a couple take their formal wedding photos on the premise? At the Promenade one couple did. The Promenade is universally considered a success and a regional destination. Coincidence?

To see more of Amanda and Chris’s photos visit our website at www.barnoneweddings.com

Challenging LMT officials to think big

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Earlier this week Smart Growth Advocate Tom Hylton spoke to 40 residents and presented examples of communities who took the initiative to foster distinct, attractive communities with a sense of place. (One of the main tenets of smart growth). Of the many examples presented (many in nearby communities) the Mcdonalds elicited the most ooh’s and ahh’s from those in attendance.

In Freeport, McDonalds made plans to tear down a historic home to build one of its standard cookie cutter stores. Outcry from residents forced the town to adopt new rules concerning design standards. McDonald’s then built the restaurant inside the home, maintaining the exterior appearance. This was one of the first times that McDonald’s had been forced to change its restaurant design to fit local requirements.

Mcdonalds kicked and screamed along the way. But shortly after opening, the restaurant became the largest grossing in the area. And shortly after was featured by Mcdonalds in their quarterly bullitan. The residents truly did know what was best for their community.

That’s what LMT could and should start doing, enforcing design and architectural standards on our commercial developers. Instead of the typical cookie cutter buildings that comprise ‘anywhere USA’ typical ‘junkscapes’, (think our AutoZone, WaWa’s, Fast Food joints, etc) Imagine instead buildings that blend with our residential surroundings. It can easily be done here.

Our planning commission is currently reviewing our commercial standards. They’re beefing up our bland standards from the 70’s. We challenge them and our elected BOC to take a look at the most innovative standards other communities use and really push the envelope. I personaly want LMT to continue to be a special community, not ‘anywhere USA’. 

Anywhere USA Junkscape… Is this the direction we’re heading?

All its takes is vision and a commitment to creating something beautiful and unique. There are some great projects coming down the pike. In Macungie, liberty Savings bank is “recylcling” a historic building on Walnut and Main the old Singmaster house and re-adapting it into a full service local bank branch complete with drive through.

In LMT the developer of Hamilton Crossings is taking care to give us a “unique” shopping experience. So far they’ve done a good job compared to most projects in LMT but we challenge them to go even further.

Do officials in LMT have the kind of vision to keep pushing?

The Promenade locally is an excellent example of design standards a community can be proud of. The promenade has turned into a regional destination and valuable asset for the surrounding community.

It’s OK to grow! Contrasting 2 development plans

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‘Friends LMT’ is not anti growth. We recently got some press in a couple outlets for our support of the Hamilton Crossings Development.

Even Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie, which has been critical of some of the township’s planned development, has voiced its support for the project. Mcall

We don’t arbitrarily decide what we support and don’t. We take potential projects and apply the 10 principles of smart growth. Here is an example of 5 of the ten smart growth principles contrasting the Jaindl Development with the Hamilton Crossings Development.

(Note we look at this plan purely from a land use standpoint, we don’t take a stance on the funding mechanisms specifically the grants or TIF’s)

1. Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities: Perhaps the most important criteria for our support of Hamilton Crossings. (HC) The project is being built in the designated commercial corridor of the township. This both according to county and local planning. The lions share of the infrastructure is already in place with the bypass.  It’s now all about prioritizing by seeking a return on investment to maximize taxpayer dollars. HC accomplishes this big time.

Contrast this with Jaindl. Costly new infrastructure must be built to accommodate this development on the fringe of the twp. The Jaindl development is an example of the suburban sprawl ponzi scheme.

‘No large up-front bet’
“The smart growth approach requires no oversizing, no large up-front bet with public money, no stifling congestion if the system doesn’t respond as predicted, no more building multimillion-dollar industrial parks to gamble on attracting jobs.

And remember first and foremost a fundamental principle that outlying greenfield development is NEVER smart growth. Which leads us to….

2. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas: It’s not just quality of life. Although that is a huge part. It’s a building in a  sustainable way thing.  And yes, that means both environmentally but equally important fiscally. Smart Growth dictates that you build according to a transect.

Smart Growth Transect

Smart Growth Transect – From the Urban Core to rural

What leadership did in the 80’s was correctly re-zone the area’s west of Rt. 100 to agriculture protected. This remained for 20 years without challenge (until Jaindl saw his opportunity with the current BOC) The ag zoning would have ensured that the fringes of our township remained protected. Allowing development to concentrate in the appropriate core. Jaindl will essentially blow the whole transect out of proportion. Putting an extremely high concentration of high density housing, strip malls and warehousing in the most inefficient place away from services, away from infrastructure. Who pays the price to subsidize this? The taxpayers. In contrast HC maximizes investments already made. Over the course of a lifecycle cost benefit analysis it’s highly likely that HC will pay dividends to the taxpayer for decades. (The real winner being the school district)

Of course you can also make the case that the headwaters of Creeks that provide drinking water to Allentown are environmentally sensitive areas. But the environmental argument against Jaindl development is obvious. Here we’ll concentrate on dollars and cents. Greenfield development NEVER balances out in terms of cost vs. benefit. It simply doesn’t. 

3. Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices: The Hamilton bypass corridor is currently the focus of a transportation study the results of which will be applied to the corridor to even further assure it will be able to handle the traffic generated.

The hope is to eventually provide fast, efficient public transportation options for workers who can take a bus to get to their jobs along Hamilton and industrial parks in Upper Macungie and make a pit stop at one of the various shopping centers on their way to and from work. Township officials hope it will also contribute to the revitalization of the villages of Wescosville and Trexlertown.  

Again, the Jaindl development is creating traffic where currently there is nothing but cornfields. This will most assuredly lead to tractor trailer traffic bleeding onto residential streets and gridlock on Rt. 100.

 4. Mix Land Uses: The Hamilton corridor will be a shining example of mixing uses when it offers expanded transportation choices, by creating a setting that better serves a range of users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and automobiles. Residents will have be given a choice on whether or not they choose to use their cars and if they do, traffic will flow efficiently because the area was designed to handle it. This is all due to the proximity of COMPATIBLE land uses. This is a fundamental flaw with Jaindl development. Warehouses are naturally incompatible with residential development. The Jaindl development is slamming a square peg in a circle hole to maximize profit at all costs. By locating services away from the core on the fringe even if you do provide say public transportation the cost to the taxpayer is more expensive then the Hamilton corridor which is closer to the core. Also by mixing land uses as the corridor does, fire and police protection are more

5. Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair, and Cost Effective: Perhaps the biggest knock on the Jaindl development. It’s well documented the flaws in the process. A confidentially negotiated MOU, changing a 20 year zoning precedent without proper notification and without meaningful public input, a developer whose lawyer says basically ‘this development is happening regardless of the the community thinks’. This is perhaps the perfect example of predatory development.

Vs. HC and a developer that goes out of his way to work with the community. A process (perhaps amplified by the TIF application) that is clearly in the public realm. Every resident knows exactly whats on the table for this property. Perhaps no other project in the history of the township has the public been better informed on the issues surrounding it. It’s clear the developer wants to build an interesting, unique place which reflect the values of the people who reside here. They are definitely heading in the right direction. We challenge them to take it even further.

HAMILTON CROSSINGS COSTCO TARGET

Work to be done…

The Hamilton Crossings Project is not perfect. But it does have promise. Right now the project is seeking funding. Some have issues with the public funding portion. Additionally the developer is seeking dozens of variance requests. Including one serious red flag regarding maximum impervious coverage. Residents will need to monitor this carefully.

Rhetoric vs. Actions

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An amazing re-branding is happening as the Board of Commissioners tries to distance themselves from comments made by planning commissioners they recently rubber stamped. About 2 months ago smart growth buzzwords started flying around at meetings.

This same Board of Commissioners (BOC) who immediately after taking office steamrolled the absolute antithesis of smart growth, an amendment allowing 700 acres of agriculture protected zoning to change to industrial, Strip Mall and Urban are now attempting to re-brand themselves smart growth champions.

 

Wonderful. Nearly 3 years into Reis, Conrad and Eichenberg’s terms they have started studying possible smart growth implementation.

 

I am a believer that actions speak louder then words, so lets review their actions:
1. Jaindl MOU. Mere days after taking office the group began working with Mr. Jaindl his lawyers and Engineers to craft a document chock full of waivers and concessions allowing 700 acres of farmland to be developed with warehouses, strip malls and urban density housing.
2. The Allen Organ project. A project that so far has been spoken in favorable terms by this BOC including Eichenberg who happens to be the realtor of the project. (before eventually recusing himself) This project would create the highest residential density in the township. The plan that at one time was ridiculously branded as “Smart Growth Mixed Use” but after community concern that label was dropped. Now it’s simply being called exactly what it is. A box supermarket and over 200 apartments smushed together on a small parcel.
3. Hamilton Boulevard is becoming Macarther Rd. Two keystone properties are being developed as strip centers on a critical portion of Hamilton boulevard in The Village of Wescosville. It’s been stated this area should become the “Main St.” of the township. Instead we’re getting Macarther Rd.
4. Anti smart growth appointments Planning commissioners who state it’s too late for smart growth get unanimous rubber stamp, while community members who constantly advocate for smart growth are blocked.

 

Again. Rhetoric vs. Action.
Smart growth needs wholesale buy in. Without it you get the Allen Organ proposal. A smart growth sham. 200 apartments crammed with a supermarket that funnels all the traffic onto one intersection. No interconnectivity with adjacent neighborhoods, lip service walkability a sidewalk here and there, no range of housing options and virtually no compact building design.

 

On the national stage on both sides of the aisle we see politicians who speak out of two sides of their mouths everyday. Where the rhetoric is wonderful but actions don’t always line up. Here on our little local stage we see the exact same thing. This group is trying to shut the barn door after the horse has been stolen. Funny the smart growth talk is being ratcheted up a few months before a primary election? It’s probably just coincidence right?

Lower Macungie BOC approves removal of 20 street trees in Legacy Oaks

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Street Trees along Legacy Oaks in Lower Macungie Township

Street Trees along Legacy Oaks in Lower Macungie Township, Trees on the right will be removed.

 Last night at the Commissioners meeting the board approved the removal of 20 street trees along Village Walk between Caramoor Village Shopping Center and Legacy Oaks.

This was after receiving a letter from the Legacy Oaks HOA regarding issues with the tree roots and the bike path along the street. I agree with the reasoning for removing the tree’s. However absolutely disagree with allowing a blanket waiver of the requirement to replace the trees without exploring ways to replant some trees into the setback or requiring trees be re-planted or re-placed in other areas of the township currently without street trees or that have damaged trees.

Legacy Oaks Street Tree Removal Lower Macungie Township

Red circles are trees that could be removed. Green Circles are places where I think trees can easily be replanted in the setback and still provide the function of a street tree. For the remaining 12 the money to replace should be put into an account to plant replacement trees throughout the township. This would have been a better solution to a complete waiver.

The reason the trees need to be removed is because when Legacy Oaks was built 10 years ago instead of installing a 4 foot sidewalk the developers were allowed to install a bike path instead (probably much cheaper for the developer). It seems the difference in the size between a bike path and sidewalk was made up by cutting into the planting green strip where the trees were placed instead of the large setback. This resulted in a 36 inch green strip for planting, entirely too thin.

Green strip on right of bike path is too thin to handle the trees

Green strip on right of bike path is too thin to handle the trees

Because of this planning decision 10 years ago to allow for such a thin strip, as the trees have grown they have caused bulges in the bike path that have needed repair.

The reasoning was correct to remove the trees. However the reasoning to not replace the trees was flawed. Legacy Oaks argued that they have planted over 40 additional trees over the last couple years in and around their property. Note: Legacy Oaks is a private development.

I think it’s great Legacy Oaks is a tree friendly development and sees the value in additional plantings. My problem is these plantings are not street trees in the public right of way. Since Legacy Oaks is a posted private development any trees inside the property should not qualify as street trees. 

The BOC clearly (with the exception of Doug Brown last night who did bring up the some of the many benefits) seems to not understand or buy into the value street trees. A street tree is specifically one that is in the public right of way directly adjacent to a street vs. an ornamental tree which is a part of the landscaping. With street trees placing and spacing is critical. Street trees serve a different purpose then landscaping trees.

This is a great article that outlines 22 benefits of street trees.

Last night before the vote I wanted to make a comment proposing a compromise. Unfortunately it was missed before the vote. I think it was a simple oversight as I was in the back of the room.

This photo shows an area where 8 trees can easily be replaced in the seback. Still serving the function of a street tree but safely away from the bike path.

Basically after taking a look at the area, I believe at least 8 of the trees could very easily be replaced by being moved into the setback. (see attached diagram/map, green circles) There is enough space so the trees can still provide the functions of a public street tree while being moved safely away from the path. For the remaining 12 trees that cannot be replaced in this area the HOA should be required to pay replacement costs so that trees can be installed in other areas of the township.

What do you think about this compromise?

Lower Macungie and the Municipal Lifecycle

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I’ve written in my blog before about the great ponzi scheme that many suburban townships like ours fall into. You can read more about the ponzi scheme I’ve written about here at strongtowns.org. I found an old Geeting post titled the “5 stages of municipal death.” Again, this always amazes me how you can literally see this playing out here in LMT. It’s scary, but also sad that our elected officials don’t see it. This isn’t some theory. It’s literally played out over and over again all throughout the commonwealth.

Here’s the lifecycle:

1. Low taxes with Greenfield Growth
2. Gradually rising tax rates and increasing demand for services.
3. Plateau of tax base with reductions in non-core services.
4. Insufficient taxes or tax base with reductions in core services.
5. Loss of tax base and distress

Right now, we’re entrenched in the 1st stage. Artificially low taxes. 0% municipal tax rate. Due solely because of the perfect storm of subsidized greenfield growth and the EIT revenue it produced over the last 2 decades and the state taxpayer forking the bill for our police services. We’re about to very clearly enter the 2nd stage (the convo about an LMT police dept…which I believe we would be insane to enact until the state enacts critical reforms) with the 3rd stage on the horizon. (increasing enrollment in EPSD leading to school taxes going up year after year after year with outcomes stagnating) It might take a decade to get to stage 4 and 5 but if you don’t get this train off the tracks now it gets ugly down the road.

First you start your new township on some farmland, and pretend like you don’t need any services and set tax rates way too low.

Then the richest people flee higher tax places for the fake low tax rates. You get by for a few years and then Whoops! it turns out your township needs the same municipal services that every other town does.

Then people stop wanting to pay the increasing taxes, so David Jaindl builds yet another ring of suburbs on former farmland, forms a new government, and the new government Lower Macungies poaches other communities with fake low tax rates and steals your residents and businesses.

But now your tax base has shrunk and you still need to provide the same services over the same territory, so you have to raise taxes again just to maintain the same service levels. More people don’t like the tax increases, so they abandon you for the new Lower Macungie, and on and on.

How do we break this cycle? Through these 5 mechanisms we can break the cycle.

1. Getting the most bang for our taxpayer buck (ROI) on existing infrastructure. (value capture). And do not except any more unfunded maintenance obligations.
2. Conserving green space with mechanisms that are fair to landowners. (purchasing development rights)
3. Requiring complete cost benefit analysis of all greenfield projects to make sure the taxpayer sees benefits not just in the first lifecycle but after the shiny new roads and storm water mechanisms have been dedicated to the taxpayer.
4. Engaging the community in development decisions.
5. Don’t issue any new debt until current debts are fully paid off and limit what we bond for.

Friends smart growth positions

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I want to make it so crystal clear. That there is a chasm between “Friends” vision for our township and that of our elected officials. Come election time it should be so completely obvious that voters will have a crystal clear choice…. I think I’ll repost again “friends’ smart growth policy suggestions that we’ve been promoting for nearly 2 years that have been largely ignored. Please share with your friends and neighbors if you think these solutions for the township makes more sense then the road we’re on.

What Friends supports:

1. Infill development with a focus on Mixed Land Use and Traditional Neighborhood projects.
– Focus on maximizing taxpayer return on investment on our existing infrastructure.
– To encourage this we support creation of Mixed Use ordinances grounded in smart growth principle.

2. Exploring conservation easements to conserve our remaining Green fields.
– Easements are the only effective way to truly preserve farmland that has come under market pressure to develop. It’s also the fairest mechanism for private landowners.
– To identify funding mechanisms and prioritize land to conserve we support the re-creation of a township farmland and open space preservation board.

3. Requiring complete cost benefit lifecycle analysis of all new development.-Including impact on services, maintenance of infrastructure, impact on the EPSD, impact on our tax base.

4. Encouraging community collaboration development decisions and making them predictable, fair and cost effective.

5. Fostering a strong sense of place by connecting our disconnected subdivisions through a complete street network.
– Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe, attractive, and comfortable access and travel for all users, including cars, pedestrians and bicyclists and users of all ages and abilities.

How we’ve grown.

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Think about this for a second.

Over the past ten years LMT has grown at an amazing 40% clip.  That’s 12,000 new residents in one decade. Along with major commercial and industrial development.

For many projects in and around the township the first life cycle of growth created positive cash flow. Why? Developers often pay for INITIAL improvements in order to get support for projects. This includes one time traffic impact fees, upgrades to intersections, roadways, water and sewer lines, building of stormwater management facilties ect. ect.

The fundamental question is: What happens down the line when all of the above mentioned needs ongoing maintenance, improvements, we need more fire protection, a police force ect. and the developers have long since moved on to the next greenfield and all this becomes the responsibility of the taxpayer?

These are all questions of not if but when. When maintenance costs are more than initial gain? Not if but when long term cash flow turns negative?

Where we are at now: According to our leadership the solution is more and more growth. If this is truly case, something has gone wrong. We’ve seen 40% growth last decade. The most in the state of Pennsylvania. If growth is the solution why is there still a problem? This is the general rationale for Jaindl land development from our commissioners. They see the project as wonderful.

Friends for Protection of LMT asks this fundamental question: How can we possibly need more growth after we’ve seen a 40% increase over past 4 years? How can this is sustainable?

One thing is clear. If we NEED growth after a decade of 40% growth, then we’ve have grown in an unsustainable fashion. The current board continues this trend. What we REALLY need right now is a more PRODUCTIVE development pattern.

This is why “Friends” supports the following:
1. Mixed use – Walkable neighborhoods, interconnected, public space.
2. Emphasis on infill instead of greenfield. Utilizing our existing infrastructure to increase our Return on Investment
3. Diversification of our tax base. – Diversified, stable revenue stream. We have more then fulfilled our need for light industrial (warehouses) it’s time to attract other forms of high end commercial.