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<br />;' <br /> <br />.: <br /> <br />~ <br />~ <br /> <br />1)0 <br /> <br />THE REdDER'S DIGEST <br /> <br />OClobu <br /> <br />cuurse. tn:u nobody has yet been <br />ahle to suggest ;1 way that we c:tn <br />continue to prosper \....ithout eco- <br />numic growth. But must it ;"Iii be so <br />Ch;IOtlC. so destructive? <br />UnJcr ollr prcsellt s~'st(:m, the <br />answer is ycs- fOt a very simple <br />reason: the economic compc:titive- <br />nc~s of our 7S,217 units of 1001 <br />government. to which the SL;JteS <br />have delC'~:Itcd their :luthuritv {O <br />SUpcf\.jse 11nd devclopnu:nr. -rhe~e <br />unilS support themselves mainly by <br />taxing their land; as a consequence, <br />they ;lrc C(JllSLlIltly searching lor <br />people who will develup the land, <br />thereby incrc.1sing its assessed valllc <br />ilncl making it pruduce more in <br />taxes. Thus, the b:1sic fact ;lbout <br />prjvare-Iand development in the <br />United States todJ.Y is that the very <br />units of government tklt we have <br />put in charge of controlling the land <br />are the ones most susceptible to pres- <br />sures not to control it. \Vhich brings <br />us to the IgOI Hawaii law. <br />As the 1960s began, the Hawaii <br />legislature stood back end took a <br />startled look at what was happening <br />to its land, The islands' newlv <br />granted statehood and the iJl[r~- <br />ductioll. of jet travel, were causing a <br />tourist-anti-population boom of <br />enormous proportions, The city of <br />Honolulu was breaking au[ in a <br />rash of Los Angeles-type sprawl, <br />and an isbl1o-\'vioe building boom <br />was threatening to absorb l<lrge <br />chunks of Ihe irreplaceable iOo,oOO <br />acres th;1t supported !he islands' <br />two main expons-sug;\r and pine- <br />apples. Responding 10 the crisis, in <br /> <br />1961 the legisbrurc passed the bw <br />that uS}H.:n:d in the qllie[ rn'(lllHiull, <br />Pacific Precedent, C:dlcd Ihe ]-la- <br />waii:lI1 Lllld U.~l: L:1\\", it ~aid dl:1[ <br />hCllcLfQrth the J"/Il/e \\'uldd dr;l\"" up <br />and ell/()rce regubtiollS go\'erning <br />the use uf private land. l\nd the <br />st;ltc would tJT~lt this lanJ not m~rc- <br />1y JS a commudity to Dc uougln ;HH.l <br />sold, Gut :dsu :1S ,t natllral rL'source <br />to be protected. <br />For a while, lloboJ\' (In the rnain- <br />iJnd fXlid much ~Hlt'IH'iolllO tlle prcc~ <br />cdelH that haJ been set WJY uUt <br />thcre in the P:1cihc. But ill thc mid~ <br />lC,/\OS. ,1S th~ tl1VirollmclH;ll lll(We- <br />mt."llt :1w;lkencd the public. a few <br />staws began experimenting with <br />their own ver~ions of the Haw:lii;111 <br />idea. At first, they Jid it piecemeal. <br />p:J.ssing limited bws to protL'ct <br />certain problem :1reas: to stop de- <br />struction of tidal marshes in Mass;1- <br />chusetts; to slow filling-in of San <br />Francisco HJY in CaJiforniJ; to ban <br />all new heavy industry along the <br />entirc coast of Dcbwarl', Then, in <br />1970. Vermont, hit by Jll abrming <br />sccond-Iwn1e boom, authorized a <br />land-use plan governing Lhe entire <br />stale, And lost yeor FloriJ" JiJ the <br />S3.mc {or .11[ growth and develop- <br />mcnt of critical stJte concern within <br />its boumlaries. <br />Today, citizens arc pressing for <br />simibr laws in a dozcn st;ltes, and <br />t\\'O bills :1re now be/orc Congress <br />to put pressure on all SI:ltes tZ get <br />into the bnd-use-pl:1J111ing bmillC.~s. <br />Here :1re the main qucstiolls th:lt <br />will be r;lised when your state gets <br />embroiled in Ihe debate: <br /> <br />I <br />. <br />. <br />t <br />; <br />, <br /> <br />; <br />: <br />i <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />i <br />; <br />~ <br />i <br />. <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />t <br />1 <br />, <br /> <br />j, <br />I <br />\ <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />i <br />.. <br />