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00584 ~ '. \1' \' '. ~:>)1;.r 3. It has been suggested that the provIsIon of services such as water, sanitary drainage and major roads be used as "growth management tools." It is not, however, the respon- sibility of these service agencies to engage in land use planning. Rather it is their duty to provide the service where it is requi red. 4. The history of development in the Denver area indicates that constraints on the water supply have done little to halt or shape growth. Both the "blue line" and the more recent tap allocation program h?ve served primarily to redistribute growth and in a manner that has resulted in the present sprawl. 5. Other types of restriction such as Boulder's "green line" and building permit control are having much the same effect. Such restrictions have pushed UP land prices within the defined area and consequently made development more attractive elsewhe~2. The controls have had little, if any, effect in forcing higher densities or controlling locations of growth. 6. In order to avert sprawl, it is suggested that the population growth be concentrated in the center of the Region rather than dispersed. However, given the existing development commitments and infrastructure provisions, the range of suburban growth that could potentially be diverted from the suburbs to the inner areas would mean a shift of probably less than nine percent of the total combined Denver and suburban population in the year 20DO. This could not be expected to make a major impact on the control of sprawl. 7. It has a 1 so been sugges ted tha t new hous i ng shoul d be bui It at higher densities, principally in the center of the region and around proposed activity centers. However, the trend in residential development, in response to the effective housing market, has been to low density housing. Developers and public agencies expect a continuation of this trend and have planned for it accordingly. Service provisions for the next stages of growth support low density developments. To that extent, it would be some time before "anti-sprawl" policies could have any effect on future patterns of growth. 8. In terms of what can be done to contain spraNl, the single most important lesson learned in recent years about urban planning is that ~~ one single measure can successfully control or direct urban growth. "Major development effects do not arise 5