Phoenix as Everycity: A Closer Look at Sprawl in the Desert - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 260

14.5.2 Urban Growth Boundaries
Tools such as “urban growth boundaries” (UGBs) should be considered and have proved
effective where well implemented. UGBs are basically a boundary a city or town estab-
lishes around its urban development. Outside that boundary, development is limited, and
the land is protected for conservation, farming, watershed values, etc. The first UGB in
the United States was drawn around Lexington, Kentucky, in 1958. 36 In 1973, the state of
Oregon passed legislation requiring all cities to include UGBs in their comprehensive land-
use plans. Similar requirements were passed in Washington State in 1989. Tennessee also
requires cities to establish UGBs. In addition to these states, several cities have adopted
growth boundaries, including Livermore and Pleasanton in the bay area of California;
Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Miami-Dade County, Florida.*
While UGBs alone do not address all of the problems associated with poorly planned
growth and urban sprawl, they do provide an important tool. Communities that have
implemented UGBs have been able to focus more on revitalization of their urban centers,
save tax dollars by using public facilities more efficiently, and develop in a way that gives
their communities more accessible public transit. †
14.5.3 Open Space Planning
Planning and preservation of open space is also an important tool that is being used to
help deter sprawl. Rural preservation programs can limit the loss of farmland, where
appropriate, and also protect important open space and wildlife habitat. Maryland has
worked on a combination of measures to deter sprawl including directing resources to
growth areas with a preservation program. Maryland also directs growth to priority fund-
ing areas that must meet guidelines for minimum density and adequate sewer and water.
In Montgomery County, Maryland, a comprehensive preservation program has saved over
93,000 ac of working farmland and open space. Florida is also looking to preserve open
space and has designated over $300 million per year (to support bond acquisition) for
preservation. New Jersey has approved $1 billion for a 10-year bond program to preserve
open space and farmland. 37
Conservation easements are another tool that can help deter urban sprawl and protect
open space. These easements generally limit development on a parcel of private land but
allow continued agricultural activities such as livestock grazing or farming. According to
The Nature Conservancy, nearly 86,000 ac in Arizona are under conservation easements.
However, 57% of the private land outside incorporated areas has already been subdivided
for development, so future applicability of conservation easements in Arizona may be lim-
ited, especially for deterring urban sprawl. 38
14.5.4 Urban Revival
Community revitalization—investment in downtowns and inner suburbs—is an impor-
tant component of deterring sprawl (see Chapter 25). Providing for affordable housing
must be a component of revitalization. Plans and tools that simply push out low-income
people and gentrify those neighborhoods, leaving limited-income families with no alter-
natives, are not the way to revitalize downtowns and curb urban sprawl. Offering assis-
tance to existing neighborhoods so families can stay put as their neighborhood improves
* http://www.ccei.udel.edu/files/urbangrowthboundary.pdf (accessed July 23, 2009).
† www.GreenbeltAlliance.org, (accessed July 23, 2009).