William Fulton; Principal at Design, Community & Environment (DCE) and publisher of California Planning and Development Report (CP&RD), and Deputy Mayor of Ventura, Ca.

1. Third Annual
Leonard Transportation Center Forum
“WILL SB 375 SAVE OUR LIVES OR KILL US?”
William Fulton Friday, May 22, 2009
DESIGN, COMMUITY & ENVIRONMENT

2. THE NEW WORLD, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT
Virtually all environmental and land use policy over the
next few years will be driven by climate change
concerns
Some will be focused on mitigation –
dealing with sea level rise, shifting crop patterns, etc.
MOST will be focused on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
Design, Community & Environment

3. WHAT IS SB 375?
Planning?
Regulation?
Socialism?
A Pain in the #@$#?
Design, Community & Environment

4. TWO QUESTIONS ABOUT SB 375?
What’s it
supposed to
do?
Whatever it’s
supposed to
do, will it do
it?
Design, Community & Environment

5. HERE’S THE IDEA
AB 32 sets a target – a
20% or so reduction in
greenhouse gases by
2020
35-40% of that comes
from the burning of fuels
for transportation
How do you reduce
greenhouse gas
emissions reduction?
Design, Community & Environment

6. THE THREE LEGGED STOOL
Design, Community & Environment

7. DRIVE LESS? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING
Is this even possible? There’s two ways to look at it
How do we comply with SB 375?
How do we actually drive less?
These may be two different things
Design, Community & Environment

8. DRIVE LESS? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING
Annual Household VMT
Nob Hill-Fish Wharf 7,437
Rockridge 15,707
Walnut Creek 19,054
Danville-San Ramon
31,291
CA Target
RB 14,000
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
Design, Community & Environment

9. HOW DO WE COMPLY WITH SB 375?
Based on RTAC’s advice, CARB creates Regional
Targets for MPOs to reduce GHGs
MPOs then create SCSs which become part of the RTP
and, if those don’t meet CARB targets, they must create
APSs.
In SCAG, subregions can create SCSs and APSs.
Local GPs don’t have
to have anything to
do with any of this.
So what?
Design, Community & Environment

10. WHY THIS MATTERS
REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN
- Funding decisions contained in the regional Transportation
Plan must be consistent with an adopted Sustainable
Communities Plan.
CEQA EXEMPTION
- Any development project that meets certain requirements
(density, transit proximity, a bunch of other things) and is
consistent with an adopted SCS is exempt from CEQA or
may qualify for truncated review.
Even if it’s not consistent with local GP
This is why BIA went for it.
Design, Community & Environment

11. HOW DO WE DRIVE LESS?
Design, Community & Environment

12. HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN?
“Pricing signals” (i.e., higher
costs) are the most powerful
way to alter driving habits.
Higher gas costs WILL
reduce VMT.
But there is a FLOOR to how far down
VMT can go Many people MUST drive
most places because of our land use
patterns.
Thus, the built environment can only
absorb SO MUCH when it comes to
lower VMT.
Design, Community & Environment

13. WHAT’S THE GOAL?
Clearly, the goal is to
increase the ability of
the built environment to
“absorb” less driving.
Many advocates talk
about transit &
bicycling
But that’s about
MOBILITY.
Design, Community & Environment

14. THE GOAL IS NOT MOBILITY. IT’S ACCESS
How do you
provide the
things that
people need in
closer proximity
to where they
are?
Still driving, but
driving less, is
still really good.
Design, Community & Environment

15. AND YOU NEED CONCENTRATION, NOT JUST DENSITY
“Mono-Density” – lots
more of ONE thing –
doesn’t help.
You must have more of
EVERYTHING in close
proximity to one
another.
Design, Community & Environment

16. STRATEGIES
The obvious solution is a TOD
The not-so-obvious solution is a POD (Parking Oriented
District)
But the strategies are more or less the same
Design, Community & Environment

17. CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVITIES
Maintain a diverse mix of
land use patterns
Don’t allow any
single use –
residential,
commercial, retail, or
anything else –
to occupy more than
50% of your land
Design, Community & Environment

18. CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVITIES
Leverage the presence of
civic institutions
Design, Community & Environment

19. CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVITIES
Intensify employment
as well as housing
Design, Community & Environment

20. HORIZONTAL MIXED USE
Activities
need to be in
close
proximity to
one another
But not
necessarily
on top of
each other
Design, Community & Environment

21. IT’S IN THE BUSINESS MIX
The mix of
businesses and
services is just as
important as
land use
Focus on
neighborhood
services
Design, Community & Environment

22. USE PARKING TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
On a regional level, you
need transit
But on a local level,
parking performs the
same role as a transit
station
Park Once strategy
Design, Community & Environment

23. POD TO TOD
Good parking is the
foundation of a good
mixed use district
Often a precursor to
transit
Pasadena: Parking
garages to support
retail laid foundation
for transit that supports
housing
Design, Community & Environment

24. Third Annual
Leonard Transportation Center Forum
“WILL SB 375 SAVE OUR LIVES OR KILL US?”
William Fulton Friday, May 22, 2009
DESIGN, COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT