|
 When you bring together a man who describes himself as an “unapologetic command and
control regulator” and a man who asks, “Who are we to say a retiree can’t buy a five-acre
parcel?,” you’re in for a lively evening of discussion of future density in Inland Southern
California.
And that’s what people who attended the Randall Lewis Seminar Series Feb. 16 participated in.
The “regulator” was Dan Silver, Executive Director of the Endangered Habitats League. The man with the question was John
Petty, Riverside County 3rd District Planning Commissioner. The topic was Density in Inland Southern California: Where and When?
Petty started the evening by noting that density was fine in the more urbanized areas of Southern California, but
questioned the need for the “community centers” concept included in the Riverside County general plan. Many of these,
he noted, were located in “the middle of nowhere” and were unlikely to ever provide enough residents and jobs to
justify mass transit.
Silver said greater density, evening moving from 3 to 5 houses an acre up to 8 to 12 houses would double the amount
of land that would be available for open space. It would create communities that were walkable, and healthier.
 Petty countered that he just couldn’t see Southern Californians walking to the grocery store. Children up through
middle school might walk to school, but once they hit high school, they would want their own cars. In 20 years as
a developer and 7 years as a planning commissioner, Petty said, no one has ever asked him for more density.
Silver said his conversations with developers, and his reading about the real estate industry, had convinced him
there was a market for denser development. Builders wouldn’t be approaching the planning commission with proposals
for denser projects if their market research hadn’t convinced them the units could be sold, Silver said.
Questions from the floor challenged Silver and Petty on property rights, access to transit, the costs of providing
services to far-flung residents and the balance of individual property rights and the public good.
The next Randall Lewis Seminar Series will be March 16 and feature prominent residential architects discussing the
next generation trends in house design. For more details and information,
click here.
|
