Open Records: Mandatory for Implementing Sustainable Communities

Dennis Klein, Boundary Solutions, Inc. President and CEO

NGAC Meeting Open Time Presentation April 3, 2013

Boundary Solutions Inc. is located in the city of Mill Valley, just across the Golden GateBridge. The initial phases of the town's recent General Plan Update clearly had the town continuing on a trajectory toward a high-income-only gated community. BSI involvement was initially civic - - holding on to MillValley's income distribution, until now a key ingredient of its charm. But how do you hang on to a town whose very success [fun place] is causing its ruin? Remedy came from the Mill Valley Affordable Housing Committee (MVAHC) whose premise is that you cannot make anyone to do anything but you can change what it is they want to believe. MVAHC core principle is;

“Localincludes our Workers and seniors.”

Based entirely on HUD’s Six Livability Principles, the outcome is a parcel-level GIS protocol for planning and implementing Sustainable Communities: 3MAPS (TRANSIT, WALKABILITY, SOLAR) incorporated into the MV Draft Housing Element. Designed to be understood at a glance, composed solely of colored parcels, 3MAPS is visually novel and apparently appealing as well. Even the staunchest NIMBY is susceptible to 3MAPS charm, ‘Hey, this won’t be so bad’.

So far 3MAPS is incorporated in the statutes of one town (pending final approval) as a

Community Sustainability Goal/Policy/ Program package for developing pedestrian friendly density. Bring back the workers, bring back the retail and reduce gridlocked in and-out traffic to the free flow of the '70s - - along with reducing MillValley's carbon footprint, one of the highest per person in the world. A slower look at 3MAPS revealshow easy it is to drag and drop it as a supporting GIS protocol for any jurisdiction anywhere, anchoring the Sustainability of each land parcel to just three metrics...

- TRANSIT: Very Near, Near, Not Near bus stops / transit stations.

- WALKABILITY: Total number of amenities within a half-mile walk.

- SOLAR: Modest/High, Low return on solar panel investment.

3MAPS' first strength is it almost exclusive dependents on just a one data source - - the digital parcel layer linked to improvement value, use code and unit count attributes. Second strength is its irrefutability, for example a parcel is within 1/4 mile of a transit stop or it is not. Finally, 3MAP's simplicity makes it easily reduced to a wizard. Reversing Climate Change is going to require redoing the settlement patterns of 9,000 American

cities and counties, beefing up their cores and corridors to get people out of their cars, the biggest contributor to carbon footprint. DOT studies show there is no lack of demand for new, green, higher density, single or multifamily housing units by new families, singles and seniors in exchange for being close to transit, plenty of nearby amenities and much lower energy and auto expenses. The problem is a lack of such housing inventory due to PUBLIC RESISTANCE refusing to accept change just when, due to the recession, it is needed most.

Open records is key to 3MAPS working at all. Ninety five million Americans live in the 600 counties charging over $500 for use of their own digital parcel map database. When only the highly capitalized can have the data, capital will plan for capital, which, being endemically drawn to low risk, no value-add high return ventures will always plan on for doing nothing, rewarding, for example …

- Energy interests from sustained high vehicle miles per householdper year.

- Real estate interests insisting on no new housing, forcing up value of their holdings.

- Big box stores and malls by not having to compete with increased local retail

mandatory to pedestrian friendly density.

MVAHC was able to stand upto these formidable forces (incumbent behavior) only because the MarinMap digital parcel map download was within the budget of a volunteer public interest group, free. Better, this MarinCounty data offering came with one of the nation's most complete tax roll database. The Assessors reward flows (gushes) from increased county revenues caused by MarinMap’s 1,000s (10,000s?) subscribers incrementally expanding the County's property tax base. In MillValley, nothing deterred the prevailing mind set ("Gated yet?") until 3MAPS turned some heads. Without universal transparency, there is little hope of just saying no more and more JerseyShores.

In conclusion, remember how winning WWII took care of our last big slump and how

dividends of that spending went on for decades. Getting a little ahead of ourselves,

remember how winning the WAR on Climate Change did the same thing? Best of all, the

only federal spending required was bankrolling a media campaign that …

- Alerted financial interests to the profit advantages of cores & corridors investments.

- Urged local government to fast track Sustainability compliant development as well

as go open records to attract developers, small and large, and give every citizen

reciprocal voice in shaping their community’s future.

- Changed what the public wanted to believe from it is goodthe differentincome groups live 30 miles apart to it is good that the different income groupsare all in this together.

1 BSI(c)APR13