Smart Growth is well worth continuing

"People are building way too much in this world, and they need to stop," said the young caller in the Gazette's Sound Off on May 18. "They are building on all the animals' territories and killing them by doing so. . There is no country anymore."

Urban sprawl can threaten a quality of life that to Badger State residents means rolling, scenic countryside filled with mature forests, dairy barns and fields of waving grain.

Enter Smart Growth. Enacted in 1999, the state law requires municipalities and towns to plan for development possibilities in ways that make sense. Since then, they've been doing just that.

But the Joint Finance Committee has voted 10-6 to end the program, cutting the state's annual $2 million in aid to facilitate local planning.

It makes no sense to us.

Some lawmakers apparently think Smart Growth meddles with the rights of individual property owners and local control.

But municipalities and counties have zoning laws that already restrict property owner rights and limit development to logical spots.

Furthermore, Smart Growth is all about local control. It just encourages-all right, mandates-that every municipality develop a growth plan by 2010. But this mandate encourages localities to do the planning themselves.

Communities must stretch to survive and thrive. Industrial parks, retail corridors and a proper mix of housing help balance tax bases and keep communities healthy. Smart Growth allows that by incorporating public comment, the concerns of neighboring communities and logical transportation and utility networks.

In Evansville, for example, a committee that includes representatives of the city, school district and neighboring communities got public input on the city's proposed plan during a listening session last month. Evansville High School students have helped survey residents for the plan, as well as one in neighboring Union Township.

In Walworth County, the county board agreed May 10 to allow townships out of countywide zoning rules when the county enacts its Smart Growth plan around 2009. Why? The key argument is that local officials know what's best for their towns. To free themselves from countywide rule, towns would have to enact their own Smart Growth plans.

Most local officials know the importance of proper planning. But without the state nudge, some never would take long-range approaches. It's illogical to stop this process in the middle. The full Legislature or Gov. Jim Doyle should overturn the Joint Finance Committee's vote.

We think one 11-year-old out there would agree.