| Comment | June 23, 2010
California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
FAX: 916-327-5748
Re: Support for implementation of SB 375
Dear Chairwoman Mary Nichols, Board Members and CARB Staff:
As co-founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, this
country's leading organization promoting walkable mixed-use
neighborhood development, we urge you to set ambitious targets for
greenhouse gas emissions through SB 375. The oil spill in the Gulf
demonstrates that the real cost of our oil dependence is much
higher than what we pay at the pump, and SB 375 finally provides
the impetus we need to build the neighborhoods and the
transportation system that will free us from dependence on foreign
oil. Strong implementation of SB 375 will also help the region
offset the impact of population growth on quality of life by
addressing all the problems long associated with Southern
California's infamous sprawl -including traffic congestion, the
burden of rising housing and transportation costs on families,
declining air quality and climate change.
SB 375 will begin the CEQA reform necessary to remove the
barriers to infill and transit-oriented development, thus leveling
the playing field for the building industry and helping to
maintain a balance between infill and greenfield development. The
law helps provide certainty for developers as well as for
neighborhood residents about where development is supposed to
occur - thereby making development less contentious and the
planning and permitting process less expensive. And SB 375 will
improve the allocation of transportation funding according to
density and need, thereby easing traffic problems in existing
neighborhoods. By promoting a better jobs-housing balance SB 375
will also help reduce the time people must spend commuting -
allowing them to instead spend the time with family and friends.
Bottom line, SB 375 helps California accommodate growth in ways
that are economically sound, environmentally responsible and
socially beneficial. The state needs to set a new and more
sustainable course now more than ever. Don't back down from
enforcing the law.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Moule & Stefanos Polyzoides
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