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Reason, Not Emotion, Urged in Sprawl Debate

MIDLAND, MI-A think-tank commentator wants politicians to examine real data on the rate of development in Michigan, not assume a sky-is-falling approach. "The state is only 10% developed," Samuel Staley notes.

By Robert Carr | Updated on November 30, 2001

MIDLAND, MI-An adjunct scholar for a conservative think-tank here says state officials need to think about facts rather than emotion when dealing with what’s termed “urban sprawl.” Samuel Staley, also the director of the Urban Futures Program for the Reason Policy Institute in Los Angeles, says many proposals in Michigan have emerged since 1994 to grapple with urban sprawl, including plans to impose urban-growth boundaries, institute regional land-use planning, and prevent vacant land from being developed.

For example, the state House of Representatives approved three bills Wednesday requiring local municipalities to adopt open space preservation measures, in the form of ordinances that would allow a landowner to build the same number of units as established by the local unit of government while protecting 50% of the land in an undeveloped state.

Another proposal is the Coordinated Planning Act, Staley says, which would require Michigan communities to create a vision about what sort of people, jobs, and housing will exist there 20 years down the road.

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