Citizens for Responsible Zoning and Landowner Rights, Inc.

(CRZLR, Inc)

P.O. Box 16

Maiden Rock WI 54750

P/F 715-448-3213

Part I

SMART GROWTH --- REALLY?

By Marilyn F. Hayman

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SMART GROWTH: Smart growth came to Wisconsin through the back door. Although it was described as “…one of the most comprehensive pieces of land-use legislation considered in this state during the last 50 years,” it wasn’t “considered” by the full Legislature. It was an item added to the 1999 Budget.

Precisely because of the stealthy way it was enacted, the idea of smart growth requires serious scrutiny: What are its goals? How will it effect both rural and urban dwellers?

Though we have been told all plans will come from the Towns, all plans must be approved by a higher agency. Local decisions can be over-ruled by unseen people far away.

Smart growth is a land management plan and has its roots in several international conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations.

‘Sustainable Development’ was first proposed in the United Nations in 1987 by Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the conference who declared:

It is clear current lifestyles and consumption

patterns of the affluent middleclass – involving

high meat intake, consumption of large amounts

of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil

fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-

conditioning, and suburban housing –- are

not sustainable. A shift is necessary toward

lifestyles less geared to environmentally

damaging consumption patterns.

In 1992 the UN Rio Conference adopted Agenda 21 to explain how sustainable development could be related to all human activity. Delegates were to facilitate implementation in their home countries.

In response, Pres. Clinton created the

Council on Sustainable Development

to write appropriate policies for all activity in the United states. “Smart growth” was proposed as one remedy for our “unsustainable” lifestyles.

There are some who wish to discount the idea that international interests have influenced the creation of a smart growth movement in this country, but U.N. involvement was clearly acknowledged by J. Gary Lawrence, an advisor to the President’s Council on Sustainability. In a speech in London, June 29, 1998, he presented an assessment of progress which was later published as, “Millennium Papers, Issue 2: The Future of Local Agenda 21 in the New Millennium.” He clearly stated though this United Nations initiative was being carried out in the United States, it was necessary to disguise it to forestall opposition. He admitted,

"In the case of the U.S., local authorities are engaged in planning processes consistent with LA21, but…

Participating in a UN advocated planning process would very likely bring out many… of our society who fear ‘one-world government’ and… would actively work to defeat [it]... So, we call our processes some-thing else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management or smart growth." [Emphases added]

To reduce “sprawl” advocates want to restrict suburban/rural housing and increase density of cities and towns. They propose limited use of automobiles, to be replaced by walking, bicycling and use of mass transit. Americans wouldn’t accept such changes willingly; thus restrictive growth control policies must be enacted.

What we are confronting is a far-reaching program of social engineering. Smart growth is a long-term plan for the entire restructuring of all of American society. Though the problems and restrictions will occur gradually, final results can be anticipated by what has happened to those areas that have already embraced “sustainability.”

Are you going to accept such international interference with your rights to own and manage your private land?

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