Post by local news on Oct 15, 2004 6:40:07 GMT -8
Not ready for growth?
Officials say Valley cities reluctant to deal with people boom
By Andrew Blazier Staff Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2004 - INDUSTRY -- Several regional government officials said Thursday they doubted San Gabriel Valley cities' desire to collaborate on a plan to accommodate a pending boom in the region's population.
Confronted with a projected 39- percent increase in the number of Valley residents by 2030, a panel of representatives from Valley cities and two regional government groups said city administrators and politicians are still reluctant to prepare their residential developments and transportation infrastructure for the potential increase.
"We need to work together, and not all cities are willing to do that,' West Covina Mayor Mike Miller said during the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership's annual Economic Outlook Conference, held at the Pacific Palms Conference Resort in Industry.
"There are probably 40 to 50 percent of council members who don't care about regional planning,' Miller said. "They're just not interested in long-range planning.'
Miller's comments came as conference participants took on issues including skyrocketing home values, rising traffic congestion and a shifting employment base. About 300 people attended, many of them local government employees and businesspeople.
At the center of the debate was how Valley communities would deal with what regional demographers have projected will be population increase to 2.5 million residents in the next 26 years. The region is now home to an estimated 1.8 million residents.
"You don't have to create an issue,' said Diamond Bar City Councilman Bob Huff. "We've got all kinds of issues out here.'
Despite questioning the population estimate, Huff acknowledged the pressures such growth would put on San Gabriel Valley freeways, developments and social services must be dealt with before the boom arrives.
"We do have the technical solutions,' he said. "It takes time, though. (City officials) don't have the commitment of the people that support them.'
Among proposals discussed at the conference were the still-unfinished extension of the Long Beach (710) Freeway, an exclusive four-lane freeway for commercial trucks and a Valleywide drive for multifamily housing. Each of those ideas has been met with varying amounts of resistance. The most notable is the 40-year proposal for a 710 Freeway extension through South Pasadena.
Funding any of those proposals - the truckway system alone would cost $16 billion - could stand in the way of any of them coming to fruition.
"If you take all the new sources of funding that we have today, that money combined will not be enough to maintain in 20 years the system that we have today,' said Hasan Ikhrata, director of planning and policy for the Southern California Association of Governments.
Blaine Fetter, of Monrovia- based developer Samuelson & Fetter LLC, even proposed mergers of several Valley cities in order to combine resources while reducing expenses.
"There is no city in the Valley that does everything well,' he said.
Andrew Blazier can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477, or by e-mail at andrew.blazier@sgvn.com .
Officials say Valley cities reluctant to deal with people boom
By Andrew Blazier Staff Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2004 - INDUSTRY -- Several regional government officials said Thursday they doubted San Gabriel Valley cities' desire to collaborate on a plan to accommodate a pending boom in the region's population.
Confronted with a projected 39- percent increase in the number of Valley residents by 2030, a panel of representatives from Valley cities and two regional government groups said city administrators and politicians are still reluctant to prepare their residential developments and transportation infrastructure for the potential increase.
"We need to work together, and not all cities are willing to do that,' West Covina Mayor Mike Miller said during the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership's annual Economic Outlook Conference, held at the Pacific Palms Conference Resort in Industry.
"There are probably 40 to 50 percent of council members who don't care about regional planning,' Miller said. "They're just not interested in long-range planning.'
Miller's comments came as conference participants took on issues including skyrocketing home values, rising traffic congestion and a shifting employment base. About 300 people attended, many of them local government employees and businesspeople.
At the center of the debate was how Valley communities would deal with what regional demographers have projected will be population increase to 2.5 million residents in the next 26 years. The region is now home to an estimated 1.8 million residents.
"You don't have to create an issue,' said Diamond Bar City Councilman Bob Huff. "We've got all kinds of issues out here.'
Despite questioning the population estimate, Huff acknowledged the pressures such growth would put on San Gabriel Valley freeways, developments and social services must be dealt with before the boom arrives.
"We do have the technical solutions,' he said. "It takes time, though. (City officials) don't have the commitment of the people that support them.'
Among proposals discussed at the conference were the still-unfinished extension of the Long Beach (710) Freeway, an exclusive four-lane freeway for commercial trucks and a Valleywide drive for multifamily housing. Each of those ideas has been met with varying amounts of resistance. The most notable is the 40-year proposal for a 710 Freeway extension through South Pasadena.
Funding any of those proposals - the truckway system alone would cost $16 billion - could stand in the way of any of them coming to fruition.
"If you take all the new sources of funding that we have today, that money combined will not be enough to maintain in 20 years the system that we have today,' said Hasan Ikhrata, director of planning and policy for the Southern California Association of Governments.
Blaine Fetter, of Monrovia- based developer Samuelson & Fetter LLC, even proposed mergers of several Valley cities in order to combine resources while reducing expenses.
"There is no city in the Valley that does everything well,' he said.
Andrew Blazier can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477, or by e-mail at andrew.blazier@sgvn.com .