SB 375, approved by the Legislature last year, addresses climate change through local planning. The law creates regional targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and requires cities and counties to create transportation and land-use plans to meet those goals.

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Sprawl stall

11:05 PM PDT on Sunday, May 17, 2009

Rapid development without much thought to the consequences is not a sustainable planning strategy. So if a new law aimed at curbing greenhouse gases also forces a change in longstanding planning habits, fine. Abandoning sprawl in favor of more sophisticated growth is long overdue for this region.

SB 375, approved by the Legislature last year, addresses climate change through local planning. The law creates regional targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and requires cities and counties to create transportation and land-use plans to meet those goals. Southern California would need to reduce its annual emissions by about 2.5 million metric tons a year by 2020 -- the equivalent of taking 480,000 cars off the road.

And since about 38 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Southern California come from cars and small trucks, development that reduces travel will be a key strategy in meeting the new law's goals. That could mean more residential building in already developed urban areas, projects clustered around public transit hubs and housing that allows people to get to work or stores without needing to drive.

Such planning approaches would be a significant change for a region built upon the availability of cheap, open land. But filling empty land with more homes has hardly been a model of success.

Largely unrestrained growth through the last three decades swamped public infrastructure and services, such as roads and schools, creating a constant struggle just to keep up with those needs. And expansion swallowed up huge tracts of open space, leading to numerous conflicts over environmental preservation and endangered species. That development approach also created long commutes to jobs elsewhere, leading to traffic congestion and heavy air pollution.

The Inland region has long since passed the point where development for growth's sake alone is an acceptable philosophy. The discussion instead needs to turn to what kind of growth the area needs to prosper, and how to sustain a decent quality of life amid new development. And now is the ideal time to start that work: The economic downturn has removed development pressures that have often pushed aside longer-term considerations.

Inland agencies have made some strides toward more thoughtful planning, such as Riverside County's integrated plan, which tries to balance growth, transportation and environmental needs. But such efforts are first steps in a long march to more coherent local development.

Just how SB 375 will work in practice remains unclear, and the state has yet to address many thorny practical issues. But the law will force a needed re-examination of planning attitudes and practices -- and that effort can only benefit the region's future.