87 



We must seek ways to re-direct government-insured home ownership 

 programs toward the encouragement of more creative planning of subdivi- 

 sions and communities. 



We need to relate existing Federally assisted land use planning programs, 

 including the HUD Section 701 Regional Planning Grants, to mechanisms 

 which will effectively control actual land use decisions. 



We must work to develop new approaches at appropriate government levels 

 to preserve open space through the use of such devices as conservation and 

 scenic easements, compensatory regulations, purchase an lease-back mecha- 

 nisms, purchase or donation of development rights, etc. 



We should strengthen the relationship of Federal water resource develop- 

 ment activities to broader concepts of land use planning. 



We must not forget that one-third of all the land in the country is owned 

 by the Federal Government ; we need to include in any national land use 

 plan the highest and best use of our public lands. To aid in this, we will want 

 to study carefully the report of the Public Land Law Review Commission 

 due June 30. 



Finally we must concern ourselves with the effect of our present tax struc- 

 ture on patterns of land use. I refer here primarily to the need to reform 

 our local property tax structure, and the possibilities for modifying the 

 Federal income and estate taxes in ways that will reduce present negative 

 impacts on land utilization, and encourage desirable land use patterns. 

 Our Council has recently appointed a task force on the impact of the tax 

 structure on the environment. Under the direction of Professor Dan Throop 

 Smith this group will be giving particular attention to the relation of tax 

 policy to land use. 

 Moving now to the second aspect of the problem of Federal participation in 

 land use planning, a firm relationship must be developed between local, state 

 and Federal levels to assure effective implementation. The Federal Government 

 must be more than an occasional club over the head of local and state officials. It 

 should provide for the states and localities a creative and interrelated inter- 

 departmental program of aids for the formulation and implementation of land use 

 plans. The state government must be more than a delegator of powers to local 

 units. It should establish the guidelines which will prevent the advantage being 

 given to those who are after the quick buck. The local government must be more 

 than a victim of forces and trends beyond its control. It must bring home to all 

 the citizens of the community the fact that proper planning and land use are 

 essential to continued enjoyment of life there. 



Much remains to be done before these land use planning relationships between 

 the levels of government can be properly established. Your Committee has ex- 

 amined a recent episode. I refer to the conflict between the local interest of the 

 Dade County Port Authority in developing a Miami jetport, and the national 

 interest in preserving the Everglades National Park. The important lesson that 

 we should learn from the Everglades experience is not that the local decision 

 making authority neglected important environmental considerations, but that it 

 took a major Federal government effort to stop what never should have been 

 started. Rather than imposing a national environmental interest in the form 

 of a veto over development decisions made by local authorities, we must develop 

 a positive planning process by which local, state and Federal authorities will 

 cooperate to insure that development is in harmony with our policy to protect 

 and enhance the environment. 



As another example, there is a need for greater cooperation between the 

 private sector and all levels of government in the choice of sites for power plants 

 and rights-of-way for transmission lines. We are only beginning to realize the 

 need to plan now in order to assure both adequate power for development and 

 adequate protection for our natural environment. There is an interagency study 

 group at work on this problem. Although their report is not yet ready, we under- 

 stand that it will urge that public utilities be required to plan their power needs 

 on a long-term basis in accordance with land use plans. Since final site selection 

 usually requires approval by local governmental units, there is potential here for 

 an imaginative intergovernmental planning process which will deal effectively 

 with a major environmental problem area. 



Mr. Chairman, we regard these hearings as a valuable and timely forum in 

 which to discuss the complex issues related to developing policies on the use 

 of public and private land in this country. As you know, our staff has had the 

 opportunity to make a number of technical suggestions concerning S. .S.3.54. In 

 the case of any legislation as important as this, evolution of a policy will result 

 from public debate over time, both in Congress and elsewhere. The Council on 



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