Thoughts On "Smart Growth"

Many people think of the home building industry as being similar to other industries in which a product is produced, then held in inventory until it is ultimately sold. That really is not the case in the home building industry. Home Builders build homes based upon specific demand from home buyers-what the product of the Home Builder will look like and generally where the Home Builder will build his/her product. The overwhelming majority of new home buyers-88% in a recent NAHB survey that included the State of Delaware-are unwilling to settle for anything less than a single-family home in the suburbs. So Home Builders start the very long process (requiring many years of careful research, studies, risk-taking, and planning in compliance with then-existing building codes) of being able to respond to new home buyers' demands.

Despite the focus on the concept of "Smart Growth", there is still debate on the meaning of the term and how "Smart Growth" can fulfill the nation's housing demand and the demand of Americans for something "better."

Smart Growth acknowledges that no single growth plan will work for all communities. Every locality has unique housing, economic, and environmental goals that are-by no means-mutually exclusive. The Home Builders Association of Delaware joins the National Association of Home Builders with which it has had an affiliation for more than fifty years, and more than 800 other state and local home building associations, in the following six guiding principles that can help us all achieve Smart Growth:

• Anticipating and planning for economic development and growth in a timely, orderly, and predictable manner.
• Establishing in each local jurisdiction a long-term comprehensive plan that makes available an ample supply of land for residential, commercial, recreational, and industrial uses; land set aside for meaningful open space; and to protect environmentally sensitive areas.
• Removing barriers to allow innovative land-use planning techniques to be used in building higher-density and mixed use developments as well as infill developments in suburban and inner-city neighborhoods.
• Planning and constructing new infrastructure in a timely manner to keep pace with the current and future demand for housing, and finding a fair and broad-based way to underwrite the costs of this necessary infrastructure investment.
• Achieving a reasonable balance in the land-use planning process by using innovative planning concepts to protect the environment and preserve meaningful open space, improve traffic flow, relieve overcrowded schools, and enhance quality of life.
• Ensuring that the process for reviewing site-specific land development applications is reasonable, predictable, and fair.

Consequently, to achieve these guiding principles of Smart Growth, all concerned organizations, levels of government, and citizens will need to unite in a spirit of participation; a spirit of cooperation; and a spirit of compromise. It will require a focus on solutions and a keen desire to reach consensus. Members of the Home Builders Association of Delaware are willing to work with all who can-and are willing to-make Smart Growth guiding principles such as those indicated above, achievable in a timely and orderly manner.

Courtesy: NAHB's Smart Growth Report 1999/2000