Is Riverbank committed to responsible development? “River Walk” project raises concerns | Opinion

Urban growth boundaries, also known as urban limit lines, can be a very effective tool for residents to place limits on sprawl and hold elected officials accountable. Once urban limit lines are in place, residents can be assured that municipalities are maintaining and planning for infrastructure in a predictable, responsible manner, while adequately supplying services like police and fire and protecting prime agricultural land.

People are often surprised to learn that residential annexations, sprawling growth at a city’s edges, are frequently money losers. These annexations create more financial obligations with insufficient revenue streams to cover costs. Stanislaus County and the state of California retain most of the property and sales taxes, leaving cities with the financial responsibility of delivering services by relying on other revenue streams that often fall short. If this continues, we will not only see excessive conversion of our prime agricultural lands, cities will continue to lose their financial capacity to supply vital services and infrastructure to their residents, resulting in decreased services, increased taxes and fees as well as increased sewer and water rates.

This fiscal impact is why those that live in cities will benefit from well-planned urban limit lines.

Riverbank’s project “River Walk” has problems that call into question whether the city is committed to sound planning principles. There is mounting evidence that Riverbank is willing to pursue growth policies to the detriment of city finances, negatively impacting city residents. Residents would be wise to build in protections and support the urban limit line initiative currently gathering signatures to put on the ballot in November 2024.

An urban limit line in Riverbank would not stop residential growth. It would ensure a fiscally responsible pace in locations not prone to flooding and on lower quality soils less productive for farming. We all want to see our communities prosper and thrive. We should also want to see our county’s multi-billion dollar agriculture sector preserved. Fortunately, we can do both.

Responsible infill, utilizing existing infrastructure in underutilized or blighted areas, can have a notable positive impact on city finances. Cities keep a much larger share of property taxes when they practice infill development. Also, adding more ratepayers into a water and sewer system without significant infrastructure changes is financially advantageous for rate payers. Adequately addressing the lack of affordable housing and homelessness necessitates that our local municipalities employ pragmatic infill solutions.

The city of Modesto’s plan to rezone along four commercial roadways is a great example of the actions cities can take to transform underutilized areas of their communities and strategically implement infill strategies resulting in more affordable housing. The plan approved by the Modesto City Council on November 7 created a “mixed use” zoning category that applies to 348 parcels of varying size on these roadways.

The non-profit organization we are involved with, the Farmland Working Group, applauds the City of Modesto for its’ efforts and encourages surrounding communities to follow its example. The Farmland Working Group is a non-profit organization committed to sustainable urban growth that strives to protect food, families and farmland and remains committed to responsible land use.

Infill development strategies provide a clear path forward by addressing many of the financial woes plaguing our cities while protecting the most productive agricultural region on the planet. Unfortunately, for every successful infill strategy, there are a multitude of cities making poor land use decisions that pave over prime agricultural land and put current residents under increasing financial pressure.

To ensure our locally elected officials are accountable to their constituents, the Farmland Working Group encourages both urban and rural residents to support urban limit lines.