What is Plan Bay Area?
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are developing an integrated land use and transportation plan called “Plan Bay Area.” This plan will serve as Master Plan document for zoning and transportation for all 9 counties and 101 cities and towns in the Bay Area for the next 30 years, and it will change your way of life forever.
This plan will require almost all new housing built in the Bay Area to be “suburban projects”--multi-use, multi-story developments, each one of which must contain a high percentage of very low and low-income subsidized units, and the Plan has a number of other similarly troubling provisions.
Additional Resources:
Plan Bay Area's Jobs-Housing Connection
California Sustainable Communities Strategy (SB 375)
California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32)
Orinda's Priority Development Area Map
ABAG's Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA) for 2014-2022
“First they ignore you. They laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”
Why is Plan Bay Area Not Right For Your City?
-The Plan does not provide any additional funding for schools, fire protection, and public safety. These are serious considerations in every urban planning model.
-unrealistic forecasts for new jobs & household formation approaching *2x* the growth rate vs prior decade.
-MTC & ABAG have rejected calls to independently review modeled forecasts for population growth.
-restrictive zoning means large negative effect on business & household formation.
-Purports to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs) when research shows these types of land-use changes do not reduce GHGs and, in actuality, this plan actually INCREASES greenhouse gases.
-Gasoline tax funding (originally set aside for maintaining existing roads and bridges) is being shifted away to mass transit subsidies and high density housing.
-massive population density increases (a minimum of 20 units/acre to qualify developers for incentives) around highways/BART stations and downtown areas.
-multi-story/multi-unit buildings, often exceeding existing height limits, primarily very-low- and low-income units HEAVILY subsidized by existing communities.
-increased mass transit subsidies & infrastructure does NOT increase ridership
-Forcefully coercing citizens to take mass transit instead of driving cars using penalities like toll roads, taxes on gasoline/parking, and a vehicle mileage tax using GPS trackers in cars.