Monday, November 24, 2014

Land Use Plan vs. Property Rights


Lawsuit Against the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
The plot to transform the San Francisco Bay Area into a political “Region” is largely unknown by the residents living there and overwhelmingly opposed by those who do know. The global boiler plate program called One Bay Area (OBA) or Plan Bay Area will roll out across the nation on a grand scale. OBA involves more than $250,000,000,000 (over a quarter of a trillion dollars). The plan destroys rural and suburban lifestyles and transforms areas into dense mega-cities where people are assessed, monitored and controlled. Sound extreme?
Regional government is promulgated through Councils of Governments (COGs) and serves to neuter local government through a federalized system of carrots and sticks. COGs are designed to be the primary engine in the United States to advance Agenda 21 at the local level. The Plan for the Bay Area is the prototype of what COGs throughout the country will commit to if the Plan is implemented in the Bay Area. Over time the Plan abolishes private property as a system of public private partnerships assume control of our economic future.
Michael Shaw of Freedom Advocates and Rosa Koire of The Post Sustainability Institute are spearheading a lawsuit to block the implementation of Plan Bay Area, an agenda created by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The lawsuit challenges the Plan on the basis of Constitutional and/or statutory violations inherent in the Plan.  These include state and federal equal protection violations, and violation of the state constitutional guarantee that each city and county has autonomy from coercive state control and regionalist philosophy.  Article XI of the state constitution guarantees city and county autonomy, and the 14th amendment of the federal constitution guarantees equal protection.
Comments
San Francisco Bay Area residents have been in a battle with their Regional Soviet.  This is the Regional Government of the 9 county area.  California planned for Regionalism in 1994 and adopted it in 1997. Georgia adopted it in 2008 and 2010, but it failed to pass in 2012.  California is 9 years ahead of Georgia in implementing transit villages. The lawsuit is the result of the Regional Commissions refusal to put the approval of this plan to a vote of the citizens.  In Georgia, the Regional Transportation Plan failed by 66%. But other elements that don’t require a vote are being implemented in Georgia with poor results.  Atlantic Station was built with federal funds several years ago and failed and is being sold to a developer. MARTA continues to attempt expansion, but rail is too expensive.  Perimeter Center has proposed apartment construction next to the train station at Perimeter Mall. Federal grants still offer bribes to politicians to subsidize this central planning and citizens want to know how much “skin in the game” the developers are bringing. The answer so far is “Not Much”.  Taxpayers continue to be on the hook with tax holidays and Bond sales they do not get to vote on.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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