Land Use Resources

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Smart growth land use strategies can reduce our dependence on cars, minimize energy consumption, and improve community air quality. Cities and counties can reduce exposure to air pollution in communities by requiring setbacks or buffers from major roadways and stationary sources, adopting green zone policies that establish more stringent development requirements, and changing zoning codes to prevent incompatible land uses.

The below resources are designed to support development of smart growth land use strategies by providing land use resources on planning basics, sustainable community policy, data and tools, and research. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but a helpful starting point for those interested in air quality and land use issues. This list will be refined and updated as new resources become available.

Some of the links below lead to non-CARB resources, but provide information that may be helpful to individuals interested in air quality and land use. CARB cannot attest to the accuracy of these sites, and linking to a non-CARB site does not constitute an endorsement by CARB or any of its staff.

Examples in Practice

Example	Source	Description
City of Arvin Oil & Gas Setback Ordinance	City of Arvin, CA	Restricts new oil and gas wells from within 300 feet of residential and commercially zoned areas.
Los Angeles Clean Up Green Up Ordinance	City of Los Angeles, CA	Establishes a supplemental use district within Boyle Heights, Pacoima/Sun Valley, and Wilmington to reduce cumulative health impacts resulting from incompatible land uses, establish a citywide Conditional Use for asphalt manufacturing and refinery facilities, and increase the notification requirement for projects within a surface mining district.
National City Amortization	National City, CA	Establishes a “process to terminate a nonconforming use after a period of time that is sufficient to allow the owner of the property and/or business to recover their investment in the use/business.”
San Francisco Clean Construction Ordinance	City and County of San Francisco, CA	Requires public projects to reduce emissions from construction sites in certain areas with high levels of background concentrations of air pollutants.

Land Use Planning Basics

Resource	Source	Description
Understanding the Basics of Land Use and Planning Series	Institute for Local Government	Webpage contains a series of resources designed to help California local officials in their efforts to plan and develop healthy communities that are socially, economically, environmentally and fiscally sustainable.
General Plan Guidelines	Governor’s Office of Planning and Research	A general plan is the local government’s long-term blueprint for the community’s vision of future growth. The General Plan Guidelines document serves as the “how to” resource for drafting a general plan.
Land Use Resources	Governor’s Office of Planning and Research	Office of Planning Research’s land use resources portal.

Policy Resources

Resource	Source	Description
Healthy Communities Policy Guide	American Planning Association	American Planning Association's Healthy Communities Policy Guide. It identifies policy ideas for local, state, and federally elected officials aimed at improving community health and quality of living through planning.
Planning Healthy Places: A Guidebook for Addressing Local Sources of Air Pollutants in Community Planning	Bay Area Air Quality Management District	This guidebook provides air quality and public health information, assists local governments in addressing and minimizing potential air quality issues. It provides tools and recommended best practices that can be implemented to reduce exposure and emissions from local sources of air pollutants.
Healthy Communities, Land Use, and Planning	Institute for Local Government	Information on all of the Institute for Local Government's initiatives and resources regarding sustainable and healthy community design.
Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities	U.S. EPA	This publication builds on past successes and offers other low-income, minority, tribal, and overburdened communities approaches to shape development that responds to their needs and reflects their values. It identifies strategies that bring together smart growth, environmental justice, and equitable development principles.
Sustainable Communities	California Air Resources Board	Sustainable community development allows residents to rely less on individual cars and provides greater opportunities for walking, biking and access to clean transit options. Coordinating land use and transportation planning can reduce air pollution, crating healthier communities.
Leading the Way: Policies and Practices for Sustainable Community Strategies	ClimatePlan	ClimatePlan's white paper on policies and practices for sustainable community strategies.
Land Use: Better Regional Planning	ClimatePlan	California adopted its climate law, AB 32, in 2007. In response, eleven land use, transportation, and planning non-profit groups came together as ClimatePlan. This resource link to ClimatePlan's land-use related projects.
Smart Growth Network	Smart Growth Network	The Smart Growth Network is a partnership of government, business, and civic organizations that support smart growth. The network has become a clearinghouse for information about smart growth strategies.
Guidance Document for Addressing Air Quality Issues in General Plans and Local Planning	South Coast Air Quality Management District	Chapter two of the guidance document examines air quality related land use issues.
Model Policies for Greenhouse Gases in General Plans	California Air Pollution Control Officers Association	This report contains model policies for greenhouse gas reductions that can be incorporated into a General Plan, including discussions on land use and urban design, transportation, energy efficiency, conservation of open space and education.
Jurupa Area Plan Environmental Justice Element	City of Jurupa Valley	This element addresses environmental justice through policies aimed at increasing the influence of target populations in the public decision-making process and reducing their exposure to environmental hazards.
Urban Land Institute Resource Library	Urban Land Institute	Searchable database containing all of the Urban Land Institute's published work on best practices for land use and transportation policy

Data and Tools

Tool/Dataset	Source	Description
Air Quality and Land Use Handbook	California Air Resources Board	General reference guide for evaluating and reducing air pollution impacts associated with new projects that go through the land use decision-making process.
Planning, Zoning, and Environmental Review Tools	Institute for Local Government	Institute for Local Government's webpage for planning, zoning, and environmental review tools.
Land Use / Transportation Data & Tools	California Department of Transportation	Caltrans' Office of Smart Mobility and Climate Change's studies and related efforts regarding housing, land use and transportation coordination, smart growth (including transit-oriented development and urban/suburban infill land uses), and the development of models and tools for assessing such strategies.
Transportation Demand Management Tool and Smart Growth	Bay Area Air Quality Management District	An excel-based tool that calculates the impacts of project-level transportation demand measures on vehicle miles traveled and describes the Air District’s smart growth planning efforts to reduce vehicle dependence, enhance local communities, and support regional smart growth initiatives.
Complete Communities Toolbox	University of Delaware	The Complete Communities Toolbox provides several best practices for public engagement activities, land use code elements, and complete street guidelines.
Metrics for Planning Healthy Communities	American Planning Association	A set of healthy planning metrics that can be used to assess, measure, monitor, and report progress toward healthy planning goals. The tool leverages existing indicator systems, indexes, interactive maps, and literature about social determinants of health.
Plan4Health: Health in All Planning Policies Toolkit	American Planning Association	Toolkit containing reports, webinars, toolkits, community examples, videos, podcasts, and more about health in all planning. It can be read cover to cover or looked at in pieces—each page can be a stand-alone document, to be used to inform and educate about active living strategies.

Research

Resource	Source	Description
The Urban Displacement Project	UC Berkeley	The Urban Displacement Project (UDP) is a research and action initiative of UC Berkeley. UDP conducts community-centered, data-driven, applied research toward more equitable and inclusive futures for cities. The research aims to understand and describe the nature of gentrification and displacement, and also to generate knowledge on how policy interventions and investment can respond and support more equitable development.
Urban Land Use and Transportation Center	UC Davis	The Urban Land Use and Transportation Center (ULTRANS) aims to support the design and implementation of new land use and vehicle demand policies through research, education, and public outreach.
Research on Land Use and Transportation Planning	California Air Resources Board	California passed Senate Bill 375 requiring metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) to develop Sustainable Communities Strategies to illustrate how integrated land use, transportation, and housing planning will achieve regional greenhouse gas targets. The research projects listed offer insight and solutions for MPOs, local governments, and consumers.