California Zoning Plan Threatens Developers

"The bill would produce a model California zoning ordinance by January 2004, and reward cities and counties that incorporate a new state vision of land-use planning. Supporters call it the governor's most significant move toward so-called "smart growth," and a step toward reassuming California's national leadership role in growth management. But local municipalities, as well as the real estate and building industries, view the bill as a loss of local control, one that would force cities and counties to bow to a powerful state bureaucracy."