Will Smart Growth Affect The Road To Sprawlville: Chapter XXXII

Our continuing series, The Road to Sprawlville, again surveys the political and natural environment and notes that by 2010 all Wisconsin municipalities shall have a Smart Growth plan in place.

Meaning that the people and leaders in each community will have approved local definitions and limitations on growth designed to slow down sprawl.

The Journal Sentinel discloses that most, but not all communities will have met the deadline that was a decade in the making - - and that extensions might be granted to those cities, villages and towns that for some reason need more time.

But having a plan and following a plan are two different circumstances, and while the recession has caused the suspension or scrapping of some developments, clashes will ensue pitting development against preservation, as well as plan-adherence against plan-dismissal.

Planning without teeth has long turned regional planning into a phony drama: maybe more local Smart Growth plans that were approved with real citizen input will prove more important to resource stewardship with true common purposes.

We'll see.