Weighing private property rights against public access privileges, as with the recent proposal to preserve Hang Glider Hill, is just one such challenge. The larger challenge will be staying ahead of the anti-sprawl curve. History has a lesson for counties that stand by and watch while their neighbors try to actively manage growth. Marin County enacted growth limits in the 1970s, forcing development further north into Sonoma County, and growth in the East Bay area of San Francisco began pushing development into Tracy and much of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties a decade ago. Neither Sonoma County nor Tracy was well prepared at the time, and both tried to stem the tide with ballot measures this fall.
Growth is like the air in a balloon.
When you push on one area, it goes to another. When you take steps to deal with growth in one city, you just send it over the hill into the next one. It's the manner in which we accommodate it. Maybe we should look at the edge.