Maryland has been at the forefront, and last year adopted legislation that sets a separate code for the rehabilitation of old buildings instead of requiring rehabbed buildings to meet the code for new construction. In Wisconsin, the legislature adopted a smart-growth initiative to encourage comprehensive planning. North Carolina has set up a commission to study growth issues, as have New York and Oklahoma. There remains a major difference of opinion, however, on whether the public truly supports smart growth. In many areas, zoning laws and regulations continue to effectively block development of smart-growth communities because the codes do not permit flexibility in the design of streets or units, or in unit density, he said.
Smart growth involves gaining political consensus and converting that into workable land-use plans.
McCarron said that builders here fear that the low inventory they attribute to the lengthy approval process will put houses out of many buyers' reach. The truly sustainable communities are those that provide housing choices, said Terwilliger, who is also national managing partner for Trammell Crow Residential, a national real estate company. Too often, what is missing is the production of mixed-income housing, he said. In smart-growth communities, incentives are used to enhance investment, regulatory barriers are lowered, and public funds are used to improve infrastructure, Terwilliger said. Moreover, to encourage the development of affordable housing, governments at all levels must become more willing to provide the necessary incentives, he said.