This Congress is starting out on a much better foot. I commend you for convening these hearings to talk about the loss of open space and the toll that takes in our cities and towns and on the environment. Congress should redouble its efforts to equip communities with the tools they need to plan growth and promote central business districts.
People across the country demonstrated their support for open space conservation and urban revitalization last fall at polls by approving 124 ballot measures dedicating local and state revenues for these goals.
In Vermont, we have been assembling a workbox of tools to help communities with land use planning. But without federal support, these efforts are like building a house with toothpicks.
We have all seen the impact of urban sprawl in our states, whether it takes the form of large multi-tract housing development spread or unbounded retail strips jammed with national superstores and super-sized parking lots.
Sprawl often steals unbidden into our midst, and it quickly wears out its welcome, much the same way our friends in the South have come to regard kudzu. Sprawl is not incremental development; it is transforming development. It clots our roads, compounds the costs of the infrastructure we need, takes its toll on our environment, and sucks the lifeblood from the very character of our communities. In one way or another, sprawl costs us all.
I would like to highlight two programs in particular that are working -- right now -- to help local communities through voluntary conservation efforts that deserve our continued
In Vermont, we have lived through several situations where Federal agencies have chosen sites outside of downtown areas to locate new buildings. In one case, the Federal agency selected a lot within an area that already is coping with some of the most difficult problems associated with sprawl and high population growth in our state.
Unfortunately, this scenario plays out far too often. Downtown areas have difficulty competing in the federal procurement process because of the higher costs associated wit., downtown areas.
Consequently, the sites outside of downtown areas win contracts, and slowly but surely we contribute to the sprawl cycle and squander one of our most precious resources - open space -- and the environmental benefits that go with it.
The "Downtown Equity Act of 1999" offers states another tool to combat sprawl by implementing a new system of evaluating bids that places downtown areas on an even footing with surrounding areas.
The new system would direct federal agencies to produce procurement guidelines that offer a level playing field for central business districts. My bill would also allow federal agencies to factor into their cost accounting the benefits of locating new facilities in city centers, such as maintaining historic development patterns and invigorating our downtown areas.
Conserving open space and revitalizing downtowns are two complementary approaches to curbing sprawl. Our communities themselves will decide which, if any, of the approaches they want to take, as they consider what they want to look like in ten or twenty years.
Again, I want to thank you Mr. Chairman for convening this hearing today. The problems of sprawl has been brewing for far too long, striking at the core of what makes Vermont unique in the hearts and minds of Vermonters and of our many visitors.
In 1993, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the entire state on its list of endangered places, hoping to preserve some of the character that makes Vermont a special place.
The decisions to prevent or limit sprawl will always be made locally. But the Federal Government can do much to help our communities act on their decisions. And the Federal Government must stop being an unwitting accomplice to sprawl.