Carolina planning [serial]

68 Pages·1996·3.5 MB·English

by  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of City and Regional Planning

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Carolina
Planning Volume 2
Number
2
r Jk
In this Issue. Teaching Kids About Planning
Atlanta and the Olympics
Microenterprise Development
SLAPP
Suits
and more
. . .
Editors' Note
Editors
ThisissueofCarolinaPlanningoffersadiversecollectionofarticlesonarangeofsubjects.
JosephBamberg
Itbegins witha reprintofNeal Piercesspeechtothe 39thArmualNorth CarolinaPlanning
AssociationConference. Thisspeech, whichoffersaprovocativelookatthestateofplanning
in North Carolina, was part of the Robert and Helen Siler Lecture Series for the 50th MerrittClapp-Smith
Anniversan' ofthe Department of Cit>' and Regional Planning ofthe Universit)' ofNorth
Carolina at Chapel Hill. The restofthe articlesaredescribedbelow. KarenKristiansson
• AnarticlebyDarrellCookand DwightMerriamdescribesthe SLAPPlawsuit, howitis MarkShelbume
beingused, andwhatopportunitiesanddangersitposesforplaintiffsanddefendants. It
containsseveral casestudiesandcoversnew anti-SLAPPlegislationfrom severalstates.
• Leon Eplan, the Commissioner ofPlanning and Development for the City ofAtlanta,
gives a planner's view of the Atlanta Olympics. He describes how this high profile
publicevent has focusedattentiononcorrecting naggingplanningproblems inthecit>'
and shows how important the city's comprehensive planning process has been inpre- CyeaarrolbiynastuPdleanntsniinngthiesDpeupbalritsmheendttowficCeitya
paring fortheevent. andRegionalPlanning,UniversityofNorth
• TheMain Streetprogram, asdescribedbyRodneySwink. isconcernedwithrevitalizing CoafrofluinndasaftrCohmaptehleHJilolh,nwiAt.htPhaerkaesrsisTtraunscte
downtown areas. This article covers the historyofthe programand argues that acom- Fund,theDepartmentofCityandRegional
prehensiveapproachto revitalizationis needed. Planning,theNorthCarolinachapterofthe
American Planning Association, and the
• Mike CowhigexplainshowtheCityofGreensborobenefittedfromits applicationtothe DepartmentofCity andRegional Planning
EnterpriseCommunit>'Program, eventhough thecit>'didnotultimatelywinthegrant. Alumni Association.
Through theapplication process, a number ofcommunit\' and public participation ac-
tivitieswereinitiated.
• Ina lookatresidentialsegregationinNorthCarolina, LanceFreemanshowsthestateof
segregation in North Carolina and suggests reasonsforcontinued segregation incom-
munitiesacrossthestate Healsodiscusseswhatthismeansforsocietyandhow itmight SavuabislcarbilpetiaotnsantoanCnauraollirantae Polfa$n1n2i.n0g0,aroer
be addressed in the future. $20,00fortwoyears.Backissuesareavail-
• DaveBuchholzdiscusses how a unique microenterpriseprogramcenteredin Durham, able for $6.00 perissue.
NorthCarolinahassuccessfully helpeddozensofenterpreneursget theirbusinesses off
the groundevenwhen other institutions hadexpresseddoubt that they could do so.
• Wes Hankins and Garry Cooperdescribethe undergraduateplanningprograms at Ap-
palachian State and East Carolina Universities, including curriculae and activities of Carolina Planning welcomes comments
graduates. and suggestions on the articles published.
Please address all correspondence to:
• In thefinal article. Steve Gurlev looks at wavs thatplanners can provide studentswith Carolina Planning, University of North
the opportunity to explore concepts ofplanning and community design. He describes Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box
the efforts that APAand NCAPA have made to help educate our future citizens about #3140, New East Building, Chapel Hill,
NorthCarolina27599-3140. Youcanalso
planning issues andalsoprovides tips for indi\idual plannerson speaking tostudents. reach the editors via e-mail at:
[email protected]. Submissions are al-
ways welcome.
MerrittClapp-Sniith
KarenKristiansson
PrintedbytheUniversityofNorthCarolina
Printing Department on recycled paper.
Theeditors ofCarolinaPlanningofferaspecialcongratulations
to the Department ofCit>' and Regional Planning at the Uni\'er- Cover photo by Herman Huang.
sity ofNorth Carolina. Chapel Hill for 50 years ofoutstanding CarolinaPlanningwishestothankBertina
education at the master's and doctoral levels. May the next 50 Baldwin, Pat Coke, Carroll Cyphert,
CarolynJones,HollyMcBane,andtheCen-
years bring the same success!
ter for Urban and Regional Studies.
© 1996 Department ofCity and Regional
Planning
Carolina Planning
A
Student-Run Publication of
The University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill Volume 21
Department ofCity and Regional Planning Number 2
Keynote Address at the39th Annual North
CarolinaPlanning Conference and Robert Remarks byNeal R. Peirce
and Helen Siler Lecture March 29, 1996 2
Recognizing a SLAPP Suit and Darreii F. Cook and
Understanding Its Consequences DwightH. Merriam
Atlanta and the Olympics: The Case for
Comprehensive Planning Leon S. Eplan 16
North Carolina Main Street Program
at 15 Years: Giving Communities
Hope forTheirDowntowns Rodney L. Swink 24
Greensboro's Enterprise Community
Strategic Plan Mike Cowhig 30
Residential Segregation in North Carolina Lance Freeman 36
"Micro" Enterprise Development: Building
Businesses from the Bottom Up David E. Buchholz 43
The Streetscape Demonstration Hugh Deanerand FrancescaTurchi 50
The Undergraduate Planning Degree in
North Carolina: East Carolina University
and Appalachian State University Wes Hankins and Garry Cooper 56
Teaching Kids About Planning Steve Gurley 60
Keynote Address at the 39th Annual
North Carolina Planning Conference
and Robert and Helen Siler Lecture
Remarks by Neal R. Peirce, March 29, 1996
O,
'fcourse I was immensely pleased when my old ville, Tennessee,orRichmond,Virginiaareas. There
friend and colleague Bob Siler asked ifI would be were scattered urban pockets such as Charlotte,
willing to give this address, the first in a series of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh, and Durham,
what areto be regular Siler Lectures. My family and and a long rosterofsmallertextile mill and furniture
I lived across the street from Bob and Helen Siler in factory towns. The bottom line, I wrote, was that
Washington for many years, enjoying many good "NorthCarolinahasindustrializedwithoutcompletely
times together. Bob and I even accompanied each urbanizing."
other on the first big trip ofAmerican city planners Twodecadeshavemadeasignificantdifference,
toChinain 1979. Healwaysknew somethingofvalue most ofall in the emergence ofthe state's two truly
about every city in America, and I am pleased that significantmetropolitan regions: theTriangle region
ourrelationship continues. of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (and I suppose we
When Bob called, my first reaction was that I needto includeCary), andCharlotteand itsenvirons.
would talk about the two recent so-called "Peirce But hasNorth Carolina adjusted mentally to be-
Reports," which my colleague Curtis Johnson and I ing urban? I have my doubts. North Carolina
have done inNorth Carolina. The first, entitled "Tri- policymakers,fearingruralpoverty,haveworkedhard
angle Needs a New Vision for the '90s," was pub- to promote education and economic activity in the
lished by the Raleigh News & Observer in Septem- small towns and rural counties, in a way assuming
ber 1993. The second, "Shaping A Shared Future," that the cities could be largely left alone. Instead of
appeared intheCharlotte Observerearlylastautumn. bolsteringcities.North Carolinaconcerns itselfwith
But then it struck me how odd it is to talk about projects in rural areas (which I'm tempted to call
urban regions in North Carolina. Back in the early boondoggles)suchastheGlobalTranspark. Thestate
1970s,when I waspreparingtheNorthCarolinachap- has allowed the inner city ofits capital, Raleigh, to
ter of my book. The Border South States, the story deterioratebadly. Ifamanufacturershows interestin
was quite different. The narrative was not of spar- the state, no one tries to steer him close to an urban
kling cities on hills, or even great historic seaports, center.
butofwaves ofhardy yeomen strugglingto farm to- Inasense ithasbeenagrandlysuccessful policy.
baccoorbeingdrawn intoone-industrytownstomake Thegeneraleconomyofthestate'scitieshasremained
textiles or furniture. healthy despitethis benign neglect. The Triangle re-
While itwas true thatthe cumulative population gionexperiencedasensational 34percentgrowthrate
ofNorth Carolina had grown so that it was almost a inthe lastdecade,withWakeCounty leadingthestate
megastate (one ofAmerica'sten largest), itwasalso at 40.5 percent. From roughly 7 million people to-
true that North Carolina had no really major metro- day, the state is projected to grow another halfmil-
politan area. The urbanized area around Charlotte, lion in the next20years. The multi-county Charlotte
the state's largest city, was smaller than the Nash- region,alreadyabout 1.4millionpeople, should reach
1.8 million by 2010.
Neal R. Peirce is a syndicated cohimnist with the One could also say both regions have been very
Wahington Post Writers Group. intelligent in transforming themselves into big-time
VOLUME NUMBER
21
2
urban form. The idea ofthe Research Triangle Park, halfsecond wide. Trade barriers are crumbling and
the region's economic engine, was original and de- opening distant markets, making it much more diffi-
monstrably brilliant, offering corporations and re- cult to subsidize and sustain politically favored re-
search laboratories a parklike, prestigious place to gions. Immigration flowsacrossborderswith increas-
settleand cul-de-sacked corporatehomesonwooded ing ease. Finally, the end ofthe Cold War has dra-
sites, while getting rich through theirtie-in tothe fa- matically reduced the importance o—fthe one activity
cilitiesofworld-renowned universities. At lastcount nation states were perhaps best at amassing huge
the park was responsible for 35,000 directjobs, and armies and preparing for war.
probably several times as many spinoffjobs. As for Curtisand I havedevelopedadefinitionwewould
Charlotte, the secret was written in the dollar signs like Random House or Webster's to accept:
ofbigfinance. Itscorporatechieftainsranged America
in search ofbanks, capturingone big financial house Citi'state ~ n. — A region consisting ofone or
after another and dragging their prizes back to more historic central cities surrounded by cities
Charlotte's Uptown, much likethe hunters ofold re- and towns which have a shared identification,
turning home with a bounty. functionasasinglezonefortrade,commerceand
Physically, there's been a difference. The Tri- communication, and arecharacterized by social,
angle region was willing enough to grow low and economic and environmental interdependence.
close to the earth, but not Charlotte, which hired
famed architectsand created asignatureskyline. Yet Note that our definition does not mention bor-
most ofthe population in the Charlotte region, as in ders, and forgood reason. Citistates are not political
the Triangle, has spread outward and outward. Like inventions, they are organic. A citistate is what the
the Triangle, un-urban office economydoes: howwidelythe
development prospers around city'snewspaperscirculateand
Charlotte. First Union, for ex- Citistates are not televisionsignalsreach, acom-
ample, has now added a mas- mute-shed, and a labor, health
siveback-office buildingclose political inventions, services, and educational mar-
to the University of North ket. The citistate is the pattern
CarolinaatCharlotte(UNCC), they are organic. oflights you'd see flying in on
that reminds you from the air aspaceshipatnight. Politicians
ofthe Pentagon. In population may tell us these regions are
per square mile, both the Triangle and Charlotte are separated, divided, differentiated political jurisdic-
among the more lightly settled metropolitan centers tions, but those lines are invisible from the air.
ofAmerica. The Europeans freelydescribetheir continent as
So what's wrong with this? Hasn't the Triangle acollection ofincreasingly powerful citistates, rang-
has been rated, by many an outsider, as one of the ingfrom Milanto Hamburg, Manchesterto Stuttgart,
—
best places to live and do business in the country? Lyon to Marseilles all metropolitan regions mak-
Isn't Charlotte practically the symbol of rapid and ing deals and establishing direct economic and cul-
successful development? Let me answerthat byask- tural ties to each other with minimal regard for the
ingaquestion: whatwill makeforsuccessful regions nationstates inwhichtheyhappentobelocated. Hong
inthenewworldeconomy?CurtisJohnson and 1tried Kong, throwing its net ofinvestment activity across
toanswerthatquestionwhenweputtogetherour 1993 Guangzhou Province and deep into the People's Re-
book, Citistates. public ofChina, isthe ultimate exampleofacitistate
Ourthesiswasfairlystraightforward. Weargued makingeven ferociouslyguardednational boundaries
that great metropolitan regions have become the less and less relevant.
closely interrelated geographic, economic, and envi- So, onecould ask,aretheTriangle and Charlotte
ronmental entities that chiefiy define late 20th-cen- regions readytoplay inthe international big leagues?
turycivilization. Population is flowingtoward them. Here is where my doubts and questions set in. The
Theytradeand competedirectlywitheachother,with regionshavethe skills, with scientificcapacityofthe
messages, data, and money transfers generated in highest order in the Triangle, and in Charlotte such
citistatefinancial centers leapingnational boundaries heavyweight financial capacity thatone could imag-
in realtime, withoutpausingtoask permission. Mea- ine the bank executives, in their sky-scraping pyra-
sured electronically, the globe is approximately one
CAROLINA PLANNING
mids some Monday morning, tryingto decide ifthis relevant to the interests of planners. That issue, of
is the week to buy Japan. course, is physical form and growth.
I have doubts which fall intothreegeneral areas: For all the apparent success ofthe Carolina re-
decision-making, social equity, andtheenvironment gions, they have done a lessihan stunningjob in this
and physical form. While most Northern and Mid- area. The Triangle region, forexample, is now stuck
western cities have long since rejected the paradigm withthe model set in the 1950s by the Research Tri-
ofa small group ofwhite men meeting over starchy angle Park: a campus-like, wooded, low-density set-
tablecloths to make decisions for everyone else, the ting. Insteadoffunnelingthegrowth,withhigherden-
legend holds on inNorth Carolina. The state appears sities, into the region's established city centers and
to believe in strong man leaders; note it's almost in- neighborhoods, growth ofthe builtenvironmentwas
variably "man," not "woman." In the Triangle Re- allowed to scatter outward. The region now suffers
gion there is the history ofLuther Hodges and other from severe suburban sprawl, threats to its lakes and
strong man allies giving birth to the Research Tri- watersupply, longercommutetimes, pockets ofugly
angle Park. There is a yearning for that leadership andmountingtrafficcongestion, and seriousairqual-
powerofyesteryear. Forexample, the new Regional ityproblems. Thecountiesareateachothers' throats,
Councileven started outwiththe word "Leadership" fightingforindustrytosustaintheirtaxbasesbecause
in its title. Many in Charlotte believe the big bank new residential development doesn't pay for itself.
presidents, such as Hugh McColl and Ed Crutchfield, Area leaders discuss mass transit, but as we noted in
can still decidevirtuallyanycivicoreconomic ques- our 1993 report, "The soul ofthe Triangle Region is
tion. (I should notethat McColl told me lastyearthat lying on the drafting tables ofthe state highway de-
the baton was being passed and that "the so-called partment, a.k.a. the North Carolina Department of
group that people think controls everything down- Transportation," an organization known for its ulti-
town cratered about four or five years ago.") mate disdain for anything but laid concrete and as-
Crutchfield explains that the holdover beliefofcon- phalt.
trol by the few stems from the fact that many Our wonderment in writing about the Triangle
Charlotteans were born, like McColl and himself, in wasthat itshighlyeducated peoplearenotup inarms.
small towns which were "sort of one-horse towns They can see Interstate 40 and the OuterLoop creat-
were some rich guy controls the land and the build- ing a kind ofLos Angeles on the Piedmont, with 10
ings." or 12 one-way traffic lanes ultimately necessary as
In matter of fact, power in modern American auto miles driven escalate far ahead of population
citistates is much too splintered for any group to ex- increase. With their own eyes they can witness the
ercise it very efficiently. Big corporations are often dire results of inner city disinvestment. With their
too preoccupied with the national or global scene to educations and backgrounds they understand what
focus on localities, and their local branch managers thesechanges mean, ecologically, socially, andphysi-
keep changing anyway. Another factor is the rise of cally. AmongTriangle residents the plannersand ur-
multiple new social, ethnic, and political groups. In banists know the most, and earliest, about superior
Charlotte, for example, populist conser\'atives who forms beingdeveloped elsewhere. That information,
were particularly suspiciousof"Uptown power"sent pushed vigorously into public debate, is critical for
yellow dog Democrats cowering in confusion by the region. Yet my impression is that the area's vast
sweeping into victory in the 1994 elections. The city academic community does not often speak out on
also recently rejected a large school bond. The Caro- these critical issues. To me, it seems like a great lost
linas PartnershipforEconomicGrowlh.whichcrosses opportunity and forgone responsibility.
into South Carolina, and the Queen City Congress, I will be even more specific. Right now, across
which brings together affluent and poor neighbor- America,there isadramatic increase in interestabout
hoods to fight for their common interests, are other regional issues, and an even stronger concern over
examples ofnewly formed organizations splintering the effect ofsprawl. Consideratimelywarning from
the political landscape. Middle America. A recent Kansas City Star series
The challenge for both the Triangle and Char- alleges that sprawl "has spawned a virus eating us
lotte regions today is to broaden decision-making so from the inside out . . . hollowed out the urban cores
that enough people are involved to achieve consen- ofAmerica, feedingon racism and governmenthand-
sus and action. To focus on that challenge. Ell pick outs incited acivil waramongneighboringtowns
. . .
an areathat'scontroversial,consequential, and highly
VOLUME NUMBER
fighting for business development . . . scattered us citistate is in peril oflosing its globaleconomic lead-
(as a civilization) like ashes to the wind." ership to smart, investment-minded European and
Last year the Bank of Americajoined environ- Asian regions. Here in the Southland, where people
mentaliststowarnthat"uncheckedsprawl has shifted are always anxious to avoid New York's errors, the
from an engine ofCalifornia's growth to a force that experience can be a very big warning for the future
threatensto inhibitgrowth and degrade [California's] ofthis area.
quality of life." Anthony Pilla, Roman Catholic Next we need to add the issue ofcharacter. Tra-
bishop of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, preaches ditionally, we builtourcities on grid systems, essen-
that sprawl to far suburbs divides people physically tially "open" plans that invited social and income
and spiritually, isolating the poor most egregiously. mixing. No longer. Now we let suburban cul-de-sac
TheChicago Tribune, in its recent"Nation ofStrang- developers have their way, building "exclusive" de-
ers" series, w—arns that the "hypermobility" of the velopments with single roads connecting to a major
suburbanera working, sleeping, playing, scho—oling highway. Thetowncenter, in walkable distance, gets
at locations reached only by long auto rides has lost. In place ofhomey collections ofroses or vine-
broken down community, created sterile environ- ripe tomatoes, cul-de-sacked America routinely of-
ments, and impoverished fers shrubs set by profes-
ournational spirit. sional landscapers in beds
As the Tribune notes, A of gravel or bark chips to
child ought to be able
"[w]hat once were the keepmaintenance low. The
country lanes of the outer to walk safely from front porch is replaced by
reaches ofChicago, Hous- garage dooropenings, and
ton, Philadelphia, Tampa, home to buy a popsicle the front door sometimes
Los Angeles, and so many virtually invisible. It's a
otherAmerican cities have within five minutes. cold, cold form.
become four-lane high- Consider children.
waysthroughamercilessly One ofthe great myths of
franchised landscape," our age is that suburbs are
ranging from Arby's to Midas Muffler to Taco Bell. good for children. They aren't. Hal Box ofthe Uni-
As urbanists and planners you know that these versity of Texas School of Architecture notes that
are not the first warnings. As far back as 1928 and the child's world shrunk into the size ofa few back-
1929theNew York Regional Plan Association called yards, there being nothingtowalktootherthan more
uncontrolled growth the greatest threat to the three- houses.
stateNew York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropoli- Who istodoubtwe need anewhumanism intown
tan region. Officials failed to listen. Land was de- planning, attacking rigid zoning separation, recon-
voured 12 times fasterthan population growth. Sub- nectingpeoplewithwalkable communities? We need
urbia became the region's growth engine. to rememberChurchill's words, "[w]e shape ourcit-
In its 1996 report the association states the ies and then they shape us." Design does affect be-
region's suburbs suffered as much as the cities havior. I was in Austin a couple ofweeks ago for a
through the 1989-92 recession. The myth of subur- day-long conference on New Urbanism with 650 lo-
ban economies' invincibility was shattered. Some of cal developers and planners. At the conference Pro-
you may have noted that the federal Office ofTech- fessor Box suggested the test of new communities,
nology, in a swan-song reportjust before going out orrebuildingold, should bethe Five Minute Popsicle
ofexistence last autumn, announced that continued Rule: a child ought to be able to walk safely from
advances in technology will permit more and more home to buy a popsicle within five minutes.
development to spread, almost infinitely, across our Which brings us to the emerging and encourag-
landscapes. There is a great deal of conventional ing school of architectural and land use planning
thinking to that effect. However, the New York Re- called "New Urbanism." The idea, in some respects,
gional Plan Association findsthethreat is not merely is quite sentimental. New Urbanism goes "back to
uncontrolled growth, but rather the resulting region- the future" and builds neighborhoods the way they
wide decline. Failing to use its land intelligently, to werebefore World WarII: morecompact, withhouses
protect itswatersheds,andtomodernize itsmasstran- andwalk-upapartmentson smaller, lesssterilestreets.
sit and other infrastructure, the fractured New York places with real town centers and pedestrian-acces-
CAROLINA PLANNING
sible parksand gathering places. SouthernVillage in million people today to 1.5 million in 20 years.
Chapel Hill is an actual experiment in New Urban- Smedes York, who is sparking the regional effort,
ism, begun a year and a halfago by developer D.R. supplied mewith recentsurveysofwhatmembersof
Bryan. Southern Village has small streets, alleys, the Council value most in the region. Predictably,
neighborhood parks, detached housing with some pride in research and higher education and the repu-
townhouses, and acommonsareawith offices, multi- tation for"knowledge workers" rated very high. But
family units, and park and ride transit facilities. sotoodidopen spacesandnatural areas liketheNeuse
Now Durham city and county are moving ahead River and Duke Forest, along with the distinctive
withtheir2020 Plan vision. The plan calls foravari- identities and physical forms ofthe region's varied
etyofdistinctneighborhoods,emphasizingchoice in communities.
where people may choose to live. The plan also des- WhatmembersoftheRegionalCouncil feltmost
ignates compact corridors, including one toward the in need ofchange was also interesting. First was the
airport and Raleigh, a second along 15-501 toward lack ofadequate public transportation. Second, less
Chapel Hill, and a third toward North Durham job "political balkanization" and finding a greater "re-
centers. The hope is that compact neighborhoods in gional attitude." Then came equality in education,
thesecorridorswill includeamixofhigher intensity, deterioration of center city areas, and addressing
well-designed housing and employment centers, in- sprawl and racial divisiveness. So farso good. What
creasing pedestrian access and reducing auto depen- seems of concern is that citizen activity to force
dence. change on reluctant local governments and legisla-
These are refreshing ideas and actions that had tors is not happening. People in the Triangle area
not surfaced when we did our study ofthe Triangle continue to believe that leaders, now assembled in
threeyearsago. Onewishes Wake,Orange, andother the Regional Council, can make change. The politics
counties inthe areawould dothe same. Indeed,what ofthe 1990sdoesnotworkthatway. Youneedshock
the area really needs is a strong Triangle-wide com- troopswho arearmed with thebestdata and state-of-
mitmentto a new land use and transportation future. the-artknowledgeandtechniques,allofwhich should
Chuck Twardy, columnist fortheNews & Observer, be supplied bythe universities.
spelled it out: "[a] regional planning agency with Smedes York, incidentally, has awonderful way
some muscle" would insure a better balance of ofdescribing the contrasting cultures ofthe two big
areawide growth "so that Durham is not draining Carolina regions: Charlotte is organized like a cor-
dollarsatRaleigh'sexpense,sothatCarycannotbuild poration, the Triangle like a university. Each place
in Raleigh and Garner's next drinking water source, needs to learn to change by exploiting its strengths.
sothatareas inthe midst ofthe Triangle arecarefully In our Charlotte report last year, we said it was
developed with mixed-use, mixed-income commu- time to democratize development, to put ordinary
nities."Tothat I would addcombiningthearea'smet- citizens in positiontoreview,commenton andshape
ropolitan planning organizations in order to look at development. Charlotteans, descendants of thrifty,
highways, masstransit, and intermodal potentialson self-sufficient pioneers, never trusted authority and
a rational, region-wide basis. Today Wake and rejectedgovernmentplanningcontrols. Intheirnearly
Durham Countiesare in different Metropolitan Plan- theological brandofindividualism,theythoughtthey
ning Organizations (MPO), which is sheer insanity were in charge.Theyweren't. Growthwascontrolled,
when one thinks oftrue citistate form. not by the people, but bythe highwayengineers, de-
But how does one force the official system to velopers,and builders. Theresultnowappears insev-
act? Only, it seems to me, with strong citizen orga- eral ways: strip-signed highways like Independence
nization pushing incessantly. In the last years the Boulevard,which areamongAmerica's ugliest;acres
Triangleregion hashad several broad-gaugedassem- ofurban devastation in and aroundcentral Charlotte;
blies and World Class Region convocations; almost acancerofabandonmentcreepingbeyond the center
1,000 attended one conference in 1992. In a poll of city,anda lackofbuildings,squares,andpublicplaces
the attendees, 85 percent said regional growth and to which people feel any loyalty.
land use managementrequired priority attention.The Yet the Charlotte region has something lacking
following year a Greater Triangle Regional Council in the Triangle: a coherent, multi-county image of
was formed. Today it has a major project, "Examin- where itmightgo. Theauthorofthisimage isMichael
ing Regional Development Choices" which is based Gallis, a private planner whotirelessly explains how
on the expectation that the region will grow from 1 Charlotte can and should focus development along
VOLUME NUMBER
21
the natural corridors radiating from the center city government, and social equity all rolled into one.
and linking to Rock Hill, Gastonia, Monroe, There isa newparadigm for us to focus on. It differs
Kannapolis, and other cities in a 20-mile radius from the old paradigm we know so well and have
around the central city. Indeed, Gallis helped Rock worked with so longoflookingto federal, state, and
Hill focuson itsown identityand strengthsby simul- then local government forthe lion's share ofour an-
taneously identifying and celebrating itselfas a lead- swers.
ingsatellitecityofCharlotte. Rock Hill'spromotional The newparadigm isglobal, regional, and neigh-
folders even show the Charlotte skyline on the hori- borhood:
zon. (Express buses, incidentally, nowspeed between
Rock Hill and downtown Charlotte.) • Global, because critical environmental impacts
But while Charlotte recognizes its interdepen- can be worldwide, in addition toworldwideeco-
dence with its ring cities, it too needs citizens to be nomic restructuringas ittearsapartourcomfort-
catalysts for real change. Right now there is talk of able relationships.
having organizations like the Queen City Congress
and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Citizens Forum be • Regional, because citistates are the true cities of
powerful voices ofthe regional citizenry. our time, the real environmental basins, labor
One way planning can be democratized, as we markets,andfunctioningeconomiccommunities,
said in our Charlotte report, would be to open a spe- and call out for regional planning.
cial center at UNCC. The center would let citizens
use sophisticated computer technology to illustrate • Andneighborhood, becausethe local community
real choiceson howroads might berouted,town cen- is the arena which ultimately must deal with
ters constructed, and residential areas built out. De- America's grave and growing social problems.
velopers would first have to take their proposals to
the center for public debate. Their argument, we Wemust lookwithin neighborhoodstobuildstrength,
know, is that people will only buy standard spread- to stop the erosion of social resilience, and to find
out subdivisions withtheirhuge setbacks, biggarage the lost social contract. We must recognize,
doors, and all the rest. Our bet is that if you show recultivate, and reinvigorate our civic order, our in-
computerizedalternativesofadensermixwith parks, formal network offamily, friends, neighborhood as-
restored front porches, and cars pushed to alleys and sociations, clubs, civic groups, local businesses, and
backgarages, people will acceptfarmoredensitythan churchesand turn to neighborhood people ofall eco-
they might tell you at first. The feared NIMBYism nomic classes to take civic leadership, to be person-
against any and all development will fade as people ally concerned with the issues in the streets, parks,
have full information and feel closerto the decision- and shared spacestheycall home. Although planners
making process. and architects can think up the popsicle rule, it will
Efforts are now underway to set up that center take neighborhood people to make it happen. <a*>
forcomputersimulation at UNCC, with the hopethat
all parties, including local governments, businesses,
and neighborhood groups, could take advantage of
it. The Triangle area should consider the same idea
at the University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill or
oneofits sisterTriangle institutions. 1 believe such a
center would encapsulate the critical means for
progress today. These means involve professionals
making a vital contribution, not just because they
know best and everybody should be heeding them,
but because they work with citizens, refining their
own insights through citizens" input, and ultimately
their influence flows through their partnerships with
citizens.
When think aboutregionalism and the question
I
of successful citistates, 1 see vital issues ofcompe-
tence, cohesiveness, economic efficiency, reinvented
-
SLAPP
Recognizing a Suit and
Understanding Consequences
Its
Darrell F. Cook and Dwight H. Merriam
A,
pesky environmental group is constantly ham- Defining a "SLAPP" Suit
peringyourdevelopmentplans. Thegroup isfiercely
opposed to your project and has attempted to thwart Should our developer file a lawsuit against the
your efforts. On many occasions, the group has ex- environmental group, the term "SLAPP" will un-
pressed its concerns to the local zoning authority. It doubtedly pop up on the screen. The acronym was
challenges every permit you seek and went so far as coined by Professors George W. Pring and Penelope
to submitscathingeditorialstothe local paper. These Canan for a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Par-
efforts have delayed your project, cost you serious ticipation."' According to Professors Pring and
money, and are making your life miserable. Canan, a SLAPP suit consists ofthe following four
You believethatthe group'sconcernsaremostly elements:
unfounded, and you are convinced it has given inac-
curate information abouttheenvironmental impacts. 1. a civil complaint or counterclaim for monetary
Ifyou could make this mob disappear, you are cer- damages and/or an injunction;
tain that the project would proceed without further
delay. 2. filed against non-governmental individuals or
You are now considering taking the group to groups;
court, and a local lawyer is eagerto file a multi-mil-
lion dollar lawsuitforyou. Theopposition group has 3. becauseoftheircommunicationtoagovernmen-
limited resources, and you think the threat ofcostly tal body, official, orthe electorate;
and protracted litigation will make the group aban-
don its tactics. Will tiling a lawsuit be the answer to 4. on an issue ofsome public interest or concern.
your problems, or will it result in even greater diffi-
culties?Thisarticle will helpadeveloper in this situ- To fully characterize a SLAPP, however, a fifth cri-
ation answer the question. terion is necessary: "the suits are without merit and
contain an ulterior political or economic motive."'
The paradigm SLAPP suit is an action filed by a
land developer against environmental activists or
DarrellCookandDwightMerriam, AICP, aremem- neighbors who object to the proposed development.
bers ofRobinson & Cole 's Land Use Group, which As in the introductory example, a citizen group may
Merriam chairs. Darrell Cook is a graduate ofthe express environmental concerns to a local zoning
University ofMaryland andaformerjudicial clerk authority, delaying or killing a project. The devel-
for the Court ofAppeals of Maryland. Dwight oper then sues the group in retaliation for, on aver-
Merriam isagraduate oftheDepartmentofCityand age. $9 million in damages.^ Even though the law-
Regional Planning at the University ofNorth Caro- suit is without merit, the developer hopes that the
linaat ChapelHillandPastPresident oftheAmeri- general unpleasantness of litigation, its high costs,
can Institute ofCertifiedPlanners. and the potential, no matter how remote, ofa multi-