Greens Gone Crazy in Aliso Viejo
by Dale Tyler

On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, the Aliso Viejo City Council will reconsider an package of building and environmental initiatives tied to the idea that government needs to mandate how we all live. This is brought to us by a small cadre of “green” socialists in the Aliso Viejo city staff and misguided citizens.

This started a couple of years ago when the Aliso Viejo City Council was persuaded to spend untold staff time addressing “global warming”, which is now called “climate change” since the warming does not really appear to be happening as predicted. That's a story for another time.

While wasting the taxpayer funds on a foolish study is one thing, the product of the study is simply unbelievable. On the one hand, the study found that Aliso Viejo was “currently in compliance with all regulation”, it goes on to layout an intrusive set of rules and regulations that will make construction of new homes and businesses much more costly. Remodeling of existing structures could also become much more expensive under the proposal. In addition, every decision that the City Council makes, from traffic lights to speed bumps to swing sets in the parks will have to also consider the effect of the decision on “climate change”.

Here are some of the proposed regulations:

• Provide for more mixed use in the City General Plan.
• Modify zoning for “urban villages”
• Provide incentives for land uses to perform closer to “zero net energy”
• City should invest in some “complete streets” demonstration projects
• Issue permits for “walkable commercial” locations throughout the city
• Issue permits for “organic gardens anywhere they are feasible
• Issue permits for higher floor ratio to ground coverage building that currently allowed. This is high density housing and taller commercial buildings.
• Essentially require new and remodeled buildings to comply with Leeds and other “green” building standard or face increased and costly “review”
• Reduce the dependance on carbon based fuel vehicles

There are many more, but the bottom line is that Aliso Viejo staff want to control more and more of how businesses and citizens live. They are trying to claim that some of these regulations are merely advisory, but it is clear they will become mandatory in the future.

This should not be surprising to anyone who has followed the way local governments operate. Government exists, by and large, to justify and expand its own existence. The staff at Aliso Viejo city hall see an opportunity to expand their numbers and raise their pay and at the same time be politically correct. The so-called “green” initiative is an expensive fraud at all levels, from California AB32 down to this plan in Aliso Viejo.

Another part of the study proposes requirements to make the city respond to “climate change” Some of these are:

• Evaluate potential climate change impacts of all items being considered by the City Council.
• Address barriers to change and inefficiencies within the existing structure of the City of Aliso Viejo government to be able to respond quickly to climate change developments; incorporate climate change threats to the City's Emergency Incident Plan and Emergency Operations Center training for city staff.

This is the essence of what the “climate change” advocates have been foaming at the mouth for years. Taken to its logical conclusion, there would have to be carbon impact study done for every traffic light, crosswalk and swing set added to the city. Think of the additional staff time those studies would take and how much the taxpayer will love the new taxes this will require.

What the greenies don't realize is that if something actually saves a meaningful amount of energy (money) then people and businesses will adopt those practices without being forced by government. In general, people are a lot smarter that governments.

In addition, what new impacts would need to be accounted for in the city's emergency plan? If there are any impacts of “climate change”, which is doubtful, these impacts would not be sudden and therefore the idea of “updating an emergency plan” and “training staff” are simply the wild ravings of a group that thinks attempting to scare the public by making dire predictions is a way to win their point.

I encourage all citizens of Aliso Viejo to email their City Council members city-clerk@cityofalisoviejo.com , calling the City Clerk's office at 949-425-2505 and/or go to the Aliso Viejo City Council meeting to tell the Council not to adopt the Green City Initiative. A copy of the initiative can be found here. (5MB PDF - 2 minute download).