POLITICS GOVERNOR’S RACE : Feinstein Proposes State Panel to Manage Growth

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein proposed Thursday to put state government smack in the middle of a problem that has daunted local officials: managing California’s sprawl.

“In two decades California has grown by one-half, from 20 million in 1970 to 29 million today, and the California dream seems to be turning into a nightmare,” the former San Francisco mayor said at a press conference in Los Angeles. “Clean air and water are fond memories, and our schools are graduating students without the skills to succeed in a changing world.

“Meanwhile, state government has been on the sidelines and citizens have had to take responsibility for managing growth into their own hands.”

If elected governor, Feinstein said, she would make one of her priorities state legislation to create a Growth Management Commission modeled after the Coastal Commission.

With members appointed by the governor, top legislators and others, Feinstein’s commission would attempt to manage growth through monetary incentives and state restrictions. The panel would oversee regional growth commissions that would make the decisions on individual projects

“We need a balance between where the affordable housing is and where the new jobs are,” Feinstein said. “We need to make sure that fast-growing areas have the caring capacity for the people moving there. There must be good schools, safe streets and clean air and water.”

Feinstein’s commission also would require its regional boards to make the following items top priority:

- Mandating parks in new cities.

- Preserving “first-class” agricultural lands and environmental resources.

- Encouraging mass transit where the population density is high enough to support it.

Feinstein also promised to create a state Department of Ocean Resources, which would have Cabinet status in her government. Among other things, it would create and operate a hazardous-spill protection plan and regulate and issue licenses for oil, gas and other drilling in the coastal zone.