Countywide : County Growth Is Topic of Conference

The public can join urban planners and public policy experts next month at a conference that will examine how best to address future population growth in the county.

The Visioning Orange County seminar will include talks by Mark Baldassare, chairman of the urban and regional planning department at UC Irvine; Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the county Human Relations Commission; Rick Cole, former Pasadena mayor; and Ernest Callenbach, author of the book “Ecotopia.”

The Oct. 15 seminar will look at the impact that population growth will have on natural resources, traffic, pollution and quality of life. Participants will discuss which land-use policies do the best job of dealing with an influx of new residents.

The discussion is part of Agenda 21, a global program to promote “healthy, sustainable communities” that was created at the 1992 Earth Summit.

Residents are invited to share their ideas with experts as well as attend various workshops.

The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at UC Irvine. It is sponsored by the Laguna Beach-based Eos Institute.

Admission is $40 at the door. For more information, call (714) 497-1896.