Reference no: EM133238659
The following is a partial description of actions taken in National City, California. It is adapted from The New School report entitled "Local Policies for Environmental Justice: A National Scan."
At several City Council meetings and community workshops, community members expressed concerns about the impacts of polluting industries. They developed and advocated for the Westside Specific Plan, which addresses development and redevelopment patterns in the established area, calling for improved affordable housing and public transportation, pedestrian walkways, compatible land uses, and increased renewable energy. The Plan is a statement of local government policy that serves as the foundation for laws and policies for community development.
The Westside Specific Plan also created amortization guidelines for incompatible land uses (such as a polluting factory close to a school or residences), leading to the drafting of an amortization ordinance. The local environmental justice organization, Environmental Health Coalition, spearheaded the effort to adopt this ordinance, and in 2006 National City passed the measure. The ordinance uses the legal process of amortization to terminate non-conforming land uses, i.e., uses that are no longer permitted under zoning regulations because of changes to those regulations. In effect, it phases out industries currently allowed to operate near sensitive use areas (these can include schools, residences, or Environmental Justice areas) and sets up a process for the relocation of prioritized industries when the amortization period is triggered.
Based on the information above, please respond to the following questions regarding the second paragraph above. Please limit your response to these questions to a maximum of two pages.
1. You would like to advocate for similar actions (to those described in the second paragraph above) in Chicago. Would you advise advocating for the City to develop a program or a policy? Please explain your thinking.
2. Community development actions like these typically take place at the local level of government. Thinking more broadly, if it was a possibility, do you think these sorts of actions should take place primarily at the state or federal level of government instead? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning. Again, there is no right answer to this question.