LAFCO
What is Its
Role in Our Growth?
Written By Larry J. Mickartz
M
any pieces of legislation are
reactions to past abuses. A good
example of this is the urban
sprawl that occurred in places like Los
Angeles and San Jose after World War II.
Post-war economic growth was strong in
California. Soldiers returning home felt the
draw of the Golden State. But rather than
orderly growth, California suffered from dis-
jointed urban sprawl and with it, significant
loss of agriculture and open space.
Today, a drive through the LA basin and
the northern sections of Santa Clara Valley
provide clear evidence of this sprawl. Then
came the public outcry as the negative
80
impacts of sprawl became increasingly
clear. In response, the California legislature
mandated the creation of Local Agency
Formation Commissions (LAFCOs)
in 1963.
The primary objective of Santa Clara
County’s LAFCO is to provide oversight
when it comes to the establishment of
boundaries of cities and special districts,
thus encouraging orderly boundaries and
discouraging urban sprawl while preserving
agricultural and open space lands.
It should be noted that while the
majority of Santa Clara Valley’s potentially
developable open space and farmland
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
MAY/JUNE 2016
lies within the South County, there is
no requirement to have a representative
from South County on the Santa Clara
LAFCO. In fact, the commission operated
for many years without a representation
from Gilroy or Morgan Hill.
LAFCO maps depict its three areas of
concern as: city limits, urban service areas,
and spheres of influence. For most cities in
the northern part of Santa Clara County,
the LAFCO map shows the three areas
to be the same, overlapping one another.
For the South County, it’s a different story
– the three areas are distinct, progressing
outward from city limit to urban service
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