You're in the Top Stories: Tablet section

Leaders from Fresno, Madera counties vow to cool legal fight over growth

By Kurtis Alexander - The Fresno Bee

Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2013 | 01:52 PM

tool name

close
tool goes here
0 comments

"There's no excuse for us not sitting down together to resolve these things," Scott said.

The counties agreed to have representatives meet with the city to take up the litigation.

Mike McCoy, who represented Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and serves as executive director of the Strategic Growth Council, said after the summit that there are ways the parties can settle their differences, at least over the long term. He said the state could lend a hand.

State-mandated housing requirements, for example, could be changed so that counties wouldn't be required to grow in places where it isn't desirable and tax-sharing agreements could be put in place to prevent counties from growing solely for more tax revenue, McCoy explained.

"We have to recognize the needs counties have," he said. "But the state does have a responsibility to represent the broad will of the community."

McCoy said that neither he nor other state officials intend to tell the local governments what to do. The state is merely available for assistance, he said.

Leaders from the two counties have so far spurned offers by the governor's office to get involved.

"I believe in local control, and it's the only way to preserve property rights," Madera County Supervisor David Rogers said. "It's the linchpin of our freedom."

Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea, who initiated the growth summit, said Tuesday's dialogue marked a good initial effort at regional planning. He said it was the first time since 2001 that the counties had met to discuss the important topic of growth.

"Our goal at the end of the day is to start talking about next steps," he said. "If we don't talk, if we don't work together, we're going to fail our communities."


The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6679 or kalexander@fresnobee.com or on Twitter @kurtisinvalley

Similar stories:

  • Valley leaders to Gov. Brown: Stay out of county development

  • Jerry Brown steps in to resolve Valley's growth war

  • Political Notebook: Democrats gaining strength in Fresno County

  • Report confirms Fresno County Jail needs overhaul

  • Fresno County supervisors OK plan to streamline development

The Bee's story-comment system is provided by Disqus. To read more about it, see our Disqus FAQ page. If you post comments, please be respectful of other readers. Your comments may be removed and you may be blocked from commenting if you violate our terms of service. Comments flagged by the system as potentially abusive will not appear until approved by a moderator.

more videos »
Visit our video index