Plan Bay Area: An Evaluation by the Property Rights Lawyers in Sacramento, CA at

Posted by jackeric on March 17th, 2016

Three weeks ago, the property rights lawyers in Sacramento, CA at Kassouni Law answered the briefs submitted to Court by both the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) with their reply in the case entitled The Post Sustainability Institute v. Association of Bay Area Governments to preserve the constitutionally protected property rights of Bay Area citizenry and halt aplan incapable of achieving results.

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) have collaborated in the task of regional planning to bring Plan Bay Area to nine Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma.

What is Plan Bay Area?Why Now?
AB 375, passed in 2008 by the California legislature, mandates the reduction of California greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) by the authority of this legislation, now seeks a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 7% by 2020 and 15% by 2035. ABAG and MTC have begun regional land and infrastructure planning in collaboration with CARB by way of it’s plan “One Bay Area.”.

What are the Plan’s Goals? Can these Goals be Achieved if the Plan is Implemented?
One Bay Area brings sweeping lifestyle changes for all individuals who reside in the Bay Area region. However, the Constitutional property rights lawyers in Sacramento, CA at Kassouni Law contend the plan will never achieve its goals. Further, the plan’s website lists (13) goals & targets as of February 24th, 2016. Last week the property rights lawyers in Sacramento, CA examined goals and targets 1-3, this week, we’ll examine goals and targets 4-6.

Goal 4- Open Space and Agricultural Preservation:Direct all non-agricultural development within the urban footprint (existing urban development and UGBs)

The property rights lawyers at Kassouni Law are recognized as leaders in the Constitutional property rights field having set multiple landmark precedents to protect citizens’ property rights. The legal team all concur on this aspect: ABAG and the MTC in creating a regional authority have usurped the rights of incorporated cities to manage their own land planning, concluding the Plan illegally strips cities of Constitutionally protected legal autonomy.

Goal 5- Equitable Access: Decrease the share of lower-income residents’ household income consumed by transportation and housing by 10%

Plan Bay Area seeks to limit all non-agricultural development in a region where housing costs have already skyrocketed. By further limiting development with the exception of what the plan calls Priority Development Areas (PDAs) which are parcels of land crammed full of high-rise residential units. In this scenario, housing supply will decline pushing housing costs into the stratosphere for Bay Area citizens regardless of income status.

Goal 6- Equitable Access: Increase the share of affordable housing in PDAs, TPAs, or high-opportunity areas by 15%

No further elaboration is needed here other than to quote the implementers of Plan Bay Area:


“Plan Bay Area as adopted in 2013 did fall short of its performance target to decrease by 10 percentage points (to 56 percent, from 66 percent) the share of low-income and lower-middle income residents’ household income consumed by transportation and housing. The plan moved in the wrong direction; the share of household income needed to cover transportation and housing costs is projected to rise by three percentage points to 69 percent for low-income and lower-middle income residents over the life of the plan.”


The lawyers at Kassouni Law expect to see a trajectory of failure for most goals the plan sets out to reach, especially those of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The property rights lawyers in Sacramento, CA at Kassouni Law conclude that reorganizing the living arrangements of the Bay Area population into densely-packed high-rise neighborhoods only to fail at reducing CO2 emissions (as discussed in the previous article)Plan Bay Area hasn’t been well thought out. It’s time citizens of the region send this bureaucratic monster of plan back to the drawing board.


Author’s Bio: The author is a legal expert. This article consists of an evaluation by the Property Rights Lawyers in Sacramento, CA at Kassouni Law.For more information visit:-www.kassounilaw.com