On Thursday, December 6, the Foothill Conservancy Board of Directors adopted the following principles to guide the organization as it develops positions on infrastructure planning and proposals, including roads, water, and wastewater projects.

• The user should pay: The cost of infrastructure expansion or improvements should be born by those who will benefit from and use the infrastructure.

 
• The cost of infrastructure expansions that are needed solely to accommodate new development should not be borne by existing ratepayers and taxpayers.

 
• Infrastructure planning should be done in open, inclusive processes that actively involve all affected stakeholders and the public, using methods that will ensure broad participation.

 
• Infrastructure planning should be based on adopted county and city general plans, not on speculative development that is inconsistent with adopted plans.

 
• The location, scale, and timing of infrastructure development should be done in a way that does not drive growth beyond what is already planned in local land use plans.

 
• Infrastructure such as roads, water, and wastewater facilities should not be extended into undeveloped areas unless those areas are contiguous to existing communities and approved for dense development in an adopted county or city general plan.

 
• When infrastructure facilities are extended across lands not planned for development in order to reach existing communities, connections to those facilities outside of developed communities should be limited.

 
• Infrastructure agencies should employ demand-side management techniques, including conservation and efficiency, before taking on expensive expansion projects.

 
• When resources are limited or finite, infrastructure providers should develop and follow smart-growth, demand-side management, and efficiency policies in order to allocate resources based on specified criteria rather than serve all applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 
• Infrastructure should be developed in a way that works with natural systems and minimizes damage to the natural and built environment.
  

Foothill Conservancy principles on land use and development & river and watersheds