Sacramento Bee
Despite a home construction collapse caused by the recession, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is considering opening 20,000 acres of land to future development. Supporters say supervisors are being sage, freeing space for the region and its economy to grow. Detractors say they are abdicating their primary responsibility: to engineer transit-friendly "smart growth" over sprawl. But the draft plan update is based largely on pre-recession growth projections that the county would need an additional 100,000 housing units by 2030. Development proponents say that if recent history is an indicator, projections fluctuate wildly and could easily spike again, said John Costa, the North State Building Industry Association’s senior legislative advocate.