The Bush Administration has joined with the home building industry in opposing the “Community Character Act” (S. 975 and H.R. 1433), claiming that the federal government has no right or authority to dictate to local communities the “right way” to plan for growth.

In an April 12 letter to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Met Martinez said that the proposed legislation would “infringe on the rights of local and state governments to manage their growth.”

The legislation would encourage communities to use prescribed land use planning techniques, Martinez added. “The danger lies in creating a set of ‘one size fits all’ federal rules that would dictate to communities the ‘right’ way to plan for growth.”

NAHB President Gary Garczynski applauded the decision by HUD. “The legislation presumes that the federal government has a better idea of the source of local market pressures and the best way to solve those problems,” Garczynski said. “Secretary Martinez, speaking for the Bush Administration, has the wisdom to understand that local citizens and local governments – not distant federal authorities – should make decisions about local land use plans.”.