NEWS & UPDATES

By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee

Homebuilders have offered to compromise on the size of a housing and commercial development fee for highway projects promised by Measure C, Fresno County's half-cent transportation sales tax.

The Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties now supports a fee that would add $1,727 to the cost of a new home and raise an estimated $269 million. Previously, the association wanted the fee set at $621, which would have yielded $102 million.

A second group, the Central California Development Council, representing commercial and industrial builders, is also "having a conversation" about its opposition to the higher fee, said its representative, lawyer Jeff Reid, a former Fresno city manager. Commercial and industrial projects would pay fees ranging from 10 cents to $1.96 per square foot under the plan now endorsed by the homebuilders.

The fee is designed to help stretch Measure C funds to build more projects than the sales tax alone would pay for. The sales tax dates to 1987 and was extended for a 20-year term by county voters in 2006.

Tonight, two political bodies -- the Council of Fresno County Governments and the Fresno County Transportation Authority -- will try to agree on how much the fee should be. Their proposal then would go to each of the county's 15 cities and the Board of Supervisors for consideration. Any that did not adopt the fee would risk losing Measure C funds equal to the lost fee revenue.

Michael Prandini, the association's president and chief executive officer, said consultants for the public agencies recently met with builders to explain how the higher fee had been calculated. He declined to say which builders changed their stance at a subsequent association board meeting. But he said the vote was still not unanimous.

"There were some that wanted to maintain our previous position," he said.

Two of the area's largest homebuilders -- Granville Homes and the McCaffrey Group -- had already broken ranks from the association to support the higher fee. Both have major tracts planned in western Fresno that would benefit from the Veterans Boulevard interchange at Highway 99, a project the fee would support.

In exchange for supporting the higher fee, the association is asking that it be phased in over three years. It also wants costs of the projects that the fee would help build to be reviewed after two years.

Besides Veterans Boulevard, other improvements that the fee would support include widening Highway 180 east of Temperance Avenue and the interchange of Highways 41, 168 and 180 in central Fresno.

The reporter can be reached at rclemings@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6371.

Fresno Bee Editorial

A landmark bill tying local planning decisions to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions has been signed by the governor. It will have profound impacts on the way cities and counties do business, and it's good news for all of us who live -- and breathe -- in California.

Senate Bill 375 will require the California Air Resources Board to set vehicle emission reduction targets for each region. The planning agencies in cities and counties would develop their own strategies to achieve those goals.

The carrot-and-stick is transportation funds: Cities that meet the requirements will be first in line for the $5 billion or so in annual state funding for transportation. Those locales that continue to promote sprawling developments will be left out.

That's a powerful impediment against the sprawl that consumes thousands of acres of the state's precious farm lands each year, and creates longer and more costly commutes for millions of Californians.

SB 375, pushed diligently for two years by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is a natural and necessary follow-up to the historic greenhouse gas initiative, Assembly Bill 32, passed in 2006.

"This legislation constitutes the most sweeping revision of land use policies since Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said upon signing the bill.

The legislation will relax CEQA requirements for residential construction projects that help meet the regional greenhouse gas goals. That's a strong incentive for homebuilders to produce projects that are denser and closer to transit systems. That, in turn, helps to increase the demand for transit alternatives, which makes those pencil out better for local governments.

Under AB 32, the state must reduce heat-trapping greenhouse gases 25% by 2020. But, according to Caltrans, if development proceeds along existing patterns, we'll see an increase of 60% in the total number of miles driven by Californians in the next 20 years. Clearly, something has to give.

That something is sprawl. And between SB 375, higher gasoline prices and a growing sense on the part of the public that much of what we've been doing isn't going to work any longer, we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the classic pattern of suburban growth spreading farther and farther from city cores.

Let's hope so. The cost of suburban sprawl has been traffic congestion, increased dependence on oil, air pollution and the decay of older urban areas, and it has become a price too onerous for communities to bear.

SB 375 won't stop growth. That's not its intent. But it gives us the opportunity -- and powerful incentives -- to chart a new course in land-use planning, and we should welcome that.

Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

By Brad Branan / The Fresno Bee

A 2002 master development plan for Fresno has failed to make good on promises to curb urban sprawl, public records and interviews show.

Experts say sprawl -- poorly planned development scattered far from the city's heart -- could add to some of Fresno's biggest problems by creating more traffic and air pollution, depriving core neighborhoods of development and straining the city's budget for road maintenance.

The city's latest general plan, a blueprint approved in November 2002 for growth through 2025, brought promises to control the problem, which has been a concern for decades.

Mayor Alan Autry said at the time that the plan was a "defining moment in the history of our city," marking "the day when our city's leaders said 'no' to continuing urban sprawl."

But experts say the plan was flawed from the beginning, allowing construction of housing projects on agricultural land on the city's fringe, isolated from jobs and shopping.

In addition, the City Council has routinely approved developer requests for exceptions to the plan or the city's zoning code, city records show.

Experts say such case-by-case tinkering with development plans only worsens sprawl.

From January 2003 through June 2008, the council approved about 400 zone changes or general plan amendments and denied just four.

The approvals included more than 300 projects around the city's edges -- in most cases allowing more intense development. The Bee analysis excluded zoning changes requested before 2003.

Over those 5 1/2 years, the city let developers convert more than 11 square miles around Fresno's edges for residential, commercial and other types of development. That includes two of the biggest projects approved in recent years: Copper River Ranch subdivision, which added a square mile to Fresno's northern tip, and the Fancher Creek development, which converted almost a square mile on the southeastern side.

Despite the promises of 2002, "It looks like business as usual," said Hal Tokmakian, a former Fresno County planning director and professor emeritus of planning at California State University, Fresno. Tokmakian and several other planning experts reviewed the city's land-use decisions at The Bee's request.

Nick Yovino, Fresno's recently retired planning director, disagrees with their assessment. Most of the land-use changes were rezones allowed under the general plan, said Yovino, who wrote it. Plan amendments have made for more "judicious use" of land, he said.

"The plan is working exactly as it should," Yovino said.

But Tokmakian and other critics said the plan was flawed to begin with -- and that the repeated amendments prove the point.

Among similar-sized cities in California, the few that amend their plans more than Fresno have decided to start over and make new development plans.

In Fresno, the "plan is cockeyed," said Tokmakian, who taught Yovino when he was a student at Fresno State. The plan fails because it doesn't work well with the city's zoning code, which is based on planning ideas from the 1950s, he said.

Others contend that sprawl is a sign that Fresno's traditionally cozy relationship with developers has not changed.

Fresno completed the development plan the same year federal authorities were wrapping up cases from Operation Rezone, which ensnared former City Council members for accepting bribes for land-use decisions. Since then, critics contend, legal money from developers -- service fees and campaign contributions -- has continued to tilt the system in their favor.

Crowded edges

On Fresno's western edge, subdivisions are starting to fill the landscape, standing alongside orchards and farms, many of them dilapidated. Roads are lined with signs advertising new homes.

Converting farmland into subdivisions has been a dominant building pattern in the central San Joaquin Valley. Several experts who reviewed land-use changes since the plan was approved found that the pattern of sprawl has continued.

Fresno has approved conversions for more than 140 single-family housing projects around the city's edge, including Copper River Ranch and Fancher Creek, since the 2002 plan was adopted.

The decisions created sprawl by replacing farmland with isolated housing tracts often distant from shopping and work, experts said.

"They're turning agricultural districts into low-density housing, which by most people's definition is sprawl," said Rob Wassmer, a public-policy professor at California State University, Sacramento. Wassmer has written extensively about sprawl in the West, including a report that found Fresno was one of nine California metro areas with the biggest increases in sprawl in the 1990s.

His assessment of Fresno's record in the last six years: "It doesn't look like there's been a concentrated effort to stop sprawl."

Fresno's recent land-use decisions look like "piecemeal zoning -- they're dealing with each project in isolation," said Reid Ewing, research professor at the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. He pointed to a list of residential subdivisions approved without commercial projects to serve them.

Carol Whiteside, founder of the Great Valley Center, a Modesto think tank focused on growth issues, sees a similar pattern in the city's development decisions.

"They seem very opportunistic, based on landowner desires and without a goal in mind," she said. "The problem with plan amendments is that they're done without looking at the big picture."

City defends record

Yovino disagrees. He said the development plan checked sprawl by approving only a slight increase in the city's "sphere of influence" -- the zone of unincorporated land around the city designated for future annexation.

The area covers 50 square miles, potentially expanding the city by 45% to accommodate an anticipated 60% increase in population by 2025, Yovino said.

By contrast, Sacramento expects to vote on a development plan this year that would keep all but 1% of future growth in its existing city, said Jim McDonald, a senior planner in Sacramento. As part of a nationally recognized effort to curb sprawl, cities in the Sacramento region have agreed to limit suburban growth.

Fresno officials also have touted their development plan as a sprawl-control measure.

"The very first thing we must do to prevent sprawl is to implement the city's general plan," City Council Member and mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea said earlier this year.

"The key in controlling sprawl in Fresno is to continue to follow the 2025 general plan," Council Member Jerry Duncan said when he was running for mayor.

But some council members are reticent about the land-use changes they've approved since adopting the plan. Perea, for example, failed to respond to repeated requests for an interview.

Duncan and Council Member Brian Calhoun said the plan needs to accommodate growth, not prevent it. Said Calhoun: "People are going to move here unless we put up a fence. And we have to have an economy."

"If our goal was to 'stop sprawl,' that would involve a new general plan," Duncan said. "We needed single-family housing. We didn't want to stop the housing industry."

But Council Member Mike Dages, who represents southeast Fresno, said land-use changes have undermined the plan.

"There is sprawl, no doubt about it. We've also taken productive farmland," he said. "We haven't put our foot down and said, 'Developers, you are going to build here.' "

Asked why he supported most of the changes, Dages said he tended to view each decision in isolation, without seeing the big picture. He faults the Planning and Development Department for not providing the council with more comprehensive information about all the changes.

Fresno has received praise for some of its efforts to control sprawl. In October 2006, the city reduced the lot-size minimum for single-family homes from 6,000 to 5,000 square feet, a move expected to lead to more efficient land use.

The city also hired an internationally known planner, Peter Calthorpe, to come up with a blueprint for the Southeast Growth Area. The city hopes to direct 120,000 new residents by 2050 to the now-unincorporated area south of Clovis and east of Sanger. The plan differs from other fringe development because it would have places to live, work and shop.

Paying for sprawl

One of the fastest-growing parts of Fresno lies west of Highway 99. Builders like the relatively low cost of land. Residents can afford a home they couldn't buy in other areas.

Living on the edge of town comes at a cost, though -- longer commutes, for one. In the last year, rising gasoline prices have made commuting much more expensive.

Holly Rodriguez, 23, has felt the pain since buying a home in a new subdivision at Polk and Clinton avenues last year. Rodriguez and her husband couldn't afford a home near the insurance company where she works in north Fresno.

"It's about a 35-minute drive," she said of her daily commute. "There's a lot of stop signs along the way. There's a lot of traffic."

Rodriguez and other west side residents said area roads aren't built for all the traffic. There are too many potholes and stop signs, not enough traffic signals or sidewalks. Narrow and deteriorating rural roads carry urban traffic.

The city, Fresno County and others have formed a committee to identify transportation needs on the west side.

But Fresno has limited funding for road improvements and other infrastructure. Former City Council Member Tom Boyajian, who was the only member to vote against the development plan, said he was opposed because the city wasn't bringing in enough revenue to pay for improvements needed to serve new development.

City officials have acknowledged that projected revenue will fall short of the needs created by the plan.

For instance, the city has estimated the cost of needed street improvements at around $4 billion. But street fees approved by the city last year are expected to raise just $415 million.

State law prevents the city from using the fees to fix streets that are already deficient, according to a study commissioned by the city. Sections of some of Fresno's busiest roads -- Herndon, Shaw, Bullard, Ashlan and Shields avenues -- can only be fixed with other transportation funding.

Sprawl and smog

Driving is tied to another effect of sprawl -- dirty air. People driving longer distances create more vehicle emissions.

Two years ago, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District became the first agency in the state to create an air rule for new development. The district charges a fee to developers for new buildings on the edges of cities.

Vehicle emissions have gone down because of improved technology and stricter state requirements, said Tom Jordan, a district administrator.

But reductions would have been greater if not for fringe development, which leads to more driving.

In Fresno County and across the air district, the number of miles driven by all motorists is expected to increase at a greater rate than population growth, an indication of sprawl, Jordan said.

In three court cases, a group of Valley doctors accused Fresno of not paying enough attention to air quality when approving development. Concerned about respiratory illnesses, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air challenged the city's approval of the master development plan, and the Fancher Creek and Copper River Ranch projects.

The city settled the cases, agreeing to perform transportation studies and make improvements, such as installing emission-control devices on city buses, among other things.

Kevin Hamilton of Medical Advocates was surprised to learn that the city has approved so much development on the edges of Fresno. He also was upset, he said, because the decisions contradict his understanding of the development plan's goals.

"With all of the public health problems, it makes sense for them to stick to the plan," said Hamilton, director of special population services at Sequoia Community Health Centers.

... and poverty

Researchers link poverty to sprawl, because continued suburban development means less investment in the inner city.

Fresno has the nation's highest rate of concentrated poverty, The Brookings Institution found in reports in 2005 and this year. When one of the authors, Alan Berube, presented his findings in Fresno two years ago, he pointed to the city's development pattern as a central reason for poverty.

While the city's poorest neighborhoods are on the south side, Berube said, most of the city's new development has been on the north side, where new housing is aimed at upper-income residents.

Fresno's development plan calls for revitalization of the city's core, which covers an area generally between Chestnut and West avenues, and Ashlan and Jensen avenues. The city has offered incentives to attract builders to the core, such as lower street fees.

But with a few exceptions, residential builders haven't been interested in the urban core, said Michael Prandini, president and CEO of the Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties. Land costs more, isn't available in large parcels, and homebuyers don't want to live there, he said.

Developers won't build much in Fresno's core until all other land is developed, and that's only if the city sticks to its planned growth boundary, he said.

What went wrong?

Boyajian and other critics said they're not surprised sprawl continues under Fresno's development plan.

Before leaving office in 2006, Boyajian served on the City Council when three former council members were convicted in the federal Operation Rezone bribery and fraud cases. The influence of developer money is more pervasive now, even if it's legal, Boyajian said.

That's because the city's rapid growth has made development more lucrative, he said.

From January 2002 through May 2008, real-estate developers and subdividers donated $565,000 to the campaigns of City Council members and Mayor Autry, far more than any other group, according to a Bee analysis.

The next leading donor group, public officials, contributed less than $200,000 during the same period.

Some of the top donors -- Granville Homes, homebuilder Robert McCaffrey and Bonadelle Homes -- also were some of the top beneficiaries of land-use changes, each receiving at least several council approvals in the last six years.

Some City Council members said the donations didn't influence their votes.

"Bob McCaffrey has been very generous with me, but does that mean I would vote for his project? No," Calhoun said.

Council Member Dages, however, said campaign contributions influence the council, including himself.

"It shouldn't, but it does," he said. "Most politicians will tell you it doesn't. But if someone writes you a $3,600 check, you feel an obligation to them."

Dages said he wouldn't vote for a project just because the developer contributed to his campaign, but he would "listen more" to the developer's proposal.

Council members often rely on recommendations from the Planning and Development Department, and bias exists there, too, some say.

Until 2003, it was just called the Development Department. And the department has been funded by development fees for years -- $13 million in the current budget.

"As long as the fuel is growth, guess which way the car is going to go?" said Fresno environmental attorney Richard Harriman. "The fees create a bias in favor of the client -- the developer."

But Yovino said the funding only makes the department run "like a business" and doesn't influence planning decisions.

Plan problems

Planning experts provide another reason for the city's failure to better manage growth -- flaws in the development plan and the zoning code.

Plan amendments have contributed to fringe growth. Of the 110 amendments approved through June, 82 were for projects around the city's edges.

The Bee surveyed planning departments in the state's 20 largest cities, except Los Angeles. In an average year, only Sacramento, Bakersfield and San Jose approve plan amendments more often than Fresno.

In its guidebook on development plans, the state Governor's Office of Planning and Research says "frequent piecemeal amendments" to a plan can indicate "major defects." Cities should consider plan revisions in such cases.

Sacramento, Bakersfield and San Jose are all updating their development plans, and expect to approve them in the next two years.

"If you amend the plan too much, it loses its meaning," said McDonald, the Sacramento planner. "It encourages people to come in and amend the plan."

Fresno's plan needs to change, said Tokmakian, the former Fresno County planning director.

The plan tries to be too specific about what kinds of development should be built on individual pieces of property, he said.

The plan should regulate development through policy, not a map, he said.

Almost all of the plan amendments were needed because proposed development differed from the plan map, Yovino conceded. But having a detailed map allows the city to better plan for infrastructure needs, he said.

The city's zoning code also needs updating, Tokmakian said, because it was approved in 1960 and likely doesn't "translate the goals of the plan effectively." The zoning code is the law cities use to regulate land use.

Yovino said the city has made many amendments to the zoning code since adopting the development plan. Holding up the development plan for a new zoning code would have taken too long.

The result, according to Tokmakian, is that Fresno uses a system incapable of bringing promised change. Instead, the city continues "the same pattern of piecemeal changes on the fringes, concentrating on open space," he said.

The reporter can be reached at bbranan@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6679.

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

Three-story houses are so rare in Fresno that city officials had to change the zoning ordinances to allow The McCaffrey Group to construct its first one. The Fresno company is building its three-story model at Poet's Crossing, a new tract near Hayes and Gettysburg avenues west of Highway 99. To accommodate it, planners had to change a 48-year-old zoning code that banned houses taller than 2.5 stories, said Nick Yovino, planning director.

McCaffrey is not the first builder in the area with a three-story model. Wathen-Castanos offers one at Harlan Ranch near Clovis, but the motivations are different.

Wathen-Castanos did it as a way to put more houses on a parcel, which cuts costs and attracts families who don't want a big yard to maintain. McCaffrey did it because customers wanted more space.

Building up instead of out on a 7,400-square-foot lot gives home buyers more room -- for Jet Skis, boats, tropical pools or more landscaping, said Karen McCaffrey, vice president.

The garage side yard is 140% larger than standard, the house side yard is 240% larger, and the rear yard is one-third deeper. Neighbors are kept at a distance, and open space is abundant.

The three-story design is one of six models at the 62-lot Poet's Crossing, which is named after the writings of Robert Frost. The one-, two- and three-story designs offer a varied streetscape and range from 1,300 square feet to 2,500 square feet. Prices start at $199,990.

The three-story model starts at $265,990, and represents about 20% of the sales at Poet's Crossing, McCaffrey said.

The third floor has 500 square feet of living space, two ceiling fans and a bathroom. The house has zoned air conditioning and heating so the owners can cool and heat only the floors they want.

A third floor offers flexibility. McCaffrey and Rich Wathen, a principal of Wathen-Castanos, said customers turn them into exercise and craft rooms, home theaters, offices or space for adult and teenage children.

"We wanted to add getaway space," said Wathen, who said about one-third of the people who buy the model at Harlan Ranch choose the third-story option.

"It's been moderately successful," he said. "Our buyer doesn't want any yard maintenance."

Three-story houses are a departure for a Valley that grew up in sprawling ranch homes with big backyards. But the cost of constructing homes is increasing, and builders are looking for ways to save money, keep prices down and use less land.

The McCaffrey three-story was designed for small lots, but the company, trying to respond to customers who asked for more space, "had the idea to build a smaller product on a larger lot," said Steven W. Balliet of BSB Design, the lead architect.

The McCaffrey project shows three-story houses can be used effectively on small or large lots, planners say.

"It's an efficient use of land, and the market wants that alternative," he said.

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6495.

By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee

Fresno County transportation leaders unanimously endorsed a new fee on housing and commercial development Thursday after two major builders broke ranks with the local home builders association.

If approved later this year by the county Board of Supervisors and each of the county's 15 cities, the fee would raise about $283 million to help complete major road projects authorized by the November 2006 Measure C sales tax extension.

Thursday's vote by the Council of Fresno County Governments policy board, comprising officials from each city and the supervisors, came after Building Industry Association President Michael Prandini argued for a fee slightly more than one-third as high. The adopted fee would add $1,727 to the cost of a new home, $1,212 to an apartment unit, and from 10 cents to $1.96 to each square foot of office, retail and industrial projects.

Dissenting from the association's position were Granville Homes and the McCaffrey Group, both of which have big projects planned near a Measure C road, Veterans Boulevard in northwest Fresno.

Granville Vice President Jeff Roberts said his company feared that "some of these big projects could drop off the list" if the association's preferred $102 million fee were adopted. Roberts read a letter from McCaffrey supporting a fee "that provides the necessary funding" for Veterans Boulevard.

The proposed fee's next step is a review by the Fresno County Transportation Authority, which administers Measure C spending. If approved there, the cities and county would then vote. Under Measure C's terms, those that do not adopt the fee would forfeit Measure C funds equal to what would have been collected.

The reporter can be reached at rclemings@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6371.

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

A slowing economy and falling gas prices could stem the skyrocketing cost of construction materials, which are helping squeeze the profit out of home building and making it hard for commercial contractors to formulate bids.

But few experts expect costs to revert to levels seen before the past real estate boom and higher gas prices, saying global demand is still too strong.

"There's no hard proof" that prices will fall, said Mitch Shaw, branch manager of Roofing Supply Group in Fresno, which sells roofing shingles.

Prices for roof shingles have tripled in a year, increasing every two weeks since March, he said. The most recent hike was Aug. 1, and another is expected Monday. But, in a hopeful sign, vendors are saying the next hike might not be until October, Shaw said.

"Prices aren't dropping yet, but I am hearing mixed signals," he said.

Nationwide, the Producer Price Index, which tracks prices at the producer level, climbed 7.1% from July 2007 to last month, driven by large increases in cement and steel, said Bernard Markstein, senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

Soaring worldwide demand, higher petroleum costs and a weaker dollar played a role. But there are signs of change.

"All of those have turned around," said Kenneth Simonson, an economist at Associated General Contractors near Washington, D.C.

"The dollar strengthened 8% against the euro in the past few weeks, oil has come down, and highway diesel fuel has dropped."

However, Simonson said he isn't sure all prices will fall.

"It's safe to say we won't have the same kind of increases over the next six months," Simonson said.

"But we still have enormous petroleum costs. We have to expect that as long as crude oil stays higher than a year ago, we'll still see higher prices."

Steel, cement and fuel have experienced some of the largest price increases, but gypsum and lumber have tapered off with the housing bust. Manufacturers of gypsum, which is used in wall board, indicated they would increase rates in August and September, but stalling home construction could negate that.

"I find it hard to believe they can make that stick," Simonson said.

Large consumers of steel have seen no relief.

Daren Moss, sales manager at River City Building Supply in Fresno, said steel prices climbed 14% in July. His prediction: "Leveling off, maybe. Decrease, no, not until the world demand goes away."

The worldwide demand may be abating. An economist for Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. said a slowing global economy will ease the pressure, especially on commercial contractors.

"This means that long-awaited relief from surging commodity prices may be at hand, if not this year, then next," Anirban Basu said in an economic update.

William Lyles, president of a diversified construction company in Fresno, said price declines will become more obvious.

"This break in commodity prices is only a few weeks old," he said. "I think you will see a lot of commodity prices drop in the near future."

Home builders also are getting relief in the form of lower labor costs. The slump in construction has flooded the marketplace with workers.

But housing prices have fallen 16% in just the past year in Fresno County, which puts builders in a tough spot.

Going forward, developers will see lower land prices.

But many builders, especially those who entered the Fresno area at the peak of the real estate boom, are sitting on land they paid top dollar for and can't sell.

"They have existing houses they are trying to sell and are faced with a choice going forward: They can exit the business or try to charge prices people are willing to pay," Markstein said.

That means lowering prices. To do that, builders are constructing smaller homes, including fewer frills and accepting little or no profit.

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6495.

By Brad Branan / The Fresno Bee

Developers will become eligible for bond financing to pay for infrastructure costs in Fresno under a resolution approved by the City Council.

The council's action Tuesday will allow developers to form community facilities districts and receive financing from a joint program sponsored by the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties.

The financing can be used to pay fees charged by the city to make improvements to streets and other infrastructure needed for new development.

The program will cut down on city staff time processing the fees and help the city get the fees sooner, city staffers said. The city has no financial risk, they added.

"Developers are very interested because they can defer their costs," said Phil Hardcastle, the city's debt administrator.

The City Council approved the resolution 7-0 with little discussion.

The financing program helps cities address infrastructure deficiencies in fast-growing areas because they can receive development fees sooner, said James Hamill, a program manager.

Property owners must submit applications to form the districts to the California Statewide Communities Development Authority.

The City Council will have to approve each district, as well, and any financing agreements for payment of the development fees.

In other action, the Fresno City Council:

Directed the city staff to provide an update on priority projects to be funded by Measure C, the county's half-cent sales tax that funds transportation projects.

A project expected to be near the top of that list is Veterans Boulevard, a four-mile diagonal connector that runs from Herndon to Grantland avenues and crosses Highway 99 in northwest Fresno. Council Member Brian Calhoun, who sought the report, has said he is dismayed that more hasn't been done to complete Veterans Boulevard, in Calhoun's northwest Fresno district.

City Manager Andy Souza said that despite appearances, staff members are working on the project.

Discussed plans to strengthen policies on abandoned and foreclosed properties. Council Member Brian Calhoun said the city should use a new state law that allows cities to impose a $1,000-per-day fine on banks and lenders that don't maintain vacant properties.

Calhoun said that law allows a 14-day notice period before the fines are levied. At issue are neglected swimming pools, unmowed lawns and broken windows. Fresno ranks 15th in the nation in foreclosures, with one out of every 173 homes getting a foreclosure notice, according to RealtyTrac, an online tracking service.

Directed staffers to come up with a plan to transfer to the Parks and Recreation Department $345,000 from the sale of 1.75 acres on the northwest corner of Herndon Avenue and Golden State Boulevard. The money would help fund capital improvements to citywide after-school programs.

Council Member Mike Dages praised Parks and Recreation Director Randall Cooper for his expansion of after-school programs, and said the money could help reach even more students. Cooper said the money could be used to expand the BEST (Business, Education and Service Training) program, which provides computer training, financial literacy, business skills and job shadowing to high school students.

Council Members Brian Calhoun and Blong Xiong voted no. Calhoun said the money should go into a reserve account. "Our first priority as a city is not providing for educational programs," Calhoun said. Xiong did not explain his vote. The reporter can be reached at bbranan@fresnobee.comor (559) 441-6679.

The August 20 edition of the Fresno Builders Exchange e-News is now available at www.FBEe-News.com. This week's issue includes:

• Industry news;
• Information on new building codes;
• How to Correct the 10 Biggest Mistakes Contractors Make;
• Information about CARB's off-road diesel regulations;
• Law Talk: Contractor's License;
• How to advertise your professional services:
• And much more!

Architectural Record will host its sixth annual Innovation Conference in New York City, October 7-8, 2008. This year's conference, The Net-Zero Energy Buildings Conference, will offer attendees an exciting, in-depth look at how buildings are becoming super energy-efficient – even becoming generators of their own power.

For more information, visit http://www.construction.com/events/innovation2008/default.asp.

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

Loma Vista, a long-anticipated urban village in Clovis that would feature an old-fashioned village green, a network of trails and a "downtown" main street of offices or houses on top of or adjacent to stores and restaurants, represents the next frontier of urban planning.

The latest version of the innovative community -- now being distributed to agencies for review -- can be seen on the city's Web site, and could reach the Clovis City Council by year's end.

It presents a blueprint for two village centers totaling 272 acres that are part of the larger Loma Vista community that would eventually stretch more than 3,000 acres from Locan Avenue on the west to McCall Avenue on the east to portions of Bullard and Shaw avenues to the north and to the Gould Canal to the south.

"This is a pretty big departure from what we've done in the past," said Dwight Kroll, city planner.

Loma Vista will consist of four master-planned communities designed around focal points such as schools, village greens and other features. It could house 29,000 people in 20 years, and is designed to be a compact, thriving, pedestrian-friendly urban village where residents live, work and play.

Parks, benches, community centers and a network of trails that stretches for 21 miles will be dominant features of the urban village. By hooking up with other trails, a family could someday pedal their bikes from Dakota Avenue to Old Town or beyond.

Loma Vista isn't the only large-scale mixed-use project proposed in the Fresno-Clovis area. Developers Ed Kashian and Tom Richards are planning Fancher Creek in southeast Fresno, which contain 1,800 homes and apartments, 1.2 million square feet of shops and restaurants and 1.5 million square feet of businesses. In addition, Forest City Enterprises wants to build an ambitious housing project near Fresno's downtown baseball stadium.

Loma Vista also has been likened to Santana Row in San Jose and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga.

Kroll said the ambitious project is the city's first venture into "Landscape of Choice," a planning guide that Valley builders, farmers and planners developed in 1998. It calls for higher-density housing and other aspects of smart growth, which is designed to preserve farmland and cut sprawl and car trips.

Increasingly, urban planners are pursuing variations of Loma Vista.

"You're seeing this all through California," said William Siembieda, who heads the Department of City and Regional Planning at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, which has one of the top graduate programs in the nation. "You're seeing it in smaller towns and larger cities. There are something like three in downtown San Luis."

In San Jose, people flock to Santana Row, where apartments sit atop restaurants and stores.

"People who live there love it, and people who shop there love it," said Brian Jones, chairman and chief executive officer of Forest City Commercial Development West Coast, a major developer in the United States. Forest City has asked Fresno for $99 million in public money to help pay for the six-block downtown South Stadium project that will include 665 loft-style apartments, 102 town houses and 60,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space.

Loma Vista features housing types that range from traditional single-family homes to high-density town homes and apartments. Some houses would front trails and parks; others would have garages in the back.

There would be town homes, units designed for work and living and places for senior citizens. There would be "paired-z" houses, where the lot line staggers like a "z" through the center line of two properties, allowing for a recessed garage in one, a more varied exterior appearance and a usable private yard for each.

There could be clusters of four or eight houses around a shared motor court or alley, and a variety of architectural styles, such as Tudor and Craftsman. Look for varying roof heights, lots of open space, wrap-around porches, balconies, patios and easy access to trails.

And, if plans reach fruition, all of them would be within easy reach of shops, restaurants, businesses and offices. A tunnel would connect neighborhoods north and south of Shaw Avenue.

The densities would be among the highest in Clovis and are intended to reduce pressure on farmland. Up to 4,117 residential units can be accommodated on the 272 acres. If built at typical low density, the same number of houses would consume 1,250 acres, Kroll said. That saves about 978 acres of farmland from urban uses.

The acreage is mostly commercial agriculture and hobby farms, and the new plan allows for continued farming for as long as the property owner wishes. The area is owned by farmers and small hobby farmers who have agreed in concept to the Loma Vista plan.

Which might not be that long. "The city has included landowners in the process and they all know what the ultimate vision is, and all agree to change the use," said Gena Guisar, senior planner with Danielian Associates, an Irvine-based planning consultant on the project.

Guisar said she is excited to have vacant land to plan.

"In Orange County, it's unheard of to have a clean slate like that," she said. "The fact the city initiated this and prescribed something that is forward thinking is rare."

She said she is particularly excited about the prospect of a village green in the middle of a community center.

"Usually [planners] try to develop every square inch," she said. "The city had a vision of a parade going down the road and creating a small town feel but also have an urban center."

It's not a new concept. That kind of planning harkens back decades, before America became a car culture.

Forest City's Jones said there's been a big new urbanism movement for 10 years or longer, "but frankly we are going back to principles before World War II," when housing was closer to city centers. "The freeways changed everything. People had mobility with the car," which encouraged today's urban sprawl.

More experts predict the demise of far-flung suburbs in the wake of higher gas prices.

Jones, who said it is too early to validate the effect of more costly fuel, isn't so sure that will happen; he thinks the smart growth and new urbanism movement appeal to people who didn't have access to it before.

"We are seeing a bigger segmentation of the market," Jones said. "There will always be people who want to live in a ranch home or by a golf course, but there also is a segment that wants to live in this type of community."

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6495.

Northwest Construction, McGraw Hill Construction

These slow economic cycles just seem to pass through too frequently, much like hurricanes sometimes do in the Gulf of Mexico. We know they are going to happen, we just hope they don’t cross our paths. When the slowdowns do cross the paths of construction firms, the Owners’ business “levees” never seem to get built high enough or strong enough to prevent some damage.

Although the non-residential markets are showing some resilience with continuing overall growth, most construction firms can’t help but feel that those days are numbered. Most Owners are concluding that the news from the residential side credit and markets will catch up to them.

The positive side of the economy is represented by strong exports, low interest rates, and governmental investments, such as infrastructure projects. When you add the Federal Reserve’s capabilities in micromanaging the economy, it can be heartening to observe the reduction in potential damage to businesses. In the end, many companies struggle through slowdowns as if nothing happened, yet many other firms reel from the impact.

For those construction firms who make it look as if they have things figured out, there is really a lot of change that transpires internally to prevent revenue declines that outside casual observers overlook. When companies want to confront potential revenue declines, they pursue action plans that trigger success prior to being sandbagged by a slowing economy. Here are some examples:

Profits

Construction companies undergo a Profitability Assessment that reviews every portion & facet of the company. Contrary to popular belief, this involves more about charging for items to increase revenues and profits versus simply eliminating expense and costs. However, expenses and costs are strongly examined, too. Between the two, the sandwich affect of the Assessment streamlines the companies and puts employees on the same page as Owners & Management. Some construction firms have increased bottom-line profits by over 2 % though this process.

Market Research

Most companies believe that they have their work acquisition systems all figured out. The majority of construction firms actually have systems that function well during good times but then these working systems become dysfunctional during slow economic periods. The true test of solid work acquisition systems is when projects are postponed, cancelled, or lost to the competition, and the company has multiple projects to replace them.

When weaknesses appear in work acquisition systems, companies need to step up and immediately find projects to fill the gaps. Market Research delivers critical project information during those times that it seems as if companies have fallen out of the market loop.

Wouldn’t your company quickly want to know the hundreds of projects valued at billions of dollars in your targeted markets.

Organizational

Companies are often understaffed even when they can afford to bolster their staff. When economic downturns hit, construction firms always seek more production out of their departmental, divisional, and branch teams, however, they are already behind the organizational curve. Successful companies fighting through downturns start seeking the best personnel available and then compensate them accordingly. They also seek to hire personnel creatively, perhaps pulling from the residential markets, the mortgage industry, and from financial firms.

The key is to match your organizational structure to output & production expectations. Companies cannot increase revenues without sufficient work acquisition and operational/production personnel.

Successful companies also take advantage of slowing economic periods to weed out marginal contributors. They take harder looks at cultural compatibility, individual goal alignments to overall company goals, and timely production output.

Strategic

It’s difficult to observe construction firms that stay married too long to 1 or 2 market segments, only to see one collapse. Successful companies explore new market segments to serve as backup to their current success. Another distressing market angle is when companies pursue work across just about every market segment, and when economical downturns arrive, they find that customers become aligned to market - specific competitors. It is a fine line to walk when it comes to successful diversification.

Companies also stay committed too long to geographic areas when their market penetrations are excessive, only to have revenues fall as downturns hit their area of geographic focus. It is best to review and update Strategic Plans prior to facing a potential revenue decline. There are often other project opportunities available. Aggressive construction firms often seek to acquire companies when a revenue decline looks apparent.

Company Culture Shifts

Many companies adopt an increasingly no-nonsense, black & white culture during slow periods. These approaches create clarity throughout the whole company by eliminating gray areas. Some cultural tactics deployed are:

• either we do it or we don’t approach, there are no maybe’s
• increase in sense of urgency by setting goals to be met within 30 days
• company decisions are made within one week’s time
• unnecessary meetings are eliminated, Intranet is used morel
• customer response times and internal response times are set at 24 hours
• all change orders are completed within each billing period

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Paul Nussbaum / Engineering News-Record, Digital Wire

PHILADELPHIA - Many of the nation's governors, dealing with crumbling schools, roads, bridges and water systems, would like economic stimulus checks of their own.

Gathered in Philadelphia for a conference of the National Governors Association, state leaders suggested that a federal infusion of cash - similar to the $150 billion program of rebates to individual taxpayers - could create new jobs and rebuild vital underpinnings of state economies.

"We have 100-year-old schools that need to be replaced. We have this tunnel under the Hudson that needs to be built. PATCO needs to be expanded," New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said Sunday. And he said the impact of spending on such infrastructure projects "would last much longer than the rebates."

He suggested that each billion dollars could create 3,000 to 4,000 jobs.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who is set to become chairman of the governors' organization Monday, has said he will make infrastructure improvements the central theme of his tenure. Pennsylvania has more than 6,000 structurally deficient bridges, more than any other state in the nation, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Earlier this year, Rendell joined with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to create a coalition to push for more federal money for highways, bridges, airports, water systems and other infrastructure.

Economists told a panel chaired by Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm on Sunday that a federal infrastructure stimulus would help if it funded programs already in the works. Otherwise, construction could be too late to help in the current economic downturn.

"It needs to be an infrastructure program that is ready to go," economist Diane Swonk said. She added another caveat: "The American public will not write a blank check for pork-barrel projects."

Corzine suggested that payments should go to projects shown to offer the greatest return to residents.

Granholm, whose auto-manufacturing state has been hit hard by the increase in gas prices and the downturn in the auto industry, asked if a second direct stimulus payment to citizens would help the floundering economy.

Economist Joseph Mason, a senior fellow at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a professor at Louisiana State University, said it would "have little or no effect until the credit markets regain their footing."

As states scramble to try to help residents losing their jobs and their homes, the governors were warned they should not expect a lot of help from the federal government.

Paul Posner, an economist at George Mason University, said the trend is toward "coercive federalism," with Washington mandating state programs, without paying for them.

The governors Sunday also discussed ways to decrease reliance on foreign oil supplies and on oil in general.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford dismissed as "a totally bogus government mandate" the corn-to-ethanol fuel program, and Michigan's Granholm told the chairman of BP America that oil companies are "viewed like the tobacco companies," seen as profiting from Americans' misery.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose state is home to vast oil reserves currently off-limits to drilling, urged a push to "allow our lands to be unlocked."

BP America chairman Robert Malone urged the governors to push Washington to permit drilling in Alaska and in offshore areas around the country. He also called for programs and funding to "kick-start alternative energy," such as wind and solar power.

Malone recounted decades of failed federal efforts to reduce reliance on foreign oil, increase conservation, and boost other forms of energy.

"As a nation, we can't afford to get it wrong again," Malone said. Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, co-author of "Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, told the governors "the only real solution is to get off oil."

Before adjourning to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for an evening of music with disc jockey Jerry Blavat and performers Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell, governors also discussed strategies for improving education and for reintegrating troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan into civilian society.

The governors will return home Monday, after a final session on clean energy technology and an address by Rendell.

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(c) 2008, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.

Visit the Continuing Education center at McGraw-Hill Construction, continuingeducation.construction.comto earn valuable CEU credits. Explore hundreds of courses in more than a dozen categories, including building-envelope design, sustainability, electrical and mechanical, life safety, and many more. You can take the tests online and monitor your credits with the Test Tracker.

By John Gendall / Architectural Record

The results of two recent studies—one carried out by the New Buildings Institute (NBI), the other by CoStar Group—show that green building standards are not only effective, but also escalate property values. The post-occupancy studies, both released in March, attempted to measure the value of buildings with sustainability features compared to conventional buildings. They also aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of third-party certification programs, specifically LEED, administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Energy Star, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

One study confirmed that new LEED-certified buildings use less energy than non-certified buildings. Commissioned and funded by the USGBC, the study was conducted by the NBI, a nonprofit organization in the Pacific Northwest that specializes in providing information about sustainable architecture. Researchers compared data on energy use intensities collected from 121 LEED-certified buildings to statistics from an energy survey conducted by the federal government in 2007.

The NBI study found that the median energy-use intensity (EUI, as measured by kBtu per square foot per year) for LEED buildings is 24 percent better than the national average for conventional buildings. When divided into typologies, office buildings demonstrated the most significant difference. LEED-certified offices performed 33 percent better, and those with a Gold or Platinum rating performed 50 percent better. These results underscore one of the study’s other prevailing findings: that, in most cases, buildings perform better as they get higher ratings, between certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

The NBI study results weren’t entirely positive. Surprisingly, the actual EUI performance for LEED-certified, high-energy-use buildings, such as laboratories and data centers, was nearly two-and-a-half times higher than what was predicted during their design. The report calls this “very poor, even on average,” and suggests that performance modeling is in dire need of rethinking. Andrew McNamara, director of new construction services at Bright Power, a New York-based energy consultancy, says he was surprised by the drastic underperformance of some LEED-certified buildings. Projects that were supposed to see energy savings of up to 40 percent actually “underperformed code by 60 percent.” “The NBI study provides a much-needed comparison of energy models to reality,” he says.

The Maryland-based CoStar Group, a provider of commercial property information, undertook a separate study, investigating green building real estate trends by analyzing property values and occupancy rates. The study used a pool of more than 1,300 buildings, representing about 351 million square feet. Results showed that Energy Star buildings on the market commanded an additional $61 per square foot. They also showed that rental rates for Energy Star buildings are $2.40 per square foot higher than those in non-certified buildings—and occupancy rates are 3.6 percent higher. In addition, CoStar discovered that LEED-certified buildings are selling for $171 per square foot more than non-certified buildings. In terms of rental prices, a LEED-certified building fetches an extra $11.24 per square foot.

Last month, Associated General Contractors of California (AGC) San Joaquin District hosted 375 students from 15 area schools at the first Central Valley Construction Career Awareness Day. The goal of the event was to introduce local high school students to the many job opportunities available in the construction industry.

“Construction work is diverse, good-paying, and many of the leaders in the industry have come from modest backgrounds with little or no higher education,” said Gary Castro, Board President of the San Joaquin District of AGC.

Speaking to students who attended the event, CalTrans District 6 Regional Direct Malcolm Dougherty stated, “Even in a slumping economy, there are jobs in construction. In the next 12 months, we will offer over $4 billion worth of transportation projects in California. $4.5 billion worth of CalTrans construction work represents a lot of jobs and a lot of work in this state during a time when other parts of the economy are shrinking. This is a good time for you to consider a career in construction.”

The Career Awareness Day served as a good opportunity for kids who cannot or do not want to go to college to learn about other career options. The event opened students’ eyes to the many possibilities available in the industry.

“This event definitely opened up my students’ thoughts as to the possibilities for employment in the construction industry,” said Richard Jacobsen, a Welding, Fabrication & Construction teacher at Le Grand Union High School. “The students were very excited to learn about the heavy equipment. Even though it is nontraditional, I had several female students interested in pursuing heavy equipment career options. If AGC hosts this event next year, I will definitely bring students again.”

Clovis Unified Automotive Technology Teacher Jason Mullikin added “I know that I can bring three times as many kids to this event next year. This was a good and worthwhile event.”

If your company is interested in participating in the next Central Valley Construction Career Awareness Day, contact Allyson Robison at arobison@csufresno.edu.

Participants and sponsors of the event included: AGC Education Foundation, Agee Construction Corporation, American Paving, BSK and Associates, California State University, Fresno, CalTrans, FCI Construction, Inc., Fresno Builders Exchange, General Crane, Granite Construction, Harris Construction, Hensel Phelps, ITT Technical Institute, Kitchell, KRC Safety, Kroeker, Inc., Lyles Construction Group, Northern California Laborers’ Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, Pape Machinery, Penhall Company, Potters’ Porta Potties, Quinn Company, R.J. Berry, Jr., Inc., Soltek Pacific, and Teichert Constructions.

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By Mark Shaw / Constructor Magazine

This year, when San Diego contractor Douglas Barnhart tells his AGC colleagues, “Let’s build,” he isn’t just talking about construction projects.

Barnhart, CEO of Douglas E. Barnhart Inc., San Diego, assumed the mantle of AGC’s 2008 presidency at the association’s annual convention in Las Vegas in March. The 61-year-old leader says he wants use his presidential year to “stir things up a bit.”

“On the surface, ‘Let’s build’ sounds like a simple slogan, but it’s actually complex,” Barnhart says. “I do want contractors to continue building successful, quality projects, of course, but also to work harder on reshaping the industry. We need to work together on issues such as workforce, industry image, technology, infrastructure, pushing for a more productive political environment, earning the respect of the American public and creating stronger relationships with other associations,” he adds.

Barnhart credits the inspiration for his presidential theme to his 4-year-old grandson, Jake, “who is always asking to help build whatever he can get his hands on,” he says. “If we can take that kind of enthusiasm and channel it into industry leadership, we’ll see some positive changes going forward.”

Looking Ahead

It is no surprise that Barnhart’s AGC leadership goals are focused on the future. The same forward-thinking outlook helped him build his own career and company.

Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. is one of southern California’s most prolific constructors of schools and military facilities, booking $532 million in revenue last year. The company employs nearly 500 people across its five locations and is the “go-to” contractor for several of the biggest school districts in the San Diego area. The firm has built at least a dozen schools and modernized 15 others for the Chula Vista Elementary School District, California’s largest K-6 district, with 44 schools. Superintendent Lowell Billings has worked with Barnhart for more than 10 years.

“Doug is successful because he’s focused as much on process as on product,” Billings says. “He looks beyond the immediate work to develop visions for the future, and his word is golden. We have established the quintessential partnering relationship with his firm.”

Steve Martin, who has been Barnhart’s accountant since March 1983, says, “If Doug were a professional athlete, you’d call him a ‘student of the game.’ Instead, he’s a ‘student of the business.’ He’s always in tune with what the customer wants, sometimes even before the customer knows what that is. He’s usually about five years ahead of the industry. He thinks outside a very big box.”

Navy Guy

Barnhart says that many people helped him develop his business savvy and critical thinking skills, but he learned the industry mostly on his own. Unlike many home-grown contracting firms, construction was not part of the Barnhart family legacy. Born in Illinois, his grandparents were farmers, but his father chose the oil business and moved the family to West Texas.

“We moved around Texas quite a bit, following the rigs as they worked the oil fields,” Barnhart says.

Barnhart’s father was a stern man who made Doug and his brother and sister “work hard for everything we got. But he also gave us the gift of a survivor’s instinct. We learned to be tough and independent.”

After high school, Barnhart attended Texas Tech where he studied civil engineering, enrolled in the Navy ROC program and met Nancy, his wife of 39 years. After graduation, the Navy sent him to Vietnam in May 1969, where he served as the engineering officer on board the USS Luzerne County and oversaw the operation of the propulsion plant on the tank-landing ship, among other duties.

A year later, he was rotated stateside to San Francisco, where he became a recruiter for the Navy and eventually was transferred to the civil engineering corp, where he began managing military construction projects in Southern California. “I didn’t know my way around a jobsite at first, but I learned quickly, and my projects got built. I got to watch some good contractors work, and I took a lot of that knowledge with me when I left,” he says.

The Navy wanted him to get a master’s degree and continue his military service for the full 20 years. But after nine years in the service, Barnhart decided it was time for a change. “That was a tough decision,” he says, “because I’m a Navy guy at heart. It taught me leadership skills, how to write and never to underestimate the impact of a resounding ‘no!’”

In the private sector, he worked for California contractor C.E. Wiley Construction from 1975 to 1983, starting as a project manager and working his way up to vice president. The firm did military projects, public works, residential and utilities jobs. Barnhart used the time at C.E. Wiley to learn not just how to better manage projects, but business units as well.

Meet the New Boss

In 1983, he knew it was time to start his own construction company. “My life has been a rifle shot, not a lot of meandering, so I didn’t have many doubts that it was the right thing to do at the time. It just felt that way,” Barnhart says.

The firm’s first project was a $1.7-million makeover of rifle ranges for the Marine Corp in Oceanside, Calif. “I paid myself $22,000 that first year,” Barnhart says.

Barnhart used his Navy contacts to land more military work and grow the company, but quickly began to diversify, building schools, a performing arts center and even doing some airport work. He did not want Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. to become known strictly as a military contractor. “It was the Reagan years, and there was a lot of money being spent on defense, but we went after education projects anyway,” he says.

From there, the firm grew steadily through the ‘90s, landing more school projects, until achieving its current ranking by ENR as the sixth-largest education builder in the U.S. last year.

Barnhart runs the business with the help of several family members, including his brother Tex and daughter Tami. The company does about 50% of its work on a construction manager-for-fee basis, 25% as design-bid-build and 25% as design-build and negotiated projects. “But we are a CM who builds, not one that just carries a briefcase,” Barnhart says.

The firm’s portfolio has continued to diversify since 2000, with sports projects, clubhouses, medical office buildings, city halls and civic centers. Barnhart says the firm is also increasing its proficiency in building information modeling, using virtual systems on more and more jobs, including a new high school now under construction. “You either do BIM or you’re out of business in five years,” he says.

Barnhart is also pushing for more sustainable and LEED-certified work, like the Fontana Library and the computer center at the University of California at San Diego. “The roar of green out there will only get stronger,” he says.

Networking and More

Barnhart first joined the San Diego chapter of AGC in 1984. He wanted his then-fledgling firm to grow with the industry and be part of the networking and innovation that he saw happening among AGC-member companies. “The San Diego chapter has always been one of the most innovative chapters in the country,” Barnhart says.

But his AGC involvement wasn’t just for the good of his firm. Barnhart says that he saw how AGC was impacting the industry as a whole, making a difference on the political and community levels as well. “I’ve always been interested in the community impact of our work,” he says. “We like to build projects that a lot of people can enjoy, and AGC is a very community-oriented organization, so membership was a natural fit for us.”

Barnhart has since worked on dozens of AGC committees on both the local and national levels, won dozens of awards and helped to shape the AGC national agenda. He was president of the AGC San Diego Chapter in 1994 and started Build San Diego and the chapter’s political action committee.

Nationally, he served as the chairman of the Federal & Heavy Division and on other AGC committees, including the Corps of Engineers, Federal Acquisition Regulation, Governmental Affairs, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Ethics, Rules, Environmental Resources, Legislative and the Open Shop committees.

However, Barnhart stresses that he never set out to become national president. Like many other things in his life, it just worked out that way.

Barnhart says he’s now ready to lead AGC toward solutions for tough industry issues. “But they can only be solved by building even stronger relationships, both inside and outside the industry. Construction has always been a relationship-driven business. And if you think the industry has changed a lot in the last 10 years, just hang on, because the future is on our doorstep.”

Fresno Bee Editorial

Fresno County leaders have a chance today to redirect the course of growth in the region, ending the long-time practice of sprawling ever outward from existing cities and concentrating new development in denser clusters. The effect would be a cleaner environment, better opportunities for mass transit and more livable and vibrant communities.

The vision is contained in the Fresno County portion of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley Blueprint. The Council of Fresno County Governments, consisting of mayors of the county's 15 cities and representatives from the county Board of Supervisors, must approve the plan, which will later be incorporated in a Valleywide proposal.

The key to the future of growth is greater densities. The plan being considered today would put twice as many homes on the same acreage as is common now. That's a big change, and one that many think won't go over well with the public.

But if we are to sustain viable agriculture in the Valley and preserve open space for habitat and recreation, we must start growing up instead of out. Denser residential and commercial development also reduces the need for long commutes and other vehicle trips, which in turn, reduces our dependence on increasingly expensive oil and helps us meet the goals of cleaner air.

Much of the work must be done in existing urban areas, where redevelopment offers a chance to resurrect blighted areas, turning them into attractive neighborhoods. That also reduces the pressure to grow outward.

Greater densities also make mass transit -- including the proposed high-speed rail system -- more economically sound. And if done right, denser urban environments make for more interesting, lively and entertaining communities.

The transition won't be easy. Few things are held more sacred in this country -- and especially in California -- than the single-family suburban home on its expansive lot. And that won't disappear.

But the future will make that dream increasingly expensive, both in terms of dollars and in the cost to the environment, agriculture and the quality of life we enjoy.

The fact is that as many as 7 million new residents will be living in the Valley by 2050, and they can't be accommodated under current growth patterns without turning the entire Valley into one seamless stretch of strip malls, cookie-cutter residential developments and bleak vistas. Think "San Fernando Valley," and ask yourself if that's your idea of living.

If it's not, then we have to get used to a new way of planning and growing. The Blueprint process is a good start.

Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to www.FresnoBee.com/Opinion, then click on the editorial.

E+Action Newsletter / www.LylesCenter.com

A new Urban Land Institute/Ernst & Young report paints a grim picture of the state of America’s infrastructure. Anyone who drives in rush hour traffic, waits for a delayed flight, or who watches news reports of collapsed bridges knows that the US faces infrastructure challenges. The new study, Infrastructure 2008, puts some numbers and analysis behind this reality. At present, the US faces a $170 billion annual funding gap in terms of dollars needed to bring its physical infrastructure up to global standards. While the US spends little to close this gap, other nations are investing for the long haul. For example, China now invests nine percent of gross domestic product to support infrastructure needs. The threat of inaction stems not just from the hassles of traffic jams and delayed flights. World-class infrastructure, in the form of container ports, high-speed rail, and international air logistics hubs, will help determine which regions succeed in the 21st century economy. The report concludes with a host of recommendations for closing the infrastructure finance gap. Suggestions include more aggressive use of public-private partnerships, consolidation of Federal infrastructure programs, and creation of a National Infrastructure Bank to help fund large-scale projects.

Access the April 2008 Urban Land Institute/Ernst & Young report, Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage.