The Urban Lawyer: The National Journal on State and Local Government Law, is published by The Section of State and Local Government Law In cooperation with The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. I have found it to be a wonderful resource.

The lead article in the Fall 2008, Volume 40, Number 4 is 'A Study of American Zoning Board Composition and Public Attitudes Toward Zoning Issues by Jerry L. Anderson, Aaron E. Brees, and Emily C. Reninger.

Following a brief discussion of the roles and responsibilities of these groups of citizens appointed to help with local government decision, the central issue is defined by referencing the results of a 1937 study by Dr. Robert Walker. The results Dr. Walker found most concerning was : "about 80% of commission members were drawn from what he called the "professional and technical" class, including business owners, lawyers, architects, engineers, and realtors." (p. 690) It is further noted that although he acknowledged the important role that people with those backgrounds could play, there was a strong possibility for bias. "Nevertheless, Walker was concerned that the resulting commission membership failed to represent a cross-section of the community, and that blue-collar interests, in particulalry, were almost entirely excluded from the decision-making process. Moreover, Walker believed that business and professional members would be more likely to favor expansion and development, neglecting the point of view of what he called 'the ordinary citizen,' who did not stand to benefit directly from development activity." (p. 691)

That was in 1937. The authors of this article replicated Walker's study (zoning boards is the term the authors use for both planning commissions and board of zoning appeals) ".. to determine whether seventy years later zoning boards in the United States continue to be populated primarily by white-collar members, especially those tied to development and business interests." (p. 691)

This latter study is more comprehensive yet the overall results were not that different. 

• From 75-80% of members were professional, technical, or managerial although only 34% of the national workforce belongs to those groups.
• From 11-16% of members have clerical and sales backgrounds as compared to 27% of the workforce.
• From 4-5% of members have service backgrounds compared to 15% of the workforce.
• From 1-2% of members have processing or labor backgrounds compared to 24% of the workforce.
• Approx. 1% of members have agriculture backgrounds which is equal to the 1% of the workforce.
• And, 2-3% of members have homemaking backgrounds while no % is available at the national level for comparison.
• (From: Table 2: Members by Occupational Category, p. 702)

"The actual composition of these boards, however, cannot be fairly said to reflect the average citizen's point of view." (p. 705)

The remainder of the article is dedicated to the analysis of input that was received from 'average citizens' of different backgrounds, training, eduction, race, age, etc. Those are far to long for me to comment on here, but suffice it to say that the data clearly shows that a group of people with more diverse backgrounds is more likely to accurately represent the wishes of the people as a whole.

"Nevertheless, the results of the two studies in this article, taken together, illustrate that the current state of zoning board composition has significant consequences. For example, the prevalence of board members who place a higher value on economic growth than neighborhood and environmental impacts helps explain our inability to control urban sprawl and meaningfully control development. It may explain why high-impact land uses are located most often in poorer sections of town. The exclusion of the "average citizen" from zoning boards does make a difference, it seems, in ways that profoundly affect how our cities develop, which in turn affect the daily lives of the people." (p. 727)

Perhaps what this information could bring to the table for Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Montgomery County is that each of those government bodies should assess how representative of the population they serve are their Planning Commissions and Board of Zoning Appeals. Perhaps it is time that all of them look at the number of representatives they have on these committees and think in terms of either making changes in the current makeup or simply expand the number of individuals in the group and make sure that ALL people are represented.

I highly recommend this article to anyone who can find a copy as it shows the clear difference in values that exist in the socio-economic classes that we have established, perhaps unconsciously, in our country. Seeing the responses to questions organized by education, occupation, gross family income, race, age, and whether one owns or rents property makes it clear that we need to be doing more to make sure that ALL citizens are represented.

Perhaps, these are some of the very dynamics that come into play at election time determining who comes out to vote and for whom they vote. It falls upon elected officials to make sure they are doing what they can to make sure that ALL people are represented, not just those groups most likely to vote for them, or, those with whom they are friends or do business.