Issue date: August 26, 1998
William E. Spangle, prominent city and regional planner who helped shape San Mateo County and the Bay Area during his 50-year career, died Aug. 18 in San Rafael. He was 86.
He and his wife, Frances, moved to Marin County in 1990 after his retirement as president of the consulting firm he founded in 1959, William Spangle & Associates, located in Ladera, a short walk from their home.
Mr. Spangle led the planning team that developed the 1960 San Mateo Countywide Master Plan, one of the first in California. Locally, his firm has served as the planning consultant for the town of Portola Valley since its incorporation in 1964. He was a founder of the Midpeninsula Regional Open District 26 years ago.
For his major role in initiating regional comprehensive planning in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Spangle received a national "Planning Pioneer" award in 1992 from the American Institute of Certified Planners at its 75th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C. This award recognized his outstanding contributions to planning practice, theory and literature and his role as a consultant in the original plan on which the BART system (Bay Area Rapid Transit) was based.
Among Mr. Spangle's many contributions was his key role in the effort to develop the first statewide comprehensive plan under Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. Earlier, he helped develop the first zoning ordinance for the city and county of San Francisco. He led his firm in the preparation of general plans for Bay Area cities, including Sausalito, South San Francisco, Burlingame, Woodside, Portola Valley and Los Altos Hills.
Mr. Spangle was credited by Nonette Hanko, charter board member of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, with having the original idea that led to the formation of the open space district. He advocated that the way to preserve open space on the Peninsula was to form a special district to buy the land. The district now has saved 42,000 acres of open space on the Peninsula. He was honored as one of the founders of the district at the dedication of a plaque on Monte Bello Open Space Preserve on June 25, 1995.
Mr. Spangle has been described by colleagues as "a planner's planner" for his vision and high professional standards. He designed his major and received the first degree in city planning awarded by the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938. He was a founding member of Telesis, the group responsible for initiating regional comprehensive planning in the Bay Area. Later, he started the planning program at San Jose State University and also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Berkeley.
Born and raised in Fair Oaks, California, Mr. Spangle would have been 87 on Nov. 11. In recent years, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Private family services were held last week.
He is survived by his wife, Frances, of San Rafael; their son, William Edward Spangle of Portland, Oregon; and daughter, Louise Spangle of Long Island, New York; and grandsons, Daniel and Colin Walfield of Long Island.
Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to the William E. Spangle Fund in care of the Midpeninsula Regional Space District, 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, CA 94022-1404.
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