Friday, November 25, 2005

2025 planners canvas the county

Will growth scenarios jive with water protection?


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

About a third the size of New Jersey, Blaine County still has only about 21,000 residents to The Garden State's 8.7 million inhabitants, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But, as the county is expected to grow by another 10,000 residents in the next 20 years, the Blaine County Board of Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission are pushing to determine policy that will guide how the county will look in 20 years.

The effort is part of an outreach campaign initiated this fall titled "Blaine County 2025: Where and How will we Grow?"

Meanwhile, a variety of developers are on the fence awaiting completion of new regulations by the county, which has imposed a development moratorium scheduled to expire in July. County Planning Director Linda Haavick said commissioners could end the moratorium sooner, but judging by all the planning issues on the county's agenda that seems unlikely.

Thirty years ago the county passed policy that has kept residential development off hillsides and commercial development off state Highway 75. During the present moratorium the county is trying to iron out rules about inclusionary zoning that would require certain levels of community housing in subdivisions to address the modern problem of skyrocketing home prices that are forcing local workers to live outside the county.

The rules will impact developers like Harry Rinker, developer of the Golden Eagle subdivisions at the mouth of Greenhorn Gulch east of the East Fork Road traffic signal, who owns the 156-acre Peregrine Ranch two miles north of Hailey. Rinker has plans for a 380-unit residential development for the property.

Unlike the developers of Cove Ranch (336 units) east of Gannett Road south of Bellevue, who may be exempt from the county's development moratorium, Rinker still faces the remainder of the moratorium. But Rinker, who has engineered a sewer services agreement with the city of Hailey, faces another hurdle because the agreement is now the subject of litigation. Principals in the case are currently being deposed in Fifth District Court.

Rinker's project is part of the reason Blaine County Commissioners called for the moratorium on new development proposals. Other developers, like the owners of Quigley Canyon Ranch east of Hailey, are looking to have their projects approved as city annexations. However, the overlap and shifts in jurisdictions governing development as well as area of impact agreements between the cites and the county will all be part of a regional meeting at the Community Campus in Hailey.

County officials have invited city leaders and planning staff to meet at a round-table meeting Wednesday, Dec. 30. The meeting is geared to get input from 70 to 90 officials and employees who deal with the infrastructure of the county's five cities, but the public is welcome to attend. As County Commissioner Tom Bowman pointed out it, at least for its size, it will be an unprecedented coming together of county and city leaders.

In addition to water and wastewater management, other regional concerns are about how to cover the cost of all public services for new development without compromising existing services. The county is also looking at a new well head protection plan.

Planning consultants and county staff are using the "Blaine County 2025: Where and How will we Grow?" tool, including surveys distributed during a "road show" that traveled around the county from Ketchum to Carey this fall to gauge public opinion about how the county should grow.

County planner Jeffrey Adams, who hosted many of the road shows, said the ultimate goal is to put forward one scenario for public consideration.

Last week a keypad polling exercise used to see how community land-use values matched up four possible growth scenarios offered as a measuring stick was received with enthusiasm.

"Applause, applause," said County Planning and Zoning Commissioner Suzanne Orb to Adams at a planning and zoning meeting last week. She and Judy Harrison, also on the commission were two of a number of county leaders who joined a large cross-section of the public to participate in the push to develop a regional vision for growth. "You guys did a fine job ... it was highly interactive."

"I talked with any number of people afterwards who were excited about the technology and seeing the (instantaneous) results," Harrison said.

The polling and the Blaine County 2025 surveys that have collected a total so far of some 500 responses so far, include surveys completed at the "virtual town meeting" link, www.blainecounty2025.org, which is also available through the Blaine County Web site. Haavick said the county's Web site keeps evolving with more information all the time about county planning. She added that it is getting more play from the public all the time.

Adams said a preferred alternative for how the county should grow over the next 20 years is not likely to be any of the four scenarios, "A" through "D" put forward in a polling exercise last week. The final scenario would be an option "E," an amalgamation yet to be conceived. The job of the county, ultimately, is to create the planning and zoning tools that would enable such a plan to come to fruition.

Adams said exactly when the county's population grows by another 10,000 residents will depend on external factors in the world, the county's vision for itself and the mix of amenities the valley has to offer over time. The key is to plan for the increase now, he said. "It is time to get the word out."

In a meeting last week with the County Board of Commissioners and the consulting group that is spearheading the planning effort, Ben Herman with Colorado-based Clarion Associates said that in his estimation the county should exercise patience refining a preferred scenario for managing growth coming into the New Year.

He said that in his view the county's job is still to listen to city and county residents and leaders. As mutual goals are identified, then the discussion should turn to how different regulatory agencies in the county can cooperate.

"To get buy-in (city governments) need to be part of the decision-making process," said Karen Yacos of the Vermont-based Orten Family Foundation, which has been helping to guide the planning process. Yacos was also meeting with the commissioners. The Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations, local and regional planning agencies and others to help "engage and empower people to make land-use decisions inspired by their community's heart and soul." "City leaders need to be brought along at the same time. You've got a great group of people if they all come."

Citizens for Smart Growth Executive Director Christopher Simms, who attended the meeting with the Commission and has been integral in organizing the Blaine County 2025 campaign, expressed concerns that the county is behind schedule in regards to answering concerns about water resources and sewage treatment. The subjects of water quantity and quality are primary reasons the county is pushing for planning that could lead to new regulations for guiding growth.

"There's going to be some track-switching problems come February. Get to water first," Simms said. "We should be having these debates now."

Meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission last week Simms stressed cooperation at all levels.

"We needed more dialogue in the community over these issues," he said, explaining that citizen input is essential in the push to plan for growth.

Yacos agreed that ground water issues and sewage treatment are certainly related and sensitive issues in a high desert environment and that there are likely other concurrent issues. She asked if there was a task force.

Commission Chairwoman Sarah Michael said ordinances guiding affordable housing are in the planning process and the U.S. Geological Service is moving forward on researching the county's water-related issues.

About a year ago a group of concerned scientists, "water doctors" Lee Brown, Bruce Lium and Wendy Pabich approached the Blaine County community to share their belief that information about water resources in Blaine County need to be coordinated.

Last year the USGS matched $10,000 raised by the county and the Blaine Soil Conservation District to fund a $20,000 report about how gaps in information about water in the county could be filled. The hope is that previous studies, many of which were authored by Brown and Lium, combined with new data, will combine to give a comprehensive look at water and help local planners and public officials make decisions that will preserve the precious resource.

Brown said the USGS is planning to meet with the county to share their findings Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. in the Old Blaine County Courthouse. Brown added that an overarching study will focus on the most developed portions of the upper Big Wood River Valley, approximately from North Fork to Glendale Road.

As it is expected to be costly-- in excess of $200,000 - to create a comprehensive database Brown said that in his opinion it will take the collective resources of government, agriculture, environmental organizations, water districts and private funding sources to complete a comprehensive database.

Brown said in San Diego building permits have been tied to the water table for a decade. Full-time hydrologists are employed to see that no development happens in particularly dry areas. One of the things that would come from the comprehensive study will be water table maps, management tools that can be used to show what kind and type of hydrology occurs on a parcel of land and how big or how small it is.

"It's probably the most critical piece of information that land use planners will require in order to make prudent decisions that will have future impact," Brown said. "Human growth and development is going to happen. That is a foregone conclusion. How are we going to configure that growth is what is at issue. Without that information we're in a fog whistling Dixie not knowing what we're doing."

Although planners hope to develop an overarching, regional growth scenario before the county's interim moratorium expires in July 2007, Brown said he would reserve judgement about whether the water component could be completed in that time frame until he hears from the USGS in December.

"Some of it can be completed before next summer," Brown said. "We've got a lot of information. But, these (final studies) are not going to be small ticket items."




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