Friday, January 6, 2006

How will Blaine County grow?

Consultants clarify county's planning objectives


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Denver-based consultant Christopher Duerksen, managing director of Clarion Associates, pushed some heavy weights this week in the county's effort to solidify a final planning scenario for managing growth over the next 20 years. Clarion will return Feb. 1 to present its summary scenario for public input. Then, together with county planning staff, the group will write ordinances to help enforce the community vision for development. Photo by David N. Seelig

The quest to hammer out a scenario that clearly defines how Blaine County will accommodate anticipated growth was in high gear this week.

The Board of Commissioners, the Planning and Zoning Commission, county planning staff and a party of consultants met Tuesday and Wednesday to clarify a planning scenario to put before the public Feb. 1. Focusing on four types of planning areas—remote hills, agricultural lands, canyons and cities—the county plans to draft scenario ready for public review that will show possible implementation strategies.

All who were present at the meetings acknowledged the tight time frame for planning, as the end of the current subdivision moratorium is a mere six months away. Ben Herman with Clarion Associates, together with his colleagues, Clarion Managing Director Christopher Duerksen and Senior Associate Lesli Ellis, called for clarity as his group prepares to craft ordinances that will enforce a new vision for growth.

"We need direction," Herman said at the opening of the meetings with the county. After nearly six hours of deliberation, the consultants went away with a basic framework of priorities from which to scribe a primary scenario.

Despite a level of frustration felt at the meetings about the heavy burden imposed by the tight timeframe of the planning process and a reluctance to be pigeonholed as public officials on certain issues, in general, pressure of the time constraint pushed commissioners in the direction of consensus. Of the four scenarios presented during last year's public outreach campaign, "Blaine County 2025 Where and How will we Grow?" it was agreed that Scenario "C" most reflects public sentiment about growth that density should be directed toward the cities.

"The consultants have said if you want to proceed and implement this vision these are some of the tools," said Commission Chairwoman Sarah Michael.

The result of this week's meetings will be a string of strategies that will be vetted by the public. The scenario will be presented as a map, which will be a hybrid of how the growth scenario will look and zoning changes as indicated.

Included in the proposal will be an opening for developers to promote development of a new town, which is more than a theoretical idea. Owners and representatives of Spring Creek Ranch, southwest of the Timmerman Hill junction in southern Blaine County, were present throughout the proceedings. After some debate, commissioners acknowledged a new town as one alternative for absorbing development rights.

Focusing most future development in or near cities is the main goal of the current planning cycle. Michael said the county hopes to schedule at least two meetings with the five county mayors to focus on the concept and get their feedback before the end of the month. She also said that although the goal of the current planning effort is to establish regulatory measures to manage growth, preserving the collective vision of the community will also take efforts on the part of the private sector to raise funds that can be used to buy developable land.

There was some discussion of the validity of the non-scientific community survey for making long-term planning decisions. Ultimately, the surveys and polling exercises led by Clarion were considered an accurate pulse of the community's vision. The outreach program, still accessible on the county Web site, www.blainecounty2025.org, has brought in between 400 and 500 responses, which are being used to guide the county's planning efforts.

County Planning and Zoning Commissioner Larry Schoen reiterated his main point that public opinion will be vetted during the publicly noticed review process, which will likely bring viewpoints to the surface that have not yet been considered. Schoen also said he wants the purpose for the proposed changes in zoning to be clearly stated in the final scenario.

Michael said she knows the county will hear from developers, but she hopes the public will continue to weigh in. County prosecutor Tim Graves said from a legal perspective some issues will be more challenging to achieve than others, but he said he was ready to support the scenario the county presents in its final form.

Ordinances that will go to enforcing the proposed vision include changes to zoning in the county and could include a transfer of development rights program, something a collection of land owners in the Bellevue Triangle ostensibly support.

Implementation strategies in the remote hills would include a rezone of all A-10 areas to a new Rural Zone District, allowing one unit per 30 to 40 acres. Possibly, a sliding scale based on distance from service centers will be included. Transfer of density from steep slopes to flat areas would not be allowed and environmental regulations - wildlife and riparian setbacks -- would be included.

In agricultural areas, two options are being considered. Option 1 is for a voluntary transfer of development rights system in which landowners voluntarily agree not to develop in defined wetlands and agricultural areas. Development rights would be converted to development credits that could be sold. Additionally, landowners can retain rights for some agriculturally related housing; for example, one unit per 160 acres could be allowed. Development of receiving areas would be established and clustering will be promoted.

Option 2 is for A-20 zoning to be subject to new wetlands regulations that require a non-disturbance setback of 200 feet. No density credit for wetlands would be granted and no transfer to non-wetland portions of a site would be allowed.

Deer Creek Canyon will be specifically rezoned to a new Rural Zone - one unit per 30 to 40 acres. In other canyons, R5 areas would be subjected to mandatory clustering, possibly allowing lot sizes as small as 1.5 acres. In A-10 zoned areas a new low-density rural zone district or a prohibition of density transfers or both will apply.

Any rezoning would apply only to non-ACI (Area of City Impact) canyon areas. Legal lots could still be developed.

Finally, the idea of a new town will be kept as a planning option, but will not be codified.




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