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by Mark Maiorana
from the Southeastem Arizona Weekly Bulletin, 9/2/98
Sonoita - More than 70 people turned out Saturday at the Sonoita Fairgrounds to hear a presentation from Lee Nellis, a rural planner from Pocatello, Idaho. Nellis' presentation was titled "Managing Rural Land Use Change" and was sponsored by the Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum.
Prior to the presentation, as people arrived they were given four orange stickers and were told to place them on a board next to a variety of headings listing desirable and undesirable goals.
An overwhelming majority placed their stickers on desirable goals.
By far the number one desirable goal was "Zoning incentives that maintain open spaces and rural character." Other top desirable issues included, "Locally created master plan," "No strip city sprawl, " "Economically viable western ranch - agriculture community," "Western signs and buildings," and "Water quality and quantity issues to be well monitored."
Nellis' presentation sought to explain rural land use issues, show how other western communities dealt with them and what the tools are to achieve the goals identified by the community.
Nellis started by saying that an average of 40,000 acres a year have been urbanized in Arizona since the 1970s and that Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties are growing at a great rate. At the current rate of growth, he said, Santa Cruz County will double in its' current population of 30,000 in l6 years.
Increasmg numbers of affluent retirees are leading the growth boom, he said.
Nellis said rural land use cycles include home development in attractive ranch and agriculture areas and that as the area becomes more attractive land prices rise and that creates pressure on ranch owners to subdivide their land. He said more development leads to a loss of resources, loss of rural character and higher costs of local government.
In order to break that cycle, Nellis said that a variety of regulatory and non-regulatory tools are needed.
He said that studies show that conversion of agriculture land to residential use is a losing proposition for taxpayers. For example, he said, in Gallatin County, Mont. agriculture receives 25 cents in services for every $1 it pays in taxes while residential uses receive $1.45 for every $1 paid in local taxes. There are also many other enviromental and socioeconomic impacts.
A well thought out zoning and land use plan is the best way to prepare serve the quality of life for a rural community, however, he said, you cannot stop growth and imposing a minimum lot size does not work as an avenue to that goal. He said communities must work with developers to create a win-win situation.
In the second half of his presentation Nellis provided a case study of Fremont County, Idaho and how it dealt with rural growth issues.
Among the findings were that policies were developed by three advisory committees in different and diverse areas of the county and once the policies were developed they were strongly implemented. Other lessons learned were that people of the community must have effective influence on the process and frequent updating of the plan must take place.
In making his point, Nellis quoted an old cowboy who said, "Around here if you don't get what you like, you better like what you get. "
Following the presentation, Barbara Barkley of Sonoita Realty commented, "I think it was just what we needed. I think it was a real reality check of what we really can do and can't do."
Sonoita-Elgin Chamber of Commerce President Gary Brawn said, "It was very positive. It's a learning curve for
all of us and it's something we need to do. We need a comprehensive master plan and we need to move forward to
protect the assets we have in this area."
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