News

Stop and think about the future of our community

Stop for a second. Close your eyes and imagine what Helena and the Prickly Pear Valley and the Rocky Mountain Front are going to look like in 2025. Really, just take second and try to picture the future in your mind’s eye. What do you see?

OpinionBy Tim Davis – IR Your Turn

http://helenair.com/articles/2004/01/31/opinions/a04013004_03.txt

The reality is that we have a number of possible futures. If we allow growth to go unguided by planning and regulations, we can expect Lewis and Clark County’s taxes to continue to increase to subsidize roads, police protection, and other services for scattershot development that will eat up the land and water in the Helena Valley while clogging existing roads, chopping up once productive farm and ranchlands and open space, poisoning groundwaters, and leading to less livable communities.

Gloomy enough for you? If you think that I am just being outrageous for effect, then simply take a look at every fast-growing city and county in the intermountain West that started growing earlier than we did and yet has done nothing to guide growth away from open lands and into existing communities. Think about the Front Range of Colorado, Ravalli and Flathead Counties, or Post Falls, Idaho.

click here

That brings me to what we in Lewis and Clark County can do to ensure that the things we love about living here and that are our greatest economic assets are protected as the county grows. And to finally shake off that gloomy tone I set above, I am happy to announce that the county has already taken the first step by re-adopting their growth policy thanks to the hard work of the Planning Board, Commissioners Tinsley and Murray, Plan Helena members, and many other concerned folks. So congratulations and take a moment to rest.

OK, time’s up. The reality is that a growth policy is only as good as its implementation, i.e., the proof is in the pudding. So what do I mean by implementation? If you have read the growth policy then you will know that there are dozens of goals and policies that the county needs to implement and dozens of ways that they proposed to go about implementing them.

So what should they do first that will have the biggest impact? A good place to start would be for the county to adopt a development permit system that establishes regulations and guidelines that will give residents, landowners, and developers an idea of what kind of development we can expect in which areas of the county. In other words, the county would establish a system of countywide standards that would create a predictable development process and ensure that we get high quality development that enhances our economy and high quality of life in the long run.

Let me explain the idea of standards as part of a countywide development permit system. Basically, the county would draw upon the public input that led to the creation of the goals and policies and the designation of urban, transition, and rural areas in the growth policy to create standards for each of those types of designated areas.

Standards will in general tell a developer what kind of streets, sidewalks, setbacks from rivers and wildlife corridors, protections for wetlands and prime agricultural lands, fire protections, and parks need to be included in future developments, depending on whether the development is located in a county-designated urban, transition, or rural area. For example, a proposed development in an urban area just north of Helena’s city limits would need to meet standards that would ensure that it is designed with a traditional street grid network that includes sidewalks, city sewer and water services, and restricts strip mall development. Similarly, a development in a part of the Valley that is designated rural and happens to contain prime irrigated farm land would need to cluster development near an existing road and protect the most productive lands while giving the landowner extra lots to build on as a result of the amount of land she protects. Currently, the county would be hard pressed to ensure that either development would have to meet any of these standards even though they are arguably in the long term interest of not only the community but also of the homebuyers who will live in those developments in the future.

These two examples of how a development permit system could work show how it would end the crap-shoot that developers, residents, and commissioners enter into every time a new development is proposed. No one ever knows what will be expected or approved.

These standards would then provide predictability to landowners and developers for the first time. They would be able to see where their land is and immediately know what will be permitted and expected in those areas. This will have the benefit of protecting the values that people have for their lands and while helping ensure that future growth uses land, water, and taxes as efficiently as possible.

I believe that the county could develop a development permit system that would cover all the county and give all of its residents the same level of input and protection in as short as six months. They would just need to base these standards upon the policies and goals that have been developed in the growth policy over the last six years. In essence, all this means is that the county would keep their promise and implement the vision of a thriving livable county with working lands, open spaces, a strong economy, and walkable, safe, affordable neighborhoods.

So what else could the county do to implement their growth policy? They could develop and adopt incentives, like subsidizing hook up fees and streamlining the development process, for affordable housing and traditional neighborhood designs. They are also planning and should work with cities and Broadwater and Jefferson counties to coordinate their planning and implementation efforts.

Counties and cities across Montana are already doing these things to make smart growth a reality — come join me and Plan Helena on Feb. 4, at the Brew House, for a fun, engaging, and uplifting talk about what other communities and counties have done to implement their goals and visions for smart growth in Montana and the intermountain West. Trust me, it can be done and is being done. Come join us and talk about how we can make Helena, the Prickly Pear Valley, and all of the county wonderful places to live and work and play in the future.

Tim Davis is executive director of the Montana Smart Growth Coalition.

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.