High Growth Counties: Opportunities for Pinal County

Pinal County Comprehensive Plan High Growth Counties: Opportunities for Pinal County Curt Dunham AICP Partners for Strategic Action, Inc. Comprehensive Plan Update Consultant

Peer Counties Qualifications • Rapid growth over past 20 years • Impacted by one or more rapidly growing metro areas • Urban/agricultural/open space interface • Preservation issues • Bedroom community/commuting issues

Peer Counties Identified • Polk County, Florida • Cobb County, Georgia • Arapahoe County, Colorado

Polk County, Florida • County between Orlando and Tampa • Long established agricultural area (citrus) • Interstate 4 corridor (I-4) • Population 550,000 • 2,010 square miles – Florida’s fourth largest

Polk County, Florida

Polk County – Current Issues • Addressing transportation travel patterns • No dedicated funding source to address transportation issues • Prevent becoming a “bedroom” community • Create jobs near people

Polk County – Good Decisions • Updated Comprehensive Plan to include sub-areas • Economic development is tied to land uses – consultants used have economic development expertise • Planning to create a better mix of land uses and bring services and jobs near residential areas

Polk County – Preserving Agriculture • Strong public desire • Developed Polk County Land Stewardship Program – a consortium of different interests • Alliance built between agricultural interests and environmental interests

Polk County - Transportation • Travel patterns – Interstate, Disney World • Just entered into an agreement with Orlando transit to tie into and provide new transportation services

Polk County – Economic Development • County not able to do much and not asked to • Include economic elements in land use planning • Support private non-profit Central Florida Development Council

Polk County - Collaboration • Coordinate with other agencies through regional Municipal Planning Organization • Developed a county/city manager’s alliance that meets monthly • Much stronger collaboration to preserve long-term water supply

Polk County – In Hindsight • Should have developed a dedicated funding source for infrastructure and roads • Now working a lot more closely with other governmental entities—this should have happened sooner

Cobb County, Georgia • Suburban Atlanta area • Bedroom communities • Historic areas (created from Cherokee County, originally part of Cherokee Indian Nation) • Interstate 75 Corridor (I-75) • 600,000 of 670,000 residents are not within municipalities (unincorporated county) • 340.2 square miles

Cobb County, Georgia

Cobb County Issues • Regional transit and commuting • Need to expand transit and make better regional connections of the roadway system • Redirect growth • Protect “green space”

Cobb County – Good Decisions • Installed a sewer system for the entire county in the 1980s except where growth would be discouraged. Used infrastructure as a growth management tool and to protect water resources • Use of Community Improvement Districts to fund transportation projects • $4.1 million bond passed to begin to purchase green space

Cobb County – Issues • Small farms to residential • Industrial areas along I-75 are starting to change • Growing Latino population • Attempting to develop employment centers to balance growth (residential, employment, commercial)

Cobb County – Economic Development • Counties in Georgia have similar powers as cities: • Incentives • Economic development department • Very active in working with other entities and organizations, such as chambers of commerce, in attracting firms and jobs

Cobb County - Collaboration • House Bill 489 mandates intergovernmental cooperation • Developed service delivery strategy to minimize duplication and improve effectiveness

Cobb County – In Hindsight • Voted down mass transit in 1970s – still paying for it! • High costs of doing it now • Communities that did join have very high quality development around stations • Lack of mass transit systems added to commuting problems and congestion

Arapahoe County, Colorado • Denver Metro Area • 35% urban,65% rural (urban population to the West, rural population to the East) • Interstate 70 Corridor (I-70) • Population 550,000 • 803 square miles

Arapahoe County, Colorado

Arapahoe County – Issues • State Land Department changing the rules • Urban Growth Boundaries under constant attack • Total dichotomy of attitudes between West and East County

Arapahoe County – Good Decisions • Worked to develop Urban Growth Boundary • Developed and stuck with Land Development Code • Use sub-area plans to plan for specific issues and needs

Arapahoe County – Agricultural Preservation • No dedicated funding • Public desire to maintain • No re-zoning of agricultural land • Use special districts – they have held up well

Arapahoe County – Economic Development • Not much of a role and not much pressure to do so • Support the South Metro Chamber of Commerce • Streamlined review process

Arapahoe County - Collaboration • Use a referral process • Proposal within 2 miles of any governmental entity are referred for review

Arapahoe County – In Hindsight • Should have completed Land Development Code sooner • Should have drafted plans to deal better with the changeover in leadership that will undoubtedly occur • Need to work to unify urban interests in the west with rural interests in the east

Opportunities for Pinal County • Stronger advocate for economic development • Integrate land uses with economic development concepts • Agricultural preservation • Open space preservation

Opportunities for Pinal County • Regional transit • Improved communication and collaboration – unifying communities • Creation of job centers to lessen commuting • Creation of dedicated funding sources and proactive fiscal policies

Opportunities for Pinal County • Develop plans that will withstand change • Act now, hesitation is very costly • Learn from others and make reasonable assumptions

High Growth Counties: Opportunities for Pinal County