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Citizens
for Smart Growth is a community-based, non-partisan 501c3 nonprofit advocacy group addressing growth issues within Blaine County. We work to preserve our natural assets—rural charm, open space, air and water quality and wildlife habitat—while encouraging economic prosperity.
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AT STAKE
Cities in the Wood River Valley are expected to add more than 12,000 residents by 2025. New residents will add about 5,000 homes and more than 9,000 vehicles. Growth will likely be concentrated in south valley areas, but the impacts on traffic, recreation, open space and community services will be valley-wide. Where will these new residents work and play? How will they impact our roads, schools and infrastructure?
OUR EVERYDAY WORK
Well-planned growth is built upon regional cooperation and led by transparent and fair government. We serve as your watchdog and your voice at the table by:
- examining pending developments and measuring them against Smart Growth Principles and community values.
- meeting with developers. We help them mold projects into valuable community assets that align with Smart Growth Principles and mitigate any potential problems.
- advising local government.
- reporting on issues to our members and the public.
- working to codify Smart Growth Principles into law.
- serving as a reliable and authoritative source of information about proposed developments.
A REGIONAL COLLABORATOR
- We are chairing Sustain Blaine, a collaboration of diverse community members working to develop an economic strategy for all of Blaine County.
- Along with the Environmental Resource Center and Developing Green, CSG hosts the annual Sun Valley Sustainability Conference.
- We are helping fund the USGS Water Study, which is analyzing trends in groundwater and surface water for the Wood River Valley.
- We worked with Blaine County Citizens for Water and Wildlife to pass Proposition 1, the 2-year Land, Water and Wildlife Levy, in the November 2008 election and will remain involved in its implementation.
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AS CITIZENS’ VOICE AND RESOURCE TO
DECISION MAKERS
Blaine County 2025—We were the first local group to talk about smart growth and regional planning, helping propel Blaine County into the 2025 planning process that brought together local citizens and planners to ask how and where the county should grow.CSG helped conduct surveys and poll citizens in order to reach people outside of the traditional meeting setting. Results showed citizens wanted to keep growth near cities and protect sensitive lands. We then worked to have these desires reflected in BC 2025.
The end result created new ordinances and changed others. It established cluster developments as a way to protect large conservation tracts, widened setback districts to protect floodplain and riparian areas, and created overlays to protect hillsides, wetlands and areas known for wildlife from development. Zoning changes were also made to curb future growth in rural and environmentally sensitive areas, maintain the county’s service capabilities and direct growth closer to developed cities.
BC 2025 won Idaho Smart Growth’s Grow Smart Award in 2007.
Transfer of Development Rights program—Born out of BC 2025, this program allows property owners in sensitive extremities of the county to sell their development rights to property owners closer to population centers. This program stands to protect working farms and ranches, sensitive wildlife habitat and wetlands.
We have worked with cities and the county to—protect our night sky and historic features; keep development off critical lands; establish maximum retail building size in order to protect the small businesses we value; limit berm sizes along our roadways that block scenic views and increase wildlife fatalities; promote affordable housing and access to public lands and water. |
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