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Contents : A project of Smart Growth America CASE STUDIES IN SMART GROWTH IMPLEMENTATION Coconino County Arizona About the Community Coconino County is a large county in Northern Arizona that includes Flagstaff the Grand Canyon parts of Sedona and significant federal and tribal land. At 18 000 square miles Coconino County is the second-largest county in the nation. It covers most of north-central Arizona stretching from the Sedona area to the south all the way to the Utah state line--a distance of more than 150 miles. Much of Coconino County is scenic mountainous and forested and is home to Northern Arizona University. About 60% of the 130 530 residents live in the immediate vicinity of Flagstaff the County s largest city. The county s annual population growth rate is at 2% below the state's own growth rate. Because the supply of available land to accommodate additional development is limited the growth rate still puts considerable pressure on both the county and Flagstaff. Despite its vast size only 13% of the land in the County is privately-owned. Native American reservations account for 38% of the land area while federal land management agencies (the Forest Service The Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service) and the State Land Department control and manage the remainder. Both the U.S. Forest Service and the State Land Department have processes that periodically make new land available for urban development but political and market pressures limit the ability to effectively process land transfers in Coconino County and Flagstaff. In 2003 Coconino County adopted a new Comprehensive Plan that incorporated the goals and policies of previous plans. The Comprehensive Plan adopted Urban Growth Boundaries and Rural Growth Boundaries and called for the creation of an alternative to the traditional subdivision process that would permit conservation (clustered) subdivisions. The County is now in the process of revising its codes and other planning documents to implement the Comprehensive Plan. SMART GROWTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE 2008 CASE STUDIES IN SMART GROWTH IMPLEMENTATION The Plan conforms strongly to the principles of smart growth while many of the county s previously existing codes do not. This is not unusual of a jurisdiction that is just beginning to face smart growth issues. State Of Smart Growth Implementation Coconino County has embraced a smart growth agenda as evidenced by its willingness to experiment with urban growth boundaries focused growth areas and infill and development strategies. Areas set aside for future urban growth were identified through a partnership with Northern Arizona University Coconino Community College Flagstaff United School District the Chamber of Commerce homebuilders and two local environmental groups. Plans reflect the county s desire to grow soundly as many of the goals revolve around housing quality of life and environment. The goals in the Plan were built upon a shared vision in consultation with private landowners tribal interests small business owners environmental groups public land managers the real estate community colleges and universities construction firms state and federal agencies and local citizens. The county staff has been working on a conservation subdivision ordinance but faces opposition from rural landowners. It has proven difficult in recent years for the County to withstand the political pressure from neighbors who would rather see conventional lowdensity subdivisions and oppose cluster subdivisions. The Board of Supervisors is fully committed to the conservation-based policies contained in the Comprehensive Plan but it has been politically difficult for the Board to maintain this stance on a case-by-case basis. Local developers support building at increased densities in rural areas but have also been trumped by political opposition. Greater Flagstaff's growth is rapid enough to consume all land available for housing by 2020. A number of outlying areas are also growing rapidly and at extremely low densities. Parcels of raw land released by the U.S. Forest Service and the State Land Department do come on stream but the agencies have limited capacities to place land on the open market constraining even this land supply A variety of market and political pressures appear to prevent Flagstaff and Coconino County from using the existing land supply as efficiently as they might. Second homes represent close to 20% of the housing market and elected officials frequently feel pressure to reduce densities below the level proposed by developers. The County s experience with subdivision development involves mostly reviewing rural subdivisions and the present county codes reflect this. The City of Flagstaff recognizes that the current codes feature suburban standards and prevent developers from replicating the existing denser urban fabric. SMART GROWTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE 2008 CASE STUDIES IN SMART GROW

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