Canyon County residents prioritize agriculture in comprehensive plan survey

The plan was last revised in 2011 for use through 2020. Now, the county is looking for input from the community and is hosting open houses in Nampa and Wilder on Wednesdays in September. The county held an open house in Middleton Sept. 8, and in Caldwell Sept. 15. People can also submit comments via email.

The current draft was created with the public’s input, said Steve Fultz, the county’s director of planning and zoning.

“This is not the final (plan),” Fultz said. “We’re getting input every time we meet with people ... this is their plan as much as it is our plan.”

The document focuses on both incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county, the FAQ’s page says. Work on the proposed plan began in 2019 with the formation of work groups made up of residents of each city and agricultural belt in the county, one for the northern part, and one for the southern part.

The plan draft outlines goals, policies, and action items over 12 chapters: property rights; population; economic development; land use and community design; natural resources and hazards; public services, facilities, utilities and schools; transportation; recreation; special areas and sights; housing; agriculture; and airport facilities.

The plan was also informed by two surveys, one that focused on development in the county and one that asked people about the importance of agriculture in the county. From each of these sources, it became clear that people wanted to prioritize the county’s agricultural operations going forward.

According to the plan, the county’s population grew 45% between 2010 and 2020 and is projected to grow another 32% by 2040. The county lost 10% of its agricultural land between 2012 and 2017, the plan says.

The drafted plan’s vision statement reads, “Ensuring the quality of life for Canyon County residents by preserving our agricultural heritage and planning for a smart growth future through physical and fiscal management.”

The plan is filled with a variety of strategies to help do those things, Fultz said.

One of the draft’s key changes is the creation of “exclusive agriculture” zones, which are marked on the proposed land use map in deep green. The exclusive agriculture areas were designated around the areas of the county with dairies and feedlots with the goal of keeping them in agricultural production, said Kate Dahl, a county planner.

“Maybe preserve is not always the right word,” Dahl said, “but we want to maintain and enhance it.”

The county also wants to discourage housing developments in areas where there could be lots of disruption to those from living near agricultural operations, which can result in complaints from residents, Dahl said.

Though having an exclusive agriculture designation does not prevent farmers from selling their land to a developer, a developer may be dissuaded from purchasing, rezoning and developing such land, because it would require county approval and would not be in line with the county’s vision for its future, Dahl said.

The future land use map includes other designations related to agriculture, such as “transition agriculture” and “general agriculture.” Transition agriculture refers to areas where people live and may practice agriculture on a small scale, such as having a hobby farm, Dahl said. These zones represent a transition between the cities and the general agriculture and exclusive agriculture zones, Dahl said.

The draft also proposes two agritourism zones. One zone encompasses the Sunnyslope Wine Trail that runs along Highway 55, while the other encompasses the hops growing area along Shelton Road north of Wilder and southeast of Parma. Such zones would allow for the development of more formal commercial spaces that could be useful to producers in that area, Dahl said. For example, if a winery wants to open a restaurant, having such a designation would guide the planning for doing so, including the restaurant’s hours and size, Dahl said.

Gregg Alger, owner of Huston Vineyards is generally in favor of creating agritourism zones.

“I think agritourism is a great component to help preserve farm grounds — as long as it’s agritourism related to products actually being produced on the sites of agritourism,” Alger said. “Because just putting up a barn doesn’t make it agritourism.”

Another tool in the county’s proposed toolbox for preserving farmland is creating a plan that allows for agricultural landowners to sell their development rights to a developer that would use them to develop in another place in the county more suited for it, such as closer to a given city, Dahl said. Such plans have been successful in other parts of the state, such as Payette County, although the county is working to further improve that program, Fultz said.

In terms of smart growth, predominant feedback from work groups and surveys indicated that people want growth that pays for itself as much as possible, Dahl said. That means limiting development to areas where it is less expensive to provide services, such as ambulances, schools, and sewer systems, she said.

But building denser housing that serves more than one family remains unpopular. There are many misconceptions people may have about multifamily housing, including that it could contribute to traffic problems or always be low-income housing, Dahl said. The county needs more conversations and education to discuss the benefits of such housing, including for people in different stages of life and people who can’t afford single-family homes, Dahl said.

Following September’s workshops, county officials will meet with the agricultural working groups to get feedback on the plan before using feedback they have received on the draft to update the plan. On Oct. 28, there will be a joint workshop between the planning and zoning commission and the board of commissioners to discuss the plan. Then, it will be discussed by the planning and zoning commission in November and the county board of commissioners in December, Dahl said.