Canyon commissioners vote for agriculture preservation. What Realtors, builders say
The preservation of existing agricultural land is a top priority for Canyon County as the fast-growing county becomes more populated with single-families and homes. But striking a balance between property rights and agricultural land preservation weighs heavily on county commissioners as they discuss a new land-use map.
Commissioners have received a flood of emails, mostly from farmers, ranchers and other residents in support of preserving agricultural land. But real estate agents and building associations fear that limiting building opportunities would exacerbate the Treasure Valley’s affordable housing crisis.
In 2019, Canyon County Development Services staff members began research and data collection for a 2022 rewrite of the county’s comprehensive plan. The plan outlines the overall vision for the county and expectations for land development over the next 10 years.
After a series of meetings, two out of three commissioners voted Wednesday, Oct. 12, to approve the new plan, which adds two zoning tools that would inhibit dense growth near working farms.
Throughout the meeting process, the national organization American Farmland Trust voiced support for the rewrite. The organization hosted a postcard-writing campaign by farmers and rural county residents. The organization said by email that it forwarded 1,400 postcards from the residents to commissioners.
The commissioners also received 300 emails from people supporting the plan rewrite.
The updated plan includes two overlays, one is an agricultural overlay and the other is agritourism overlay. The overlays provide guidance to county planners about where to put new development so that it minimizes the impact on working farms, said David Anderson, American Farmland Trust’s Idaho program manager. The agritourism overlay promotes businesses related to agriculture, such as wineries.
An overlay is a zoning designation that is used to protect the characteristics of an area or mitigate the impacts development would have in that area. But, the ordinances for the overlays are to be determined. The commissioners will develop the overlays in separate votes in the coming weeks.
These overlays are brand new for Canyon County, Anderson said.
“Canyon County Development Services did a very thorough two-year community survey where they saw overwhelming support from the residents of Canyon County to proactively plan for agriculture,” Anderson said by phone. “So the planners really heard that call for protection and incorporated these additional elements into the plan.”
Commissioner Keri Smith and Pam White voted in favor of the new plan.
In a phone call two days after the vote, with horses neighing in the background, Smith, who was competing that day in a rodeo competition for women, said she is glad that the plan clearly defines the most important industry in Canyon County.
“I’m just gonna keep preaching to the choir that it is a planning guide,” Smith said. “I’m not saying that you can’t build ever again on agricultural ground. I live out there. There’s lots of places where we live harmoniously, but we need to let people know that they live in an ag area and that’s our No. 1 industry, and we support it loud and clear.”
Commissioner Leslie Van Beek was not convinced that the plan struck a balance between maintaining a resident’s right to use their property as they want and preserving agriculture.Farmers can benefit financially by selling their land for development, and the proceeds can help pay for their retirement or other needs.
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“Most simply put, the plan needs additional work,” Van Beek said in an email.
Real estate agents agreed. In emails sent to commissioners, many real estate agents used identical language that seemed to have come from the Idaho Realtors. They said, “the comp plan needs to have a balance in the text that allows farmers the legitimate opportunity to do something else with their non-viable ag land.”
The emails continued, “I also believe that the comp plan needs to restore the previous residential designations on the future land use map.”
Stacie Harvey, president of the Caldwell Board of Realtors, asked the commissioners not to approve the plan.
“It is not wise, and it is putting government more in our lives and decisions that we as homeowners need to be able to make,” she wrote in an email.
Smith and White will be replaced in November’s election by two new commissioners. The two lost their bids in the May GOP primary election. Van Beek said the discussion of the plan amendments is not over yet. She called the document “an unfinished product.”
“I believe we owe it to the residents of Canyon County to produce a well-balanced and well-vetted document,” she said in an email.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
