Reshaping Development Patterns
Western Lands and Communities

Population growth and development, as well as distressed subdivisions and development entitlements are impacting quality of life, sustainability, and ecosystem health throughout the Intermountain West. Teton County, Idaho has granted development entitlements sufficient to quadruple their population. In Arizona’s Sun Corridor, approximately one million undeveloped lots, many not yet platted, have been entitled. The current economic downturn provides both the opportunity and the need to address past impacts, better anticipate and prepare for future growth, and improve property values. Western Lands and Communities began the Reshaping Development Patterns program to develop incentives and best practices for reshaping unsustainable development and entitlement patterns in the West. We partnered with Teton County, Idaho’s Valley Advocates for Responsible Development (VARD) in the initial stages of this effort and are now working with Garfield County, Colorado. 

First Steps and Western Lands and Communities Resources

This multi-year project started with background research on issues and challenges around development entitlements in the West, including the legal, economic, planning, and design issues associated with the entitlements. The research was presented at a workshop in November 2009 to financial, planning, legal and development experts. Workshop participants considered the nature of existing entitlement issues and identified promising policy options.    

View the project’s background papers:

• Premature Subdivisions and What to Do About Them
• Rural Real Estate Markets and Conservation Development in the Intermountain West: Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities Emerging from the Great Recession
• The Fiscal Impacts of Development on Vacant Rural Subdivision Lots in Teton County, Idaho

View the presentations from the November 2009 experts’ convening:

• How We Got Here
• Teton County, ID Entitlements
• Pima County, AZ Entitlements
• Rural Real Estate Markets and Conservation Development
• Real Estate Markets and Entitlements
• Legal Background

View the November 2009 convening notes and synthesis of priorities.

• Convening notes & participants
• Synthesis of priorities

Western Lands and Communities Presentations

Western Lands and Communities staff and partners in the reshaping development patterns effort have made a number of recent conference presentations: Community Matters 2010, Denver, Colorado, October 2010; New Partners for Smart Growth, Charlotte, North Carolina, February 2011; and Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Denver, Colorado, March 2011.

Partnership Communities – Case Studies

 This project includes applied case studies in several Intermountain West communities. These focused applications will involve background research and work with local communities to further examine local challenges and identify specific potential policy approaches and solutions. The focus of these applied research and workshop efforts will be established by local stakeholders, with the goal of developing locally implementable policies or design options. Case studies of these applications will inform a westwide policy report. The targeted applications are being selected to examine conditions in different types of geographies – including rural amenity communities and rapidly growing mega-regions. 

Teton County, Idaho – A Rural Amenity Community

Teton County, Idaho is the first partnership community working with Western Lands and Communities.  VARD hosted a kick-off community workshop on April 29-30, 2010. Day one provided an assessment of current conditions in Teton County as the nearly 100 participants examined a number of problematic development entitlements and/or economically nonviable subdivisions. This served as motivation to consider new approaches and to lay the groundwork for follow-up activities on potential solutions. An especially promising opportunity is the integration of the work on development entitlements into the forthcoming County comprehensive plan effort. 

Day two of the workshop featured a “town hall” type discussion on ways for Teton Valley to move forward, additional information and resources needed, and what the new “normal” real estate environment might be and how that could affect the community.

For more information on VARD’s Reshaping Development Patterns efforts and to learn about the innovative practices and policies being created in Teton County visit their website - www.tetonvalleyadvocates.org/. To order a video of the two day workshop in Teton Springs send payment by check for $40 with “DVD” in the memo line to: VARD, PO Box 1164, Driggs, ID 83422.

Arizona Development Entitlements and Assurances Workshops

Sonoran Institute facilitated two workshops on May 25, 2011 and October 13, 2011 for Arizona counties and local jurisdictions to discuss and analyze the issue of development entitlements and assurances that impact entitlements.

View the workshop materials:

Development Assurances - October 13, 2011

• Agenda
• Participant List
  
• Meeting Notes
  
• Questionnaire: Development Assurances Questionnaire in Preparation for Fall 2011 Workshop
• Presentation: 3rd Party Trusts – Pinal County – Greg Stanley, Pinal County
• Presentation: Subdivision Bonding – Dave McKee, CB Bonding, Inc
• Presentation: Financial Assurances Maricopa’s Perspective – Brent Billingsley, City of Maricopa

Development Entitlements - May 25, 2011

• Agenda
• Presentation: Addressing Entitlements and Distressed Subdivisions – Jim Holway, Sonoran Institute
• Presentation: Metro Phoenix Market Overview – Mike Schwab, Land Advisors Association
• Meeting Notes

Best Practices Toolkit

• City of Scottsdale Sample Compliance Agreement
• City of Scottsdale Generic Bond Forms from Various Jurisdictions
• City of Scottsdale Comparison of Surety Bonds vs Bank Letters of Credit
• City of Scottsdale Information on Subdivision Bond Requirements
• City of Scottsdale Application to Extend Development Agreement Deadline
• City of Scottsdale Minor Subdivision Ordinance. See Chapter 48 , Article II, Division 4A and 4B.
• Land Advisors Land and Lot Sale Inventory, April 15, 2011
• City of Maricopa Generic Lot Sale Prohibition Agreement
• City of Maricopa Generic Dust Control Plan

Get Your Community Involved
There are a number of ways to get involved with the Reshaping Development Patterns effort.

• Western Lands and Communities is currently collecting data on the extent and nature of development entitlements throughout the intermountain west. This work will be written up in a future working paper.
• Is your community currently dealing with issues related to distressed and zombie subdivisions or excess entitlements? Are you developing new policies to address these challenges? We would like to hear about your experiences and add your approaches to our forthcoming documentation of best practices.
• Many communities throughout the intermountain west are addressing their development entitlements and distressed subdivisions. Links to information on some of these efforts are provided in the media section to the right. Please recommend other links we should include.

Contact Jim Holway, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , to contribute any information.

Outcomes & Ongoing Efforts

 The goal of the Reshaping Development Patterns initiative is to assist Intermountain West communities in addressing previous entitlements as well as assist communities who may face future growth challenges. This effort will produce a series of working papers, a major policy report, a series of best practices and case study results, and eventually perhaps a book synthesizing all the information and lessons learned. 

The specific areas of focus for additional research will be determined based on input from expert workshops and activities in the case study communities.

Working papers, projects, and reports currently in process include:

• A state by state review of enabling authority and case law related to development entitlements (see link in the sidebar to the right - New Western Lands and Communities working paper);
• A survey and evaluation of development entitlements throughout the west and the related challenges and opportunities; and
• A pilot effort in Teton County, Idaho with VARD, Teton County, and a local developer to redesign and replot a distressed subdivision.