Elvis Presley Votes For Smart Growth In Price County

It's important to check in once in a while with people who have different ideas of how things should be run.

The Price County Board last week rejected the idea of initiating a Smart Growth Plan. The biggest opponents came from the southern end of the county which hasn't seen growth as much as the northern end of the county. The plan went down in a 15-4 vote with two northern district supervisors, James Robb and Leona DeRemer, voting for the change as well as two Phillips city supervisors, Dave Scholz and Elvis Presley .

From the Phillips Bee:

It is among the most bipolar (I'm fairly certain they mean "polarizing"- ed) issues in local and state politics.

Supporters argue that Comprehensive Planning is a way to assert local control over
development, in order to ensure that local values are represented as the county
grows.

Critics of Smart Growth claim nearly the opposite is true. They say
Smart Growth is an attempt by the state to usurp more authority over decisions
that should be left in local, private hands.

Meanwhile, some officials are already privately speculating about another round for Smart Growth on the Price County Board, possibly in 2008. State statute requires local governments that engage in land-use regulation to enact Comprehensive Plans by Jan. 1, 2010, although the legal force of that provision is a subject of widespread debate.