Discussion and Direction: Regional Plan modification to allow the option to provide water and sewer service outside Urban Growth Boundary upon City of Flagstaff Council approval. 
 

The Flagstaff Regional Plan is a policy guide, serving as the general plan for the City of Flagstaff and an amendment to the Coconino County Comprehensive Plan. As mandated by state law, the plan covers a range of topics with information on current conditions and our vision for the future as it relates to the topic at hand. In addition, the plan outlines carefully developed goals and policies to realize the future vision. Strategies to accomplish these goals and policies are located in a separate document and are considered dynamic, as they can be updated with City Council and public direction during the annual review process. The Flagstaff Regional Plan 2030 does not allow water services to be provided outside the Urban Growth boundary without a major plan amendment. The proposed revisions would provide flexibility to work with property owners within the Region and would allow the urban growth boundary to be amended by a Minor Regional Plan Amendment.

Proposed Regional Plan 2045 Policy: 

Policy WR.5: Provide sustainable and reliable water and sewer services within the Urban Growth Boundary.

 Implementing Department Staff should

• Extend water and sewer services to properties within the Urban Growth boundary but outside the City limits with an annexation approval or a pre-annexation agreement.
• Considered expansion of the urban growth boundary in support of economic recruitment and retention, and the creation of affordable housing opportunities.
• Not extend water and sewer services beyond the Urban Growth Boundary unless an analysis shows the service can be provided without impacting the availability of water to property owners already within the boundary.
• Not extend water services without sewer to maintain the ability to recycle and use reclaimed water.

Options and Alternatives: 

1. Support a modified policy for the 60 day public review so that staff may solicit comment on this concept; or 

2. Do not support a modified policy and maintain the current proposed policy that water and sewer services should not be extended to properties that are outside the Urban Growth Boundary without a major plan amendment. 

Addressing water resources on a regional basis is challenging and complex. Although the entire Flagstaff Regional Plan area relies generally on the same resources (groundwater and surface water), the management and delivery of the water involves a number of different systems. The City of Flagstaff is the primary water provider within the region, serving most property within the City’s jurisdictional boundary and also to water haulers (commercial and individuals) who transport the water to homes and businesses within the unincorporated areas of the county. Coconino County is not a water provider, but there are a variety of private water systems serving some of the outlying county communities and subdivisions, as well as small wells serving individual homes. As a natural resource, water knows no jurisdictional boundaries; the commodity of water, however, has been relegated to jurisdictions for regulatory and delivery purposes. 

Modifying the Regional Plan to allow for water and wastewater services outside the Urban Growth Boundary has the potential for several benefits:

• Fewer people drilling wells for development, minimizing regional impact, and improving water security like wellhead protection.
• Reduction of traffic and carbon emissions by reducing water hauling.
• Improved fire protection in the region from fire hydrants outside the Urban Growth Boundary.
• Overall regional community resiliency with flexibility of shared resources through droughts, wildfires, water emergency, and climate change.
• Capturing more wastewater to produce more reclaimed water, would give us the ability to treat and recycle more of the wastewater from the community.
• Collect capacity fees from people who have not "bought" into the system but still get service by hauling water.
• The ability to control construction standards Potential enforcement of conservation measures.
• The ability to control engineering and construction standards. 

The process to update the Regional Plan 2045 included extensive community outreach. Input from the public, agencies, the business community, nonprofit organizations, civic groups and others shaped the focus of this Plan and defined its priority areas. Based on collective community input, the Plan reflects the desire to support inclusivity and sustainability while being good stewards of natural and cultural resources. The participants in this process identified the Region’s highest priorities as:

• Create more housing attainability in all the Region’s neighborhoods and centers to mitigate displacement and reduce housing costs.
• Create mixed-use, denser neighborhoods that support a variety of housing types, and active transportation.
• Reduce community-generated climate pollution and protect air quality.
• Protect the Region’s significant natural and cultural resources.
• Expand the Region’s preparedness and resilience to hazards and climate change.

The Region’s ability to move the needle on these priorities was tested through an exploratory scenario planning process. This effort showed that incentivizing infill and development within the urban growth boundary could result in a 20% reduction in the housing costs compared to today and that this could be achieved without increasing intensity and density of development outside of the urban growth boundary. Infill and development within the urban growth boundary could also improve resiliency and the ability to meet the goals of the Active Transportation Master Plan and the Carbon Neutrality Plan to reduce vehicle miles traveled.  Outward development also increases the vulnerable properties in the wildland urban interface and the areas that may be vulnerable to flooding post wildfire. Allowing for a more flexible approach to water services provisions helps meet these same goals in different ways by reducing the water hauling needs of the Region and providing more stable water sources for nearby developments.  When water services are provided without annexation or pre-annexation agreements, the City will need to carefully craft service contracts with property owners to ensure unintended subdivisions do not occur.
 
Staff would like to open this topic up for conversation during the 60-day public review, scheduled to begin on October 20, 2024, by proposing a more flexible policy. The results of this engagement can be brought back to the Water Commission and the City Council in early 2025.
 
Note: If the Water Commission and Regional Plan Committee both support or oppose this modified policy, Council may choose to move to accept their recommendations