Opponents of Smart Plan

Opponents of Smart Plan point out that the two urban areas are already overcrowded and creating environmental problems in their own right from air and water pollution, traffic congestion, and noise, and further growth in these areas would exacerbate the problems. In terms of economics, many in the region feel that to stay competitive in the global marketplace, they need to diversify their economy with high tech industries which may be lost to other regions or cities with more flexible growth management plans. Because these two cities are considered desirable places to life, the high demand for housing has driven up prices of rent and purchasing housing “through the roof.” Creating urban growth boundaries, they argue, will further exacerbate the problems of affordable housing. Many affordable housing advocates argue that such a boundary would have the unintentional consequence of residential redlining, with the high prices keeping out poor and minority residents (many of whom provide labor for the region’s service industry). In addition, rural, mountain land rights advocates and developers are up in arms about “outsiders” and “city folks” who know little about the best interests of their communities and therefore feel their rights to develop or use their land in ways they see fit are becoming encroached upon. Downzoning, or any kind of zoning for that matter, is met with skepticism, because the landowners feel it binds their ability to use or profit on land that is rightfully theirs. They believe that any downzoning of Wamassa, Mineral or Crimson will significantly impact the property of their land, but would severely impact the future growth and development of this land in the future. If FuturePlan is passed, these land rights advocates feel that they must be compensated for any lost revenue, because as it stands, this plan does not compensate landowners for land susceptible to “takings."

These interest groups and organizations oppose SmartPlan:

Chamber of Commerce- Silver Cliff

Hispanic Alliance

Technology Sector- Vermillion Technology

Timber Industry