Vision Dixie - Making a better Washington County, Utah

As a small child I grew up in St. George near the cemetery on the east side of town. There were few paved roads and Dixie College was still located on its original campus in the center of town. Santa Clara was 5 miles to the west, Washington 5 miles to the east, and Hurricane was a small backwater on the other side of the county.

Growth and change were slower then. By the time I graduated from high school, not much had changed. A few more of the roads in town were paved. The town’s population was only around 4,000, and the entire county had about 7,000 residents. How times change! Forty years later our population in Washington County is nearing 140,000, and the St. George Metro area is now one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.

Like most county residents, I can’t help but wonder what Washington County will be like in another 30 or 40 years. Will we have adequate housing choices? Will we be able to protect the natural beauty and splendor that make Washington County so unique? Will there be economic opportunities for our children and grand children?

In the coming months, Washington County residents will have an historic opportunity to help answer these questions. Our answers will affect life in Utah’s Dixie for years to come.

Our rapid growth has many impacts – both positive and negative. Without careful forethought, we could lose what makes this region such a great place to live. Recognizing this, the Washington County Commission is sponsoring Vision Dixie—a county-wide conversation that will provide opportunities for the public to make informed recommendations for our future. Over the next several months, residents will help outline a broad vision for how the county can accommodate population growth, protect its environment, enhance its economic strength, and maintain its quality of life.

Vision Dixie is our initiative, guided by a diverse Steering Committee of public officials and community representatives who will ensure that the process is transparent, represents local values, involves many residents, and accomplishes its purposes. Under their direction, Envision Utah, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, will facilitate the process. Vision Dixie emphasizes public involvement, accurate information, local control, private property rights, and voluntary, market-based implementation strategies so communities can guide their own future growth.

Vision Dixie is an outgrowth of the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 – the so-called Lands Bill. The Lands Bill does not require the visioning process, but Vision Dixie would not have happened without the bill. And Vision Dixie will help county residents find areas of common interest and guide decisions on public land disposal, should the bill pass. Nevertheless, Vision Dixie is broader than the Lands Bill and the County Commission intends to complete the process regardless of what happens to the bill.

Vision Dixie is a local process that will be guided by our own vision of Washington County’s future. Our own citizens are uniquely qualified to determine our own destiny. The Vision Dixie process will take about 18 months to complete. Starting in October, county-wide public workshops will bring residents together to solve problems and find common ground, not philosophize. Residents will work in groups to map out their ideas of an ideal future.

The Steering Committee, with the help of technical experts, will use workshop input to create several scenarios of future life in Washington County. Using cutting-edge analytical tools, we will test each scenario to see how it performs relative to traffic congestion, air quality, land consumption, water use, housing and other measures of quality of life. This analysis will help us understand how today’s decisions affect tomorrow’s reality. In early 2007, we will hold open houses to unveil these scenarios and to ask the public, “Did we get it right? Did we capture your vision?” With an understanding of how the scenarios perform, the public will be in a position to express an informed opinion on which scenario elements they prefer.

The Steering Committee will then oversee the development of a voluntary Washington County Vision and a set of growth principles based on public feedback. The Washington County Vision will represent a broadly supported picture of the county’s future. This vision and the accompanying principles will guide elected officials and residents as they make critical decisions regarding general plans, zoning and development proposals. Local governments will retain control over official planning processes, and each community can select its own strategies to work toward the vision.

Vision Dixie is about choices. How the county develops in the future will affect how much you pay in property taxes, whether your children can afford to own a home, and the quality of life you will enjoy. Vision Dixie is a tool to help preserve the best of Washington County so that our children will not someday ask, “Why didn’t you do something?” We have an opportunity to do something meaningful, to set aside today’s narrow interests and focus on what we truly value for the future. The welcome mat is out. Please participate actively in this process.

– Commissioner James E. Eardley