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Rural Centers: Serving the rural areas as small town centers <br />of commerce. <br />Rural Centers are local commercial, employment, and residential activity centers serving rural <br />areas in the region. These small towns are surrounded by agricultural lands and serve as <br />centers of commerce to those surrounding farm lands and the accompanying population. <br />Although smaller in scale than urban communities, Rural Centers provide similar development <br />patterns and locally accessible commercial services for the surrounding area. <br />Orderly and Efficient Land Use <br />Council Role <br />• Partner with local jurisdictions to work towards the orderly expansion of Rural Centers in <br />a manner that efficiently uses infrastructure and guides growth where infrastructure <br />capacity exists while preserving prime agricultural soils and surrounding low density <br />residential uses. <br />• Consider long range potential for improvements to regional infrastructure to support <br />expected growth at average residential densities of at least 3-5 units per acre or more. <br />• Encourage innovative approaches to development where existing infrastructure and <br />capacity are able to support increased residential densities. <br />• Attain a balance of urban and rural uses to retain the viability of the agricultural economy <br />and direct growth towards Rural Centers as is appropriate. <br />• Partner with local communities to improve land use patterns to reduce carbon emissions. <br />Community Role <br />• Plan for forecasted population and household growth at overall average densities of at <br />least 3-5 units per acre. <br />• Strive for higher density commercial uses and compatible higher density residential land <br />uses in the commercial core of the community to ensure efficient uses of existing <br />infrastructure investments. <br />• Work with adjacent jurisdictions to execute orderly annexation agreements where <br />forecasted growth exceeds land capacity within existing city boundaries. <br />• Work to focus forecasted growth in areas with existing infrastructure capacity to protect <br />existing farm land and prime agricultural soils for the long term. <br />• Adopt ordinances that coordinate development with infrastructure availability. <br />• Identify areas that will accommodate post-2040 growth forecasts and implement <br />strategies to preserve these areas for future growth. Plan for necessary infrastructure <br />improvements. <br />Natural Resources Protection <br />Council Role <br />See Natural Resources Protection policy discussion in the Land Use Policy introduction. <br />DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT <br />Last revised: February 21, 2014 104 <br />