It would require builders to pay steep impact fees to cover the costs of providing public services to new residents. Communities will be required to develop voter-approved management plans for handling future growth. Such plans would include urban growth boundaries, beyond which development would be strictly restricted. Major amendments to the plans would have to be approved by voters. The initiative's biggest backer is the Sierra Club, but it has the support of 38 other environmental and activist organizations across the state.
Polls show strong support for restraining Arizona's rapid growth.
Phoenix and Tucson are the fastest growing metro areas in the state. Phoenix vies with Las Vegas for the title of the fastest growing city in the nation, and last year, Pima County, which includes Tucson, issued a record 7,241 new home permits. Industry experts expect another 7,000 to be issued this year. But even conservative Phoenix has witnessed the expansion of concern about sprawl. As bipartisan sentiment behind growth management builds, the political establishment and developers are taking their own steps to control the process.