Steps to protect small towns while welcoming growth

by Kara Laws
Contributing writer
San Juan County is made up entirely of small towns facing the question, How do we preserve our small towns while our communities grow? The topic came up in the Blanding Meet the Candidates meeting last week, some candidates seemed unsure on how to balance growth and small town character.
Perhaps we are long overdue for a deep discussion. So let’s open the doors and break down what can be done to hold onto your city identity as the world changes around you.
STEP ONE: Define what gives your small town their identity.
You have to know what you want your city to be. You have to know what you’re protecting.
For some that might be small town uniqueness, unique businesses and art. Perhaps it is knowing each other and feeling like a community.
Maybe it is being able to see the night sky and all the stars. Maybe it is the open spaces, the parks, the houses spaced apart.
Every city should know, with crystal-clear clarity, what makes their city feel like home and what they would fight to preserve.
STEP TWO: Create your regulations.
There’s something to be said for limited government. Nobody wants to be told what to do with their property or how many sheep they can have. But if you don’t stand up and curate what the city you want, you can’t be surprised when you lose what you care about.
Laws, like zoning laws, should protect what citizens actually care about. They should preserve who we are.
Preserving our small towns while we grow requires standing up and saying, “This is what we want, this is who we are, and this is how we’re going to use our roles in government to facilitate itt.”
This doesn’t mean we reject growth, it means that we take an active role in curating the type of growth and development that adds value to our communities.
The time has long passed for crossing our fingers, holding our breath, and hoping it turns out okay. You cannot sit back and just hope that the private sector will create and preserve the small town that you love. History has shown us again and again how that plan fails. Taking control of the shape of our towns requires intentionally saying, “This is what we want, and here’s how we’ll make sure it lasts.”
STEP THREE: Advertise who you are. Attract what you want.

The fastest way to lose your city’s integrity is to try to become what you think the tourists want. Your city will always be chasing tourists and sacrificing quality of life in their wake.
Once you define who your city/county is, you can attract the tourists who add value to that brand.
If you create and promote a community that is family-friendly and fun for kids, that’s who will show up. If you advertise as a rowdy party town (looking at you, Vegas), then don’t be surprised when that’s who rolls in.
The world is big. There is no shortage of tourists. The smartest and most forward-thinking local governments figure out how to attract the tourists that add value to local communities.
Who is San Juan County inviting? Are we letting tourism happen to us or are we carefully curating the future and the visitors that we want to see?
STEP FOUR: Prioritize small, locally owned businesses.
This is not optional.
If we want to preserve small towns, we have to preserve the small businesses that make them unique. Nobody beams with pride because they have the best Family Dollar. But they will brag about the town with the quirky coffee shop, the homemade bread, or the hardware store that knows your name and lets you run a tab.
And yes, your government absolutely has a big hand in small business development. We have a county economic development specialist. Blanding has a city economic development specialist. These people are paid with tax dollars to help build the economy we want to see. As citizens we can let them know what types of cities and communities we want to build. Get involved, volunteer, let them know what you want to see.
As government leaders you can work hand-in-hand with your economic development team to create small business support and resources.
Building an economy that puts local business first might look like providing education and training, tax credits for building locally, connections to grants or low-interest loans, bringing in programs like Local First, discontinuing the practice of trying to attract big box stores, reserving vendor booths at local events for local businesses first etc.
The solution to preserving small towns while managing growth is not to sit back and hope. The solution is knowing exactly what you want your city to be – and creating plans, and yes, sometimes regulations to see those plans through.
Support affordable housing. Prioritize people over tourists. Teach business owners how to ship direct-to-consumer. Create programs that support local growth. Prioritize our people.
There shouldn’t be confusion about how to preserve our small towns while embracing growth, there should be community conversations, smart regulations, and a very clear path forward.
This isn’t “big government.” This is intentional government.