With the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth, residents of rural Boone County are fighting plans for 727 new homes.

What they may not know is this: The whole battle could have been averted back in 2001, if the Fiscal Court had shown more leadership.

At the time, several Boone County farmers were pushing for alternatives to rapid growth. They suggested an innovative, voluntary program called "Purchase of Development Rights," which had been successful in other states.

Under PDR programs, governments save farmland by purchasing the development rights and holding them in abeyance. Farmers continue working the land while receiving some compensation for not selling to builders. And the community gets to keep its rural views.

In 2001, Boone County planners prepared an extensive report on PDR. But pro-development forces disapproved, and nearly everyone else was silent.

The Fiscal Court declined to move ahead with even a public-education campaign. Thus, PDR faded to the background before residents had a chance to weigh in.

The predicament

Now Arlinghaus Builders is requesting approval of a new subdivision along Ky. 18. The site encompasses 291 acres about 2 miles west of the courthouse in Burlington.

The property is zoned for agriculture. But the county's long-term plan anticipates homes there, and the Fiscal Court may vote March 25 on whether to make the change now.

Residents of rural Boone have distributed petitions, passed out fliers and made impassioned pleas to block the development.

They're against more traffic and more pressure on Boone County schools. They bought where they did because of the area's rural character, they say.

But who should pay for that character? Surely not just farmers.

Lost solution

Butch Arlinghaus of Petersburg was among those who sold farmland for the new subdivision.

He's a cousin to the owner of Arlinghaus Builders, but he's also a strong supporter of PDR. Butch and his wife, Linda, championed the concept two years ago.

If the county had embraced PDR then, Arlinghaus tells me, he and the other property owners most likely would not have sold to the builders.

Arlinghaus loves the country. He lives on a farm himself, about 10 miles from the proposed development.

Like everyone else in western Boone, he doesn't want the area to become another Florence. But at the same time, he resents being asked to finance the countryside for all to enjoy.

He's right. It's not fair to demand that some farmers hold onto their land forever, while property values skyrocket around them and people flock to subdivisions built on farms sold a few years before.

It's the job of government to balance public good against private interests.

There are ways to do this creatively. Boone County leaders should get on it.

E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com or call (859)578-5584.