Sugar City, Idaho: The Dayley Report

  Impact Area A city is required to have an impact area surrounding the city's boundaries within the unincorporated county. The impact area allows the county, city, and property owners to plan for possible or probable land development.  Residents of the impact area are not in the city limits, but they can have the benefit of having a proportional number of impact area residents serving on the city's planning and zoning commission, giving them a voice in any future development. Any landowner who wishes to develop their property within the impact area deals with the county as usual; however, as we strive to consolidate development--saving, as we can, more farm and other ag and open land--the land owner is required to follow the basic development ordinances laid out in the city code with the intent that the land being developed in the impact area will eventually become part of the city (annexation). One of the main issues with county land development is water protection and water