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- V7 19939 BOOK 91 pArE . X74 prohibit provision of utilities service outside the USA. Staff sought to address this issue through a comprehensive plan amendment expanding the USA to include those lands adjacent to roadways serving as utility corridors. Since land within the USA qualifies for urban development, USA expansion is usually accompanied by a land use map change - redesignating land added to the USA. Such a land use map change was part of the comprehensive plan amendment expanding the USA. In preparing the corridor study and developing the associated comprehensive plan amendment recommendations, staff focused primarily on urban service area expansion and land use redesignation. There are, however, other mechanisms by which service can be provided to land adjacent to roadways serving as utility corridors. By modifying two policies of the comprehensive plan, the issue of providing utility service to land adjacent to roadways serving as urban service area boundaries where those roads also accommodate major utility lines can be resolved. The proposed amendment revises the referenced policies to allow expansion of utility services outside of the USA only for those parcels located wholly or partly within one quarter of a mile of the urban service area boundary (see attachment 3). With this approach, the issue of utility service extension to lands adjacent to roads serving as urban service area boundaries and having utility lines within their rights-of-way can be resolved. At the same time, the geographic scope of the utility service extension can be limited, and any expansion would necessarily occur in a logical and rational manner. In accordance with several comprehensive plan policies, only agricultural land use designations may exist outside the USA. Therefore, the effect of the proposed amendment would be to allow owners of agriculturally designated land located within one quarter of a mile of the USA boundary to obtain utility services. Agricultural land uses in affected areas include groves, pastures, and agricultural businesses such as packinghouses. -Much of the affected land, however, is not in agricultural production. It is, instead, characterized by large lots with single houses. Since the proposed amendment does not change USA boundaries, no land would be redesignated, and the existing agricultural designation would be retained for the subject properties. There are several benefits to maintaining the current agricultural designation of affected land. The first benefit is the discouragement of urban sprawl. In contrast to expanding the USA and redesignating land, the proposed amendment will not alter the County's approved residential allocation ratio. Second, the amount and density of residentially designated land will more closely match the amount needed, based on population projections. Finally, maintaining the agricultural designation of affected land will preserve agricultural uses and open space in the county. Capital Improvements Element In revising the Capital Improvements Element, staff used much the same methodology as it employed in preparing the original element. This involved coordinating with the budget and finance departments to obtain data on past revenues and expenditures as well as projected future revenue and expenditure amounts. Then, each county department was contacted to determine the status of its CIP. For each department, information on completed projects, proposed projects, costs, revenues, prioritization, and other factors was 71 M M M