A rural development plan discussed during a meeting of city and county officials last week is likely to run into some opposition but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be pursued.

Some of the key components of the plan, which was developed by a rural development subcommittee of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, are vital to orderly growth in the county.

One of the likely targets of criticism in the plan is the elimination of the five-acre exemption that currently allows landowners who have at least five acres of rural property to build a home without going through the rezoning and platting process. The plan would allow that option only for plots of at least 20 acres.

Many question the principle of a landowner not being able to develop his land as a homesite as long as he or she observes the law that existed at the time the land was purchased, and the plan has a provision to allow people who already have bought five-acre tracts to develop them under a grandfather clause.

In exchange for the acreage change the city would ease its restrictions on how much treated water it would supply to rural water districts. Limiting the number of new water meters has been about the only way the city could control residential growth in the county.

The county would begin to charge some kind of impact fee on new residential development to offset the cost of providing roads, fire protection and police services in those areas. Cities also would gain more authority over development within their urban growth areas.

These all are common sense proposals that will provide for more orderly residential growth in the county. The five-acre exemption has allowed many homes to be built around Lawrence without regard to how they eventually may be incorporated into the city. Single houses on five-acre lots only increase Lawrence’s urban sprawl. When those areas become part of Lawrence, as all projections predict, it will be impractical and expensive to provide city services such as roads, water and sewer service.

Although Planning Commissioner Ernie Angino said at the meeting that the elimination of the five-acre exemption wouldn’t be popular and that the document as a whole isn’t “going to sell very well,” city and county officials should persevere in their efforts.

The document being considered may need fine-tuning, but it puts forth some principles that are essential to positive and properly planned growth in the county. Officials should work through the details and formulate a plan they can support as being in the best long-term interests of the county. Even if every aspect of the rural development plan doesn’t put a smile on everyone’s face, pursuing those goals is the right thing to do for the county’s future.