The purpose of the Valle Area Plan is to ensure that future development in the area is in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare, that it is not detrimental to the established character of the community, and that it preserves or enhances the special characteristics that define the Valle Area. More specifically, the plan serves as an amendment to the Coconino County Comprehensive Plan, and guides the decision-making processes of the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Supervisors in their consideration of zone changes, subdivisions, conditional use permits, and other development-related proposals.

The “Rural Planning Area” concept is a means by which traditional agricultural enterprises such as ranching can be preserved in the face of changing economic conditions. The intent of the Diablo Canyon Rural Planning Area is to identify a range of economic opportunities that would be compatible with maintaining traditional ranch operations on the Flying M and Bar T Bar. To be sure, some of the options identified in this plan are very different from traditional ranch practices, but they are intended to help support the existing ranches economically while keeping the ranches intact and operating into the next generation and beyond.