If you've driven Baldwin County after a hard rain this year, you've seen it: creeks running the color of chocolate milk, water standing in yards that never used to flood and too many sewage notices on the evening news.

None of that means growth is bad. Folks move here for the same reasons the rest of us stay: the water, the fishing, the small-town feel and the amazing Mobile Bay. Growth is not the problem. Growth without better rules is.

Right now Baldwin County has a rare chance to fix that. In October, the County Commission paused new rezonings for 180 days. This month, three new commissioners take their seats. What this commission does over the next few months sets the rules for the next wave of homes, roads and businesses.

With input from residents, engineers and builders, Mobile Baykeeper put together the Smart Growth Blueprint. It's six practical fixes and none of them stop anyone from building:

• Prove there's sewer capacity before a new subdivision is approved, so new homes don't push old pipes past their limit.
  
  
  
• Keep stormwater under control. Soak up the first inch of rain where it falls, limit how much land is stripped bare at one time and make sure drainage still works after the developer leaves.
  
  
• Protect the wetlands that soak up floodwater and replace the flood storage that's lost when they're filled.
  
  
• Make conservation subdivisions the easy option and cut the pavement mandates that make them hard to build.
  
  
• Give builders published checklists and clear timelines, so permitting is predictable for everyone.
  
  
• Set clear rules for data centers and large energy projects before the first big application lands.

None of this is radical. Builders want rules that are clear and the same for everyone. The developer behind Margaritaville Resort has publicly endorsed the Blueprint for exactly that reason. Homeowners want to know the lot next door won't send water into their living room. Fishermen want a bay that's still worth fishing. The Blueprint is written so the commission can implement it to accomplish all of these goals.

Here's how you can weigh in. On Monday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m., we're holding a Town Hall at Fairhope United Methodist Church's Fellowship Hall. The next morning, Nov. 17, at 9 a.m., the new commission holds its first work session. On Thursday, Nov. 19, at 9 a.m., it holds its first regular meeting. Both allow public comment. Come tell them who you are, where you live, what you've seen and that you want them to implement the regulations in the Smart Growth Blueprint to protect Baldwin County waterways, heritage and property values.

Can't make it? Read the Blueprint and write your commissioner at baldwincountysmartgrowth.com.

This is our county and our water. The rules set this winter are the ones our kids will live with.

Cade Kistler is a Baykeeper with Mobile Baykeeper.