They have watched development engulf Jefferson County, and they are keenly aware that others are eager for the kind of elbow room they now enjoy.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Shelby County is next," said Butler, who quickly got involved in efforts to monitor development. He's president of Western Shelby County Organized for Preservation.

In the past decade, Shelby County's population has increased 23 percent to 30,553 people, gaining 5,728 people. Just over 2,700 homes have been built in that time.

The growth has cost the county 28,484 acres in farmland in the past 10 years, with about 200,000 acres remaining.

"We want it to stay rural but still allow growth," said Tony Carriss, a Fiscal Court magistrate. "Some think it's well controlled. Others think it's too fast."

The county has been focusing intently in recent months on how to tackle community problems, developing a "2005 Plan" with short- and long-range "to-do" lists, such as upgrading certain waterlines and passing regulations that address the impact of growth on traffic safety.

But there's no consensus on how to handle development pressures.

"Farmers want the right to sell, but some people who want to protect Shelby County don't want to divide it up," Carriss said. "That feeling is especially strong from people who moved out from Jefferson County and bought five-acre tracts and want it to stay the same."

For now, those five-acre lots are the smallest residential plots allowed on land zoned for agriculture.

While such lots are popular with newcomers, said Joanne Bemiss, the county's planning administrator, a good number discover how hard it is to maintain that much land and later want to sell off half of it, which zoning rules don't permit.

Some people think the minimum lot size on agricultural land should be raised to 15 to 20 acres, while others favor reducing it to a single acre so developments consume less farmland, said Magistrate Betty Curtsinger.

The county's schools are struggling to keep up as enrollment has climbed about 25 percent in 10 years to nearly 5,000 students.

To pay for construction, the school board recently approved a "growth" tax of 5.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Two citizen groups are keeping a close eye on development issues in Shelby County. The newest is the Western Shelby County group Butler leads that organized about two years ago. It successfully fought a 200-acre development of apartments, condominiums and houses just outside Simpsonville.

Butler said he thinks the county has done a good job of balancing housing, agricultural and industrial needs.

The oldest group, Shelby County Organized for Preservation and Enhancement, was formed in 1988.

"SCOPE isn't anti-development. We want well thought-out and planned residential development," said president Ronald Van Stockum, who lives near Shelbyville.

The group is concerned, he said, about what it feels is a push to over-industrialize the county, especially along the Interstate 64 corridor.

A third group has recently organized to preserve the county's farms and promote the importance of its agricultural economy.

"We want to do things to keep farming alive, to give farmers alternatives to selling," said Jim Ellis, a Shelby County farmer and member of the steering committee of Maintain Our Rural Environment, a coalition of farmers, residents and business people.

And an Agricultural Development Foundation has been created to promote agribusiness and provide new markets for farmers.

Growth has brought some positive benefits, some residents say.

"We're starting to get some things people have been wanting for a long time," Shelbyville Mayor David Eaton said. "In the past year, we've gotten Cracker Barrel and Tumbleweed. They're our first major chains, and that's a result of growth. It's a numbers game.

"But its a tough combination -- trying to maintain growth as a community, and maintaining our small-town atmosphere."