On March 25, 2004, "Smart Growth for Coastal Alabama: a Balancing Act" was held. More than 300 participants came to hear the advantages and disadvantages of smart development for the coastal region of Alabama.

The planning for this conference started several years prior, beginning with a small project called Healthy Coastal Communities Initiatives (Smart Coast) created through a partnership between the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and Mississippi/Alabama Sea grant Consortium.

A task force of 15 people pulled together who represented both counties and community organizations. The task force planned the conference, obtained speakers and sponsors, secured the location, and targeted stakeholders to attend.

The conference presented the issue of smart growth from many perspectives. It was designed to "inspire, educate, and enable participants to gain a balanced understanding of smart growth principles and the potential impact on our coastal regions economy and quality of life." The mission was achieved through presentations by five national speakers each of whom had different expertise and experience. The diversity of attendance resulted in a high level of participation.

On July 27, 2004, “Smart Growth for Coastal Alabama – Act II” was held. This was a follow-up workshop to get community input on what Smart Growth initiatives should be started in the Mobile and Baldwin County area.

The mission for the workshop was to begin dialoguing about initiatives and first steps to implement Smart Growth in our coastal region.

An update of local Smart Growth activities was provided by several speakers and round table discussions were used to develop Smart Growth initiatives that participants feel are likely to have broad support in our region.

Those who attended were business owners, developers, builders, realtors, elected officials, conservationists, and farmers.