Description
Communities across the country are realizing that they can conserve farmland, woods, and other natural areas and still accommodate development. In
Growing Greener, Arendt shows how communities that "green up" their comprehensive plans and zoning and subdivision ordinances are setting new standards for creative development design.
Building on earlier work in
Conservation Design for Subdivisions, Arendt explains in detail how to put resource conserving development techniques into practice. His simple, straightforward approach strikes a workable balance between development and conservation. His methods have a number of advantages: They are easy to implement; they can be accomplished without significant public cost; they protect landowner equity; and they don't overburden developers. They also maximize land conservation without sacrificing building density and eliminate some of the political and legal complications that often follow downzoning.
Practical as well as inspiring,
Growing Greener outlines a four-step approach to designing conservation subdivisions; describes how to conduct a community resource inventory; includes extensive model language for comprehensive plans, subdivision ordinances, and zoning ordinances; and offers design principles for hamlets, villages, and traditional town neighborhoods. Lavishly illustrated, the book also features two group participation exercises and case studies of 11 conservation developments in nine states.
This book is essential reading for every planner, public official, and developer who wants to grow greener environmentally and economically.
Copublished by Island Press, APA, National Lands Trust, and ASLA.
Table of Contents
See full table of contents
Foreword: The Growing Greener program
Preface: Designing land development from a bird's perspective (among others)
Introduction: How this workbook can help you
1. Context
Growth and development trends • Our natural and cultural heritage • Growing greener applicability in a wide variety of density situations • Reasons for updating plans and codes to include a conservation focus • Frequently asked questions about conservation subdivision design
2. How your community can choose its own future
The community audit process
3. Comprehensive plan update
Understanding the importance of comprehensive plans • Five parts of the plan on which to focus • The community resource inventory: Varying degrees of completeness • The community resource inventory: Nine elements to be included • Official maps of conservation lands, parklands, and trails • Community-wide map of potential conservation lands • Plan language regarding implementation through ordinances
4. Conservation zoning techniques
A choice of options for conservation and development • Illustrative examples of the various options in rural zoning districts • How densities are determined • Dimensional standards for house lots in conservation subdivisions • Density bonuses to further certain public objectives • Standards for ownership, protection, and management of conservation lands • Ownership of conservation lands • Ensuring permanent protection of conservation lands • Management of conservation lands
5. Conservation subdivisions: Application documents, design process, and conservation land design standards
Basic required application documents • Elements of existing resource/ site analysis maps: Significance and sources • Integrating the information layers and ranking site features for conservation priority • Special procedural steps recommended for conservation subdivisions • The four-step approach to designing conservation subdivisions • Design of conservation lands
6. Benefits of conservation planning and design
Environmental and ecological benefits • Social and recreational benefits • Economic benefits
7. Examples of subdivisions with substantial conservation areas
Ringfield, Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania • The Ponds at Woodward, Kennett Township, Pennsylvania • The Fields of St. Croix, City of Lake Elmo, Minnesota • Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois • The Preserve at Hunter's Lake, Ottawa Township, Wisconsin • The Meadows at Dolly Gordon Brook, York, Maine • Farmcolony, Stanardsville, Virginia • Westwood Common, Beverly Hills, Michigan • Hunter's Pointe and Solitude Pointe, Hamburg Township, Michigan • The Ranch at Roaring Fork, Carbondale, Colorado • Village Homes, Davis, California
Exercises
Design Exercise 1: Village Homes, Davis, California community-wide map of potential conservation lands • Design Exercise 2: Laying out a conservation subdivision
Appendices
Frequently asked questions about conservation subdivision design • Model comprehesnive plan language • Model zoning ordinance language for conservation subdivisions
Suggested additional reading
Back to Top