Conservation Subdivisions

Conservation SubdivisionsDESIGNING WITH THE LAND

Presented by the Lamoille County Planning Commission

A Resource Guide for

Property Owners,

Investors and Developers

Conservation Subdivisions

Growth management as community investment Introduction and Overview

Historic Rural Vermont New Residential Development that maintains rural character


▪Conservation Subdivisions▪ Protect natural resources through the development process

• Get development that “fits in” local contexts

▪ How they work• Designing with the land

▪ Implementation• Starting with your Town Plan

• Zoning & Subdivision Regulations

Growth management as community investment

Maintaining rural character

Preserving rural character is common thread in Municipal Plans, with preserving natural areas a top priority. Views of nature, farms, and other scenic features of the landscape are commonly considered important contributors to rural character. In addition, proximity to nature and outdoor recreation is considered one of the most positive qualities Vermont’s rural lifestyle affords. This training will address how conservation subdivision can help communities manage and incorporate growth to avoid loss of irreplaceable resources.

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Lamoille County is commuting distance to jobs in Chittenden County and Montpelier. Workers seeking housing can find attractive and affordable options here, much of it in proximity to world class outdoor recreation.

Those concerned with how the community grows need tools that can help foster wiser use of irreplaceable land assets, to ensure growth occurs in ways that maintain resources and aesthetics in rural environments. At the same time, landowners and developers need a fair, predictable and equitable process too.

People are moving here. Where will they live?

WHY IT MATTERS FOR LAMOILLE

Land is a finite community resource. Growth is a fact

and will continue. Communities that want to protect open land of natural, scenic and historic significance must actively manage growth.

Unmanaged residential land development results in negative impacts: • losses of natural resources, • scenic quality and town character, • higher costs to taxpayers

Conservation subdivision design is an approach to residential design that addresses some of these pressing issues.

Communities have options for managing and guiding residential growth, in whatever context it occurs

WHY IT MATTERS FOR LAMOILLE

Subdivision regulations control growth (in theory)

At the most basic level subdivision regulations ensure lots are safe, useable and adequately documented in the local land records.

Subdivision regulations may be adopted in the absence of zoning, but they must conform to an adopted municipal plan.

Image source: VT ACCD

“Vermont’s landscape of compact centers surrounded by rural farm and forest land is integral to our economy, community spirit, and way of life.”

(DHDC 2018 State Designations Planning Module)

Subdivision regulations control the overall pattern of development—the way land is divided up to accommodate land uses and supporting infrastructure such as roads and utilities.

The image at left illustrates the State’s ideal pattern of land use is “compact centers surrounded by rural farm and forest land”.

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Image Source: Natural Resource Protection Zoning The Green Side of Smart Growth Jeffrey R. Lacy, AICP, Robert W. Ritchie, Esq., Joel S. Russell, Esq. (December 2010)

Subdivisions of 9 or fewer single-family residences laid out like this development in Massachusetts are becoming a common sight in Vermont.

In practice, most conventional subdivision produces outcomes like this

WHY?

Most subdivision regulations poorly align with environmental, social and economic objectives and criteria in the municipal plan.

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Conventional subdivision results in land used inefficiently:

• Off-site impacts and viewsheds not addressed• Little consideration for the social aspects of

neighborhood design• Rigid application process with minimal design

flexibility• Maximum density as the primary goal

The results is loss of prime farmland, wildlife habitat and valuable ecosystem services that untouched forests and green spaces provide for free (water filtration, stormwater management, flood control).

The problem in rural Vermont is serious and growing. Landscape fragmentation due to poorly guided residential design is the primary threat to wildlife in rural Vermont.

Conventional Subdivision:Not up to the jobConventional

subdivision: the entire parcel is divided into house lots and no open space is protected. The formerly rural character of this field backgrounded with woods is destroyed.

Conservation subdivision in a similar setting: Carefully located houses on the woodland edge minimize the residential use, maintain a maximum amount of open space. The retained field is a ‘wet meadow’ that absorbs stormwater and is regularly hayed.

VS.

Ferris

Content source: Ferrisburg Town Plan; Imagery source: Dealing with Change in the Connecticut River Valley, Yaro, Arendt, et al, 1993.

Existing Condition

Left, poorly guided growth destroyed the historic farm

complex and obscures sweeping views and consumes open land.

Far left, houses are located to preserve opens space, reuse the

farm, and reinforce the traditional agrarian settlement pattern.

Which development outcome do you prefer?

Conservation subdivision: an alternative to conventional subdivision development

Illustrations in your Town Plan make community policy preferences clear. This can set the stage for conservation and/or more effective regulations

Ferris

“Selling” Conservation Subdivision

Communities retain and preserve natural areas and rural character as they grow and develop. Environmental and economic benefits include:

• Higher home values - buyers value natural and rural settings and access to outdoor recreation. Provides residents the use and enjoyment of far more land in the common open space than on standard lots. Open space allows for off-site and communal septic fields.

• Residential development compatible with traditional Vermont rural land uses – provides open space buffers between homes and adjacent agricultural and forestry uses. Conserved land can be farmed, sugared, forested.

• Reduced infrastructure costs – The overall smaller footprint of development is less costly to build because the engineering and infrastructure costs are reduced.

• Stormwater management - Compact and clustered layouts reduce the clearing grading and paving that contributes to costly and impactful stormwater

• Benefits to Wildlife – Decreased fragmentation from minimal site disturbance. Protection of large habitat reserve, especially when pursued in conjunction with municipal conservation plans.


▪Conservation Subdivisions▪ A way to protect natural resources through the development

process

• A way to get development that “fits in” local contexts





Ferris

Applying conservation subdivision approaches achieves:

▪The same number of lots as conventional subdivisions

▪ But lots are clustered more tightly together

▪ Open Space is protected – up to 70%!

Images provided courtesy of Windham Regional Planning Commission

Source: Conservation Subdivisions | Better Town Toolkit (designyourtown.org)

Conservation Neighborhood: Development is concentrated in more compact neighborhoods, preserving the visual and environmental integrity of most of the landscape.

Existing Landscape:A few houses, many on existing or former farms, but an otherwise unspoiled/intact rural landscape.

Conventional (sprawl): Individual parcels are developed for stand-alone, large lot houses which spread out across the landscape, degrading visual and environmental resources.

Conservation subdivision givescommunities more options for managing and guiding residential growth, in whatever context it occurs

Starting Point

http://designyourtown.org/design_detail/conservation-subdivisions/

Source: Conservation Subdivisions | Better Town Toolkit (designyourtown.org)

Step 2: Determine maximum lot count under existing three-acre zoning. (Illustration shows negative impacts if this were implemented).

Step 1: Map the open space and critical areas for the parcel and surrounding area.

•Locate what land should be protected and potential development pockets.•Determine appropriate places for development.

Step 3: Fit the same number of houses into the landscape while preserving majority of the open space. • Arrange houses, lots and land that

will be commonly held• Link houses roads and paths

Loss of productive farmland, pleasant view from road, access to stream.

Large lots divide up and dominate the landscape.

Individual roads for each subdivision are costly to build and maintain.

No chance for residents to enjoy special site features.

Large farm fields protected and rural view from road is retained, a trail system allows access to stream.

Smaller, but substantial individual lot sizes with central green encourages socializing.

Less expensive construction costs while retaining potential connection to adjacent parcel.

Residents have views of open field and direct access to woods.

Conventional vs Conservation

http://designyourtown.org/design_detail/conservation-subdivisions/

What to aim for:Protecting resourcesSubdued entrancesNeighborhood feelInterior open spaceProtected ViewshedsOther Goals:• solar efficiency• low-impact-development (LID) SW• Neighborhood farming

Conservation subdivision, the flip-side of ‘smart growth’

Maintaining large tracts of healthy forests and productive farmland provides the contrast with the built environment that defines Vermont’s traditional settlement pattern and ensures long term access to local food supplies, which includes game, and forest products.

Conservation neighborhood developed around a farm. Clustering and smaller lots saved prime farmland, a portion of which provides community septic.

Conservation neighborhood designed to expand and connect to adjacent land in the future

Far left, a ‘subdued’ entry not dissimilar from the entry to the historic hamlet, left

Ferris

▪ Local context and parcel attributes determine where homes are located

▪Can reduce development costs and impervious surfaces ▪ Can create a new sense of community or neighborhood

Conservation Subdivision – where to use them…

This neighborhood in Williston ‘fits’ the scale and development pattern of the traditional Village. Houses on smaller lots face a large common space with a playground and basketball/tennis. Many houses have front porches or sitting areas in the front of the house. This site design retained the wooded edge and former farm to the north (today a golf course).

Village edge example

Conservation Subdivision – where to use them…Rural residential example

Conservation subdivision’s development outcomes help maintain rural character. Guiding development so it “fits in” and is environmentally and fiscally sustainable helps reduce development pressures on resource lands that Towns want to protect.

Farm

Farm

A ‘floodable’ meadow filters SW

Mature groups of trees are retained

Subdued entry roads

Minimize conflicts with agricultural and forest industries and plan new development for efficient delivery of costly public services.

Conventional development is costly to maintain and service. Taxpayers pay to mitigate water quality impacts that result from disturbance or loss of fragile and finite resources.

SUMMARY – Sustainable, fiscally responsible, better looking!Poorly guided residential land development contributes to land fragmentation. Its cumulative result reduces habitats, farmland, forest and town character. It’s a growing problem and happens everywhere - at the edges of historic villages, in rural areas and even on Resource Lands.Locations proximate to jobs and amenities are especially vulnerable.

Conservation subdivision is an approach for communities to add desperately needed new housing more sustainably. By conserving a major portion of the buildable land as permanent continuous open space and strategically placing the same number of lots as a conventional development in a more efficient manner, conservation subdivisions offer environmental, health, economic, and community benefits.

The 4 Step Process:1. Identify critical

areas 2. Determine and

arranged the number of houses

3. Link houses, roads and paths

4. Define individual lots and commonly held land.



process






1. Set the foundation in your Municipal Plan (non-regulatory)

Conservation planning in the Municipal Plan sets the foundation of any community’s efforts to protect the natural resources and values that are important to it. Effective conservation planning begins with high quality data and broad community input, includes clearly articulated and measurable objectives, and lists a series of implementation steps. Update your municipal plan to include all or most of the following:

• Chapters in the municipal plan that address natural resource concerns.

• A stand-alone natural resources and open space plan (which must then be incorporated into the town plan by reference)

• A conservation district that limits allowed land uses, maintains large parcels, ensures overall low densities

• Where development should be avoided (steep slopes, water resources, habitats, high elevations)

• To have meaningful force in Act 250 proceedings, use prescriptive policy (i.e., using language such as “will” or “must”).

GETTING STARTED with Conservation Subdivisions

Preventing the fragmentation of forests and maintaining rural landscape started with figuring out where development SHOULD be located.

GETTING STARTED with Conservation Subdivisions

2. Advocate to link planning to best practice with Conservation Subdivisions (regulatory)

Have a community conversation about preventing sprawl in outlying areas and why it’s important. Conservation subdivision can shape growth to benefit Towns, but it is NOT a replacement or short-cut for planning and bylaws to protect forests, farmland, and habitat against fragmentation. Recognize what it achieves and doesn’t achieve:

• Best for Rural Residential zones where it can shape and guide growth to maximize the value of these lands for community benefits (coexist with farming and forestry, preserve views and local character, building sustainably is also fiscally responsible)

• Lack of zoning is not an obstacle ***Can be adopted without zoning***• Not a way to prevent new development, but arranges it in less negatively impactful ways• Not a panacea against forest and habitat fragmentation but result in development outcomes that maintain ‘rural feel’ people want, and this can

discourage additional sprawl

Left, Houses ‘in a field’ in Charlotte interrupt the sweeping view, reducing the rural feel; far left, meadow in the foreground with houses integrated withwooded edge in Shelburne

Maintaining rural character:

GETTING STARTED IN YOUR COMMUNITY –

3. If you have evaluated the current situation and updated your Municipal Plan, you are ready to adopt conservation subdivision regulations. They can be part of a zoning bylaw, standalone subdivision regulations, or unified development bylaw (zoning + subdivision)

THE LAW: Subdivision regulations are authorized by Chapter 117 to regulate the division of land into two or more lots and to guide settlement patterns; they shall include:(A) Procedures/requirements for design, submission, and processing (B) Standards for design/layout of streets, sidewalks, curbs, etc., and other improvements as may be specified in the Town Plan (C) Standards for configuration of parcel boundaries and location of improvements to implement Plan and desired settlement pattern (D) Standards for the protection of natural resources and cultural features and the preservation of open space


4. Planned Unit Development (PUD) or conservation subdivision standards facilitate clustering, limit the amount of infrastructure and maintain a specified percentage of the property as open space. (50-80% is not uncommon in Vermont). Be direct about what you want!

Get rural developmentthat ‘fits’:

provide guidelines to applicants planning and design a PUD that will best fit into your town’s rural landscape.

Edge of field PUD

Open field PUD

Farmstead PUD

Out-of-sight PUD

Section 314.A Planned Unit Development (PUD) Purpose. “The purpose of allowing planned unit developments (PUDs) is to create an opportunity for more creative, coordinated and context-sensitive projects than would generally be possible under strict application of these regulations. Further, it is the intent of these provisions to encourage projects that provide substantial community benefits by planning development to protect significant natural resources and rural character. PUDs are also intended to promote more economic and efficient use of land, affordable housing, green building construction, and open space and recreational amenities than conventional subdivision practices.”

Text and imagery source: Town of Westford Land Use and Development Regulations (unified bylaw)


5. A picture says a thousand words Conservation subdivision is a

relatively simple approach that can be incorporated into bylaws and administered by towns to conserve land. Imagery can help make terminology and strategies understandable and logical.

In-the-woods PUD

Rural Hamlet PUD

Text and imagery source: Town of Westford Land Use and Development Regulations (unified bylaw)

314.K Rural PUD Design Guidance. “Applicants are encouraged to use the guidelines below to plan and design a PUD that will best fit into Westford’s rural landscape. These examples are provided to more specifically explain and illustrate the concepts and techniques generally described in Section 313 for subdividing land while protecting rural character. They are not to be interpreted as the only options for doing so or as mandatory for all PUDs.”

Improving quality of life: conservation subdivision helps maintain the availability of open space within the community, an important reason people choose rural lifestyles. If designed properly, the open space preservation can provide greater access to nearby nature for residents.



process






QUESTIONS?

Documents

Conservation Subdivisions