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service & outreach: land use planning & growth management Uncontrolled growth is an issue of concern to communities of all sizes across the state. Sprawl development is costly in terms of the environment (deterioration of air and water quality, habitat, and open space) and the economy (increased infrastructure costs, net loss of tax revenues.) The Office of Public Service and Outreach has researched and compiled information on ordinances and other policies communities can use to guide their growth in ways that make good environmental and economic sense. This site serves as a clearinghouse for that information. Conservation Easements are a mechanism for permanently protecting land while allowing a landowner to retain ownership. The landowner may also retain certain agreed-upon rights to use of the land, and can realize substantial tax benefits. The benefits to the community include the guarantee of permanent green space at a much lower cost than if the land were bought outright. Many communities are using conservation easements to meet the 20% land protection goals of the Governor's Greenspace Initiative. Conservation Subdivisions, unlike conventional subdivisions, preserve a significant portion of their total area as common open space by clustering houses on smaller lots. This open space is typically preserved using a conservation easement, and can then be used to meet the 20% preservation goal of the Greenspace Initiative. Benefits to developers include lower infrastructure costs and higher property values; benefits to homeowners include proximity to open space which can be used for passive recreation. Farmland Protection is increasingly important as productive agricultural land is converted to subdivisions across the state. Many farmers wish to keep farming but feel they can't afford to do so. Conservation easements, TDRs, and PDRs can provide a way to retain their land and way of life without giving up the economic benefits they might receive from selling their land for development. Guiding Big Box Retail can prevent some of the negative effects that residents fear, such as increased traffic, noise, light pollution, economic impacts on existing small-scale retailers, and "big box blight" caused by retailers abandoning existing sites for new stores. Regulations such as size limits, zoning, and design standards can render these developments less controversial. Riparian Buffers are the areas of land along rivers and streams, which, left undisturbed, serve to filter pollutants and prevent them reaching our rivers. They also serve as important wildlife habitat, and help stabilize streambanks. The benefits to communities include reduced drinking water treatment costs and reduction in flood damage. Transferable Development Rights allow communities to restrict growth in certain areas and direct it to others, while allowing landowners in the growth-restricted areas to realize an economic benefit from their land. The rights to develop are separated from the land itself in the preservation areas, and sold to developers who can use them to build at increased density in the desired growth areas. The preservation-area landowners retain their land, and receive the market rate for their development rights. Developers can build more units per acre than otherwise possible in growth areas, and the community saves money on infrastructure costs. |
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