NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION    

 

   
Conservation Planning
Conservation planning (i.e., cluster developments, open space neighborhoods, planned unit developments) provides jurisdictions within the ten-county region a method of encouraging low-density development while protecting valuable natural resources and helping maintain viable agricultural operations.  This technique locates structures in compact groupings in smaller areas in order to preserve large tracts of usable open space (e.g., fields, orchards) or sensitive environments  over the remainder of the site.  Generally these developments have the same allowed density of the underlying zoning district; however, structures are clustered together on smaller parcels to preserve open areas and reduce development and infrastructure costs.  Conservation planning enhances sustainability and reinforces the physical and aesthetic character of the region.

  

Lot with width-to-depth ratio 1:2

 
When Designing Cluster Developments:
  • Conduct site assessment
  • Locate and design quality open space
  • Provide adequate setbacks from agricultural uses
  • Locate and screen clustered buildings, structures, and storage facilities to minimize visual and environmental impact
  • Preserve trees, shorelines, farmlands, and other natural resources
  • Establish buffers and screens between residential properties and incompatible neighboring uses
  • Incorporate low-maintenance landscaping
  • Minimize stormwater runoff and impact on natural areas through roadway design, location, and reduced width
  • Encourage shared access roads and joint driveways
  • Provide for safe pedestrian circulation
  • Incorporate alternative surfacing materials
  • Control and recycle stormwater runoff
  • Maximize views
  • Establish gardens
  • Control signage and limit billboards

 

Clustered cottages at Crystal Mountain Resort, Benzie County

Economic Support for Cluster Developments
In addition to environmental and aesthetic benefits, this conservation planning technique can be financially advantageous to local developers.  Cluster developments offer developers the opportunity to construct the allowed number of homes on a site while reducing infrastructure installation costs: shorter roadways needed to serve smaller-sized lots in a cluster development result in lower road, sewer, and water line construction costs.  In a competitive housing market, developers can pass these cost savings on to buyers, thereby making housing more affordable.

Siting buildings in compact groupings and protecting open areas for recreation, wildlife, and agriculture produces financial benefits to developers and home owners.  Economic studies reveal how properties in close proximity to protected open spaces typically result in higher initial and resale prices than comparable conventional developments.  The protected natural areas and views more than compensate for reduced lot sizes.  Cluster developments produce financial benefits for developers, home owners, and the original land owners.

 

Open space and farmland preservation through cluster development at Telford Farm, Leelanau County
  

Open Space, Farm Lands & Sensitive Ecosystems
Although clustering is a useful site planning tool on parcels as small as ten acres, it is especially beneficial when developing sites where large portions can be protected open space.  Retaining significant natural areas benefits both new residents and the larger region.

Local jurisdictions are encouraged to require a minimum of 60 percent of the site be protected open space.  While a variety of uses should be permitted (e.g., farming, timber, recreation), open areas should remain in one contiguous parcel and be linked with open spaces of adjacent cluster developments or publicly owned lands to the greatest extent possible.  Protected lands should remain in a natural state unless employed for farming or forestry, and landscape restoration and wildlife habitat creation should incorporate low-maintenance and climate-appropriate species to the greatest extent possible to retain regional character.

Cluster Developments Complement Rural Landscapes
A survey of rural areas reveals that homes and farm structures were historically built in clusters near roadways or on higher, often sloping, portions of a site.  These building patterns retained the most productive lands for agricultural use and produced a landscape of building clusters interspersed amongst large expanses of open fields and woodlands.  New developments that cluster building sites to preserve open areas thus continue a long-standing development pattern in rural areas.

Cluster developments can be effective both on small and large sites. In rural areas, clustering should be encouraged in developments with three (3) or more sites.  For large-scale developments, incorporating a mixture of uses is advisable.  Refer to Mixed-Use Developments for more information.

 

Plan of Cedar Valley Ridge cluster development, Grand Traverse County
 

Role of Local Jurisdictions
Local jurisdictions can minimize the impact of low density residential development throughout the ten-county region by encouraging cluster developments, which help protect the natural environment and maintain the region’s rural character.  Local jurisdictions are encouraged to revise their zoning ordinances and/or create a cluster development/conservation subdivision ordinance to facilitate cluster development as a use-by-right within established parameters and allow density bonuses for more environmentally sensitive developments.  This may encourage developers wary of pursuing cluster projects given the length and risk involved in the existing process to propose the types of developments local jurisdictions desire.  In areas where protecting natural or scenic resources is essential, local jurisdictions may wish to establish an overlay zoning district in which clustering is a requirement.

 

Narrow Street through cluster development with screening provided by existing and new vegetation

Lot Size & Roadways
Reducing lot sizes allows clustered structures to be carefully placed on a smaller portion of the site than otherwise possible.  Cluster zoning typically limits the buildable area to less than half the site with structures permitted on the least visually prominent and environmentally productive portions of the site (e.g., the edges of fields or within wooded areas, except where this would conflict with preserving the most valuable natural resource).

Clustering structures allows for a reduction in roadways on a site.  Roadways should be designed to complement a site’s natural topography.  Narrower streets facilitate creation of human scaled neighborhoods, slower traffic speeds, lower construction and maintenance costs, and reduced stormwater runoff volume.

Buffering & Screening
Judicious use of landscape buffers and screens can minimize the impact of cluster developments on adjacent properties.  Where downsized lots adjoin standard-sized lots or other uses, local jurisdictions are encouraged to require buffer strips of densely planted native trees and shrubs.  Buildings should be screened from roadways and existing vegetation preserved to the greatest extent possible.

 

Key Points:

  • Cluster structures based on a site’s specific conditions (i.e., avoid critical areas, resource lands, slopes in excess of twenty (20) percent, ridge lines), and the location of structures on adjacent properties.
  • Retain existing natural features (e.g., wetlands, dunes, stands of trees) and preserve and/or establish buffers (twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) feet wide) around wetlands and water bodies.
  • Where sewer service is unavailable, septic systems can be provided for smaller lots by locating septic systems outside individual lots in an easement within the protected open space or through a central system for multiple lots.
  • Densely cluster homes in small areas to preserve usable open space.
  • Promote development in already disturbed areas of a site and on the least productive soils.
  • Clustering buildings often produces financial benefits through reduced infrastructure costs – both operating and installation – and increased market value through proximity to preserved common space and unique natural areas.
  • Protect habitats, especially high-quality habitats, to the greatest extent possible and establish connections to wildlife corridors whenever possible.
  • Retain large portions of open space as natural, farm, or forest lands.
  • Critical areas (e.g., wetlands, steep slopes) and resource lands (e.g., agricultural lands) may be included as part of the required open space.
  • Design open spaces for farming or forestry to minimize conflicts between proposed housing and existing farm operations, including a 200 foot vegetated buffer to minimize impact on resource lands while granting views from residences.  Local jurisdictions can encourage organic farming to further reduce potential conflicts.
  • Local jurisdictions should encourage projects that include conservation planning techniques, as well as revise their zoning ordinances to concentrate development in smaller areas in order to preserve large tracts of usable, natural open space.
  • Local jurisdictions are advised to establish maximum, as well as minimum, lot size requirements as part of their cluster development ordinances.
  • Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) can facilitate cluster developments but frequently involve a lengthy administrative and review process.  Local jurisdictions are encouraged to revise and/or establish zoning ordinances to establish cluster developments as a use-by-right within established parameters (refer to Critical Design Practices: Site Setting).
  • Establish buffers and screens of approximately seventy-five (75) feet between clustered buildings and adjacent structures and off-site roadways.
  • Downsize road rights-of-way to reduce scale and slow vehicle speed, but still permit safe emergency vehicle access.
  • Minimize stormwater runoff by incorporating infiltration systems and permeable paving.