Land preservation-Looking to preserve land? Learn more at LandChoices

Land Choices: Changing Development in America

Benefits of conservation subdivision ordinances: Hear what others are saying

"In the wake of growth pressure spurred by construction of a new high school and extension of a sewer line, I was looking for better development options. LandChoices provided a better option – conservation design for subdivisions. These concepts helped to formulate the basis of my campaign for town council and continue to influence the direction the town is turning as it looks for better models for future development.

We brought Randall Arendt in to help educate us on our options with conservation subdivisions. He helped the community see how beautifully conservation subdivision development answers the question of how to respect both property rights and the environment. We are currently working on our land use plan and, with the help of our regional planner, we're incorporating conservation subdivision design development principles into the document. Once the plan has been approved the council intends to move ahead with changes to our zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations that will allow and encourage conservation subdivision design.

I'm so grateful to Land Choices for highlighting the need to preserve land and for presenting development options that create winning outcomes for everyone in the community."

Annette Allen, Councilmember, Signal Mountain Town Council, Signal Mountain, Tennessee

Undeveloped lakeshore at Sugar Creek Preserve

"When I became a developer, I knew that there had to be a more respectful way to treat the land while also creating unique living spaces. Conservation subdivision design is the perfect solution to accomplish both of these goals and is the only way I approach development. More often than not, this approach saves on project costs and accelerates approval timelines."

Kurt Andrae, President Red Wing Land Company and developer of Sugar Creek Preserve, an award-winning conservation subdivision in Wisconsin that preserves approximately 177-acres, over 69% of the site, as open space.

"As conservation subdivisions emerge, sellers, buyers, and even NIMBYs find set-aside plans they support... Leaving land in its natural state or building trails through it is cheaper than building infrastructure or golf courses."

Big Builder magazine (May 1, 2006)
BIG BUILDER is the premier publication for America's 10,000 most active builders.

Tryon Farm preserved pastures and barn

"We're on a farm that for five generations had never been able to make enough money to just live on it. When you drive through the country, it's beautiful and then suddenly it's got a bunch of houses and it's a mess, and then the farms disappear because the farming is being driven out. So city and country have been in kind of a clash, right? We wanted to do something in which you have the advantages of the big farm, without the disadvantages – such as the onerous burden of taking care of it."

Ed Noonan, Chicago architect and developer of Tryon Farm in Michigan City, Indiana, as interviewed in 'Lake Magazine' (February/March, 2008). Tryon Farm is a conservation subdivision that preserves 120 of the 170 acre former dairy farm. Ed and his wife Eve Noonan are members of LandChoices and serve on LandChoices' advisory group.

"The creative design, zoning and conservation subdivision principles of 'Growing Greener: Conservation By Design' provide communities with a balanced approach that helps developers realize a higher profit margin, that generates tax revenue for the community and that protects their special places. 'Growing Greener: Conservation By Design' has become one of Pennsylvania's premiere tools in our conservation tool box."

Larry Williamson, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Special Assistant to the Secretary

"We have a design problem in America due to outdated ordinances. If you show people a slide show, the places they don't want to live are legal, and the places they'd like to live are illegal. Why are trees illegal?

The truth is that everything we know about subdivision design is wrong. Like Mark Twain said, 'No good deed goes unpunished,' which applies daily to the public planning process and its unintended consequences of conventional subdivisions developments.

This perfectly reasonable notion of LandChoices' campaign suggests that, within each density classification, conservation subdivisions should be by right rather than conditional or 'special'. Turning conventional zoning on its head, the burden of proof would be on an applicant for a conventional subdivision to show why it is necessary to plat all of the land into lots rather than conserving natural features."

Larry Collins, North Carolina developer, member of LandChoices' Advisory Group.

"Most townships and counties (with some notable exceptions) have adopted zoning and subdivision ordinances whose principal purpose is to set rules for the orderly conversion of virtually land that is dry, flood-free, and flat to moderately-sloping, into developed properties. Fortunately, practical alternatives do exist, and LandChoices can help communities adopt land-use regulations that are truly consistent with their Comprehensive Plan polices regarding farmland preservation, woodland habitat conservation, and scenic viewshed protection.

In my professional judgment, conservation subdivision design is the single most effective local regulatory technique enabling communities to implement the conservation policies in their officially-adopted plans. Unlike other techniques, it does not rely on landowner generosity, does not involve down-zoning and devaluing family lands, does not require expensive bond issues for public acquisition, and is not complex or unwieldy as an implementation tool. Moreover, this technique does so at no cost, and is a clear win-win for the landowner, developer, community and wildlife.

Implemented at the municipal level, this technique has enabled Hamburg Township in Livingston County, MI, to preserve more than 2,000 acres. Applied on a county-wide basis, Hanover County, VA has protected more than 5,000 acres through conservation subdivision design. The future is not pre-determined, but can be shaped by local action."

Randall Arendt, renowned land planner and member of LandChoices' advisory group, considered the nation's foremost authority on conservation design for subdivisions, commenting on conservation subdivision design.

"The results show that lots in conservation subdivisions carry a premium, are less expensive to build, and sell more quickly than lots in conventional subdivisions...Together, the results show that conservation subdivisions are more profitable to developers than conventional subdivisions...That lots in conservation subdivisions sold in about half the time as lots in conventional subdivisions must be advantageous to the cash flow of developers...These numbers translate into premiums for lots in conservation subdivisions ranging from $13,000 to $18,000 per acre over lots in conventional subdivisions."

The Economics of Conservation Subdivisions, Wayne State University (MI)

Next Page >

Help towns save land!

Benefits of Ordinance

Protects clean water

Reduces and/or eliminates stormwater run-off

Flood protection

Recharges groundwater

Preserves natural areas and working family farms, and ranches

Preserves wildlife

Connects children with nature

Protects air quality

Preserves rural character

Preserves tourism and agricultural economy

Attracts new business

Fair to landowners and developers

Reduced infrastructure construction costs

Reduced demand for publicly funded greenspace

Community wide interconnected open space

Preserves home values