Strategy Description:

This strategy recommends a process to audit existing development rules against region-wide site planning principles and to revise regulations and guidelines to increase the municipal ability to support environmentally sensitive development. The term "development rules" refers to the mix of subdivision codes, zoning regulations, parking and street standards, and other municipal and county ordinances that collectively shape how development happens in the region.

Often, existing ordinances are unknowingly impediments to improved and innovative site design. For example, in many instances, local ordinances promote or require the construction of wide streets in residential developments when traffic volumes could be adequately handled with much narrower street design. Wider streets create more impervious surfaces and generate greater amounts of stormwater runoff. Relevant to protecting the quality of streams, lakes, and wetlands is the management of impervious surfaces. However, the overall percentage of impervious surfaces cannot be addressed without systematically reforming the local development rules that are responsible for creating it.

This strategy is the first of two strategies that deal specifically with design and development. The second strategy is the Sustainable Design Toolkit. The two design strategies will assist municipalities in promoting more environmentally sensitive and sustainable design.

Key Components:

• Create a regional design task force to implement this strategy and provide representatives to assist individual municipalities (see Strategy 28: Sustainable Design Toolkit – the work described in this strategy may be completed by the full task force or it may be completed by a subcommittee of the task force). The first assignments of the task force would be developing region-wide site planning principles and preparing an ordinance audit form. A primary goal of the task force would be to obtain municipal support through signed Memorandums of Agreement for audit completion within six months. The task force would provide information to municipalities for technical support in completing ordinance reviews.

• Contact potential members of the regional task force. Possible participants:

• Centre County Planning Office
• Centre Regional Planning Agency
• Municipal Departments of Public Works
• Road or Highway Departments
• Municipal and Regional Authorities
• Developers
• Educators
• Architects
• Clearwater Conservancy and other land trusts
• Realtors
• Banking Institutions
• Civic Associations
• Fire Officials
• Land Use Attorneys
• Engineering Consultants
• Homeowner Associations
• Elected Officials
• Local Chambers of Commerce

• Employ an outside facilitator to work with the task force and municipal level roundtables.

• Develop region-wide site planning principles to achieve better development. In order to identify where existing ordinances could be modified to promote economically viable, yet environmentally sensitive development, the region needs to adopt a set of development principles.

• Noise and Light Pollution:

• Establish standards for protecting the region from light pollution.

Action: Identify types of lighting which are prohibited and encouraged

• Establish guidelines for reducing noise pollution.

Action: Identify maximum decibel levels
• Open Space:

• Establish guidelines for managing and maintaining natural open space.

Action: Identify types of open space and conversions for guidelines to be prepared (i.e., farmland to meadow)

• Designate a legal entity responsible for managing both natural and recreational open space.

Action: Identify various options including pros and cons of each option

• Site Development:

• Design streets for the minimum required pavement width based on proposed use (on-street parking, service, emergency, access, etc) and traffic volume.

Action: Identify use types and minimum viable roadway widths

• Minimize impervious cover by limiting roadway and cul-de-sac length and increasing efficiency of proposed roads (shared driveways, efficient double loaded roadways, and landscaped cul-de-sac turn-arounds).

Action: Identify maximum roadway standards based on emergency and maintenance standards, safety, and minimum number of lots

• Locate utilities and subsurface storm drainage (SWM) pipes within pavement section of right-of-way.

Action: Identify which utilities and SWM pipes could be included

• Encourage parking codes that require the minimum number of parking spaces necessary for a proposed use and minimum size spaces.

Action: Identify viable minimum and maximum parking space requirements and standard minimum parking stall dimensions for various uses

• Encourage shared and structured parking facilities, pervious surfacing for over flow parking and minimum amount of landscape islands with trees within parking areas.

Action: Identify shared parking potentials, pervious surface uses and minimum landscape island standards

• Encourage pedestrian and non-motorized vehicle paths/sidewalks/trails and links to regional trail systems and existing sidewalks. Link activity areas (schools, library, etc) and public transportation hubs with non-motorized circulation routes wherever possible.

Action: Identify trail/path standards (right-of-way, width, clearance, materials, etc.) for various users and the regional non-motorized circulation system

• Promote open space preservation, reduced lot size, reduced building envelope, and efficient development patterns. See each land development category in Strategy 28: Sustainable Design Toolkit.

Action: Identify lands suitable for development

• Encourage condensed historic/agrarian land development patterns.

Action: Identify viable development patterns of the region’s traditional settlements

• Encourage architectural influences that are tasteful and in context with the region, but do not necessarily imitate the past.

Action: Identify compatible elements of architectural influences

• Apply principles of green technology to buildings, site design, materials, etc.

Action: Identify green building principles and standards to be met

• Landscaping:

• Encourage tree planting and natural landscaping using indigenous plant material and patterns, which replicate naturally occurring plant communities.

Action: Identify indigenous plant material and plant communities

• Discourage the use of invasive and nuisance plant species and encourage the aggressive removal of these species.

Action: Identify invasive and nuisance plant species and methods of eradication

• Encourage the reduction of lawn area and change weed ordinances accordingly.

Action: Identify lawn alternatives and changes to weed ordinances

• Encourage the use of organic fertilizers and pesticides and the benefits of reduced maintenance.

Action: Prepare a list of sources for organic fertilizers and pesticides and benefits of reduced maintenance

• Encourage hedgerow establishment and mixed deciduous buffers as an alternative to conventional mono-culture evergreen buffers. Clearly identify the difference between buffers and screens in ordinances and adjust design standards accordingly.

Action: Prepare a list of hedgerow and deciduous plant species for buffers along with minimum size and width standards for various typical buffer types

• Encourage passive solar building orientation and use of vegetated buffers for energy conservation.

Action: Identify passive solar guidelines and alternatives

• Stormwater Management:

• Encourage stormwater management best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality in accordance with locally adopted watershed management plans.

Action: Identify viable BMP alternatives for the region considering karst geology issues

• Replicate existing drainage patterns, promote source infiltration (roof top run-off, etc.) and spreading in porous areas, and naturally vegetated open swales to convey and treat stormwater.

Action: Identify standards for controlling site water and the site scale watersheds; provide guidelines for vegetated open channel design

• Limit grade disturbance and clearing during construction.

Action: Identify methods of protecting undisturbed land and limiting construction disturbance

• Signage:

• Encourage human scale standards for signage and lighting suitable to the land use category.

Action: Explore sign types to encourage

• Prepare a municipal ordinance audit process and form. As a starting point, the regional task force may begin with the audit process described in the report "Land Use Regulations Supportive of Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources in Urbanizing Rural Communities: Evaluation Criteria and Municipal Officials’ Perspective" (more information on the process is available from Kelleann Foster, Pennsylvania State University, Landscape Architecture Department). This report outlines a review process for evaluating development rules against a set of criteria (for the Mid-Bald Eagle Watershed the criteria would be established from the land development principles). Examples of the evaluation sheets and a sample database entry are provided in the attached appendix. The audit would be prepared as a user-friendly, simple, fill in the blank template that a municipality would use to make a self-evaluation.

• Organize local, municipal level, site planning roundtables (the core group would be the local planning commission) to provide input on ordinance reformation. The primary tasks of the roundtable are to systematically review existing development rules in the context of the site development principles, and then determine if changes should be made to the rules using the audit as a tool to determine areas in need of improvement.

• Assign representatives from the regional task force to assist the roundtables. The roundtables need to weigh the level of effort required to make changes and the resulting overall benefit to the municipality and region as a result of the change.

• Use the outside facilitator to guide and structure the process. This third party will help to ensure that all views and perspectives are considered.

• Complete the following phases in the roundtable process:

• Complete municipal audit of existing development rules. It is important to understand how existing local regulations make it difficult and sometimes even impossible for developers of new land development projects to design sites to protect environmental quality and build "sustainable communities". This audit will alert municipal officials of impediments to sustainable development in existing ordinances. An additional goal of the audit is for the municipality to have a clear understanding of which design tools they should adopt to encourage sustainable development (see Strategy 28: Sustainable Design Toolkit).

• Compile a list of changes to the development rules.

• Identify which agencies of local government have the authority to change to the development rules.

• Draft changes to the development rules. This would potentially include changes that need to be made to local ordinances, engineering standards, guidelines, and other regulations that collectively shape local development. The roundtable will also need to discuss technical language and the legal and economic implications of ordinance changes.

• Implement proposed changes in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

The strategy would apply to all twenty-three municipalities in the region. Individual municipalities would complete an audit of their existing ordinances.

Indicators:

• Number of audits completed by municipalities
• Number of ordinances changed for consistency with site planning principles

• Department of Community and Economic Development – Land Use Planning and Technical Assistance Program (LUP-TAP) a smart growth planning funding source
• DEP – Land Recycling Program (Brownfield Redevelopment)
• Community Development Block Grants (Low Income Redevelopment/Development Areas)