|
Solutions: Comprehensive Planning
It should almost go without saying that putting together a strong comprehensive plan, with broad public input, is usually the best way for a community or region to focus on the desired pattern of development. The comprehensive planning process also offers the opportunity to become better informed about the impacts that sprawl may be having.
The City-County Planning Board of Forsyth County and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is preparing The Legacy Comprehensive Plan. The final draft of the plan is available online, and is worth a look. It shows a considered, and comprehensive, approach to dealing with growth issues. See, in particular, the Growth Management section, which is based on the following statement of the "existing situation":
|
We can have smart growth if we make more efficient use of land that has already been developed, encouraging reuse and infill and capitalizing on other development opportunities. Older urban and suburban neighborhoods should be reinforced as good places to live and do business. We need to develop policies and incentives to attract housing and businesses to these older areas. We need to revitalize and concentrate development in our downtowns and existing commercial centers, maximizing the density in these areas rather than promoting growth out at the suburban fringe.
The predominant pattern of development in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County over the last fifty years has been suburban sprawl -- fringe. As a small urban county with an increasingly limited supply of raw land for development, we will not be able to sustain this sprawl development pattern indefinitely. And we may not be able to afford to support the infrastructure it requires. We must find a new development model, one that will allow us to grow smarter and maintain our economic vitality and quality of life for the next generation and beyond.
Our ability to succeed in curbing sprawl depends on our willingness to accept higher densities. Only then can we grow smarter by creating more compact and efficient development patterns that accommodate growth, yet help maintain environmental quality and economic competitiveness. Using this approach means utilizing land at the suburban fringe more efficiently and at density levels that will not promote further sprawl. We can grow while protecting our environment by directing where this growth occurs.
|
|
The plan then sets out a series of goals, objectives, polcies, and an action agenda. Among the goals listed:
-- Higher development densities and mixed use development within the Municipal Services Area.
-- New infill development, redevelopment and reuse of land and buildings within the Municipal Services Area to reduce pressure for development and the extension of costly infrastructure and services to rural areas.
-- A more balanced pattern of growth and development in Forsyth County.
-- Reserve Land in Future Growth Areas for Long-Range Urban Development.
-- Preservation of farmland, open space and rural character within the Rural Area.
|
The Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities has prepared a comprehensive regional growth strategy as part of its Regional Blueprint Plan.
The small city of Salisbury, North Carolina, is developing its Vision 2020 comprehensive plan. It's interesting to take a look at the results of the community visioning meetings, and see that many of the ideas reflect a desire for compact growth and development.
Editor's Note: Walter Cudnohufsky provides a good introduction on how a community visioning process can work in "Dreaming the Future: Community Vision Planning," from the Summer 1993 issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal (read excerpts)
|
to top of page