Table of Contents

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Housing Supply Planning

Zoning Reform and Code Writing

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

This guide discusses several strategies cities and counties can use to protect environmentally sensitive areas from future development. Chapter 9 discusses the use of a transfer of development rights program to protect environmentally sensitive areas. The section describes the problem, provides a response to the problem, offer expected benefits and steps to implementation. Steps to implementation are divided into three categories, including modest adjustments (mapping resources, establishing conservation easements, etc.), major modifications (hiring consultants to review plans, developing a TDR program, etc.), and wholesale changes (creating a resource protection master plan, establishing permanent sources of funding, etc.). Additional sections of this guide focus on other smart growth initiatives, like determining areas for preservation and cluster development.

Housing Supply Planning

This guide encourages increasing housing supply and expanding housing options to support smart growth in rural areas. Individual sections address reforming rural planned unit developments, changing densities in outlying areas, and more. 

Zoning Reform and Code Writing

This guide discusses a series of land-use and development code reform opportunities to support smart growth in rural areas. Individual sections address reforming rural planned unit developments, right sizing rural roads, modifying densities in outlying areas, using cluster development standards to transition from activity centers to rural areas, adopting smart annexation policies, protecting agricultural areas and environmentally sensitive areas from development, and encouraging rural commercial development.