P&Z Seeks To Promote Open Space Subdivisions

By Andrew Gorosko

At a pair of upcoming sessions, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members hope to stimulate local developmental interest in a set of land use regulations that the P&Z created seven years ago intended to maximize the amount of open space land that would be preserved in certain residential subdivisions.

Although the “open space conservation subdivision” (OSCS) regulations have been in effect since August 2004, no developer has ever pursued a residential development project under the terms of those rules.

The OSCS regulations are intended to curb suburban sprawl by clustering the houses that are built on a site, thus preserving adjacent contiguous open space areas.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean told P&Z members at a July 7 session that although land use officials have sought to encourage such open space-oriented development, no residential developer has ever designed a local project based on the OSCS rules.

The town’s conventional residential subdivision rules require that at least 15 percent of a subdivision’s area be designated as undeveloped open space land. The P&Z increased the minimum open space requirement for conventional subdivisions from 10 percent to 15 percent of a project’s area in April 2004.

A conventional subdivision, which would be built on a hypothetical 100-acre site, thus needs to have at least 15 acres designated as open space.

By contrast, an OSCS project built on a 100-acre site would have 50 acres designated as open space.

Ms Dean said that the town land use agency has a three-page summary of the OSCS rules, which simply explains the provisions of the regulations.

The P&Z plans to have public meetings on the OSCS regulations with local realtors on August 11, and with local land engineers and developers on September 20, Ms Dean said. At those sessions, the P&Z would encourage those groups to consider employing the OSCS rules for future residential subdivisions.

In 2003, Harrall-Michalowski Associates, a planning consultancy, performed an extensive study for the P&Z on the workability of OSCS development in Newtown.

At a recent P&Z session, Ms Dean said that several P&Z members had attended a informational meeting on low-impact development at which it was suggested that the P&Z modify its procedures for applying for an OSCS project to make it a simpler, more straightforward process for developers. The complexity of the current application process may be “scaring off’” developers from applying for OSCS projects, she said.

“We’ve had no one, absolutely no one [apply] for a conservation subdivision,” she noted.

The P&Z needs to learn from builders why they have not sought to develop such projects, said P&Z member Robert Mulholland. Such comments could help the P&Z modify its rules, as necessary, to encourage such applications, he said.

The OSCS approach to development involves less infrastructure construction and less maintenance than required in conventional subdivisions, he noted.

George Benson, director of planning and land use, said that the P&Z cannot force developers to submit OSCS applications, although it is a better way to develop land in terms of open space preservation.

Developers apparently believe they could not sell the houses in an OSCS-style project, Mr Benson said.

When homeowners encounter the high property maintenance costs associated with large lots in conventional subdivisions, they may then understand the drawbacks of such large lots, according to Ms Dean.

Ms Dean urged P&Z members to read the Harrall-Michalowski study to familiarize themselves with the issues involved in OSCS development.

OSCS Regulations

In August 2004, after nearly two years of consideration and revision, P&Z members unanimously approved both zoning and planning regulations that are intended to maximize the amount of undeveloped land that would be preserved in some new subdivisions of single-family homes.

The P&Z had mentioned the need for such regulations to preserve open space in its 1981 Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

In the P&Z’s paradigm for OSCS development, land in a subdivision would be categorized as three types of real estate: relatively compact, privately owned, individual single-family houses and their yards; public open space land that is open to the general public; and privately owned open space land that is open to the property owners in that subdivision.

The P&Z’s goal for such an OSCS project is to keep one-half of the site from being developed. Thus, of a hypothetical 100-acre site, 50 acres would be used for home sites and roadways, 15 acres would be preserved as open space that is open to the general public, and the remaining 35 acres would be privately owned open space available for use by the subdivision’s property owners.

Such privately owned open space could be used as a location for large-scale septic systems for multiple houses in the subdivision, for community water systems, and for stormwater drainage systems.

OSCS development is intended for sites of at least 20 acres, or at least eight building lots. The regulations would be applicable to residentially zoned land which now has one-, two-, and three-acre zoning.

The regulations’ goal is to provide greater flexibility and creativity in residential development design with the goal of maximizing open space preservation. Open space land in an OSCS development would be reserved for wildlife habitat, natural resource conservation, historic and archaeological preservation, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and recreation.