Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Safe Growth Audits <br /> <br />BY.lJavid R. Godschalk, FAICP , <br /> <br />As communitiesgrow and develop, they may becom'e more vulner?ble <br />to natural hazards. <br /> <br />Expanding into more hazardous areas or rede-' <br />veloping existing areas already sl,lbject to haz- <br />ards can pose a threat to future community <br />safety. This article proposes a technique- <br />the safe growth aUdit-that can be used to <br />evaluate the extent to which a jurisdiction is <br />growing safely relative to the natural hazards <br />it faces. <br />The purpose of the safe growth audit <br />is to analyze the impacts of.current policies, <br />ordinances, and plans on community safety <br />from hazard risks due to growth. It gives the <br />community a comprehensive but concise <br />evaluation of the positive and negative ef- <br />fects of its existing growth guidance frame-. <br />work on future hazard vulnerability. The audit <br />report informs citizens and decision makers <br />about important safety issues and highlights <br />needed changes in policy and planning <br />instruments. <br />Conducting a safe growth audit can help <br />to prevent future growth conflicts. If the c?m- <br />munity and its elected officials understand <br />how their zoning and subdivision ordiriances <br />allow growth in hazardous areas, they can re- <br />vise these ordinances before property owners <br />embark on risky projects. If they understand <br />how their compri:!hensive plans fail to guide <br />. growth to safe locations, they can amend the <br />plans. If they understand how their capital im- . <br />provement programs encourage unsafe growth, <br />they can change their utility provision policies. <br /> <br />. WHAT IS SAFE GROWTH? <br />Safe growth is community-specific. Its defini- <br />tion' depends upon the hazards and vulner- <br />ability of each jurisdiction. The community with <br />half of its projected growth.area loc'ated in a <br />100-year floodplain will have a different defini- <br /> <br />,: 66 <br /> <br /> <br />tion than the community whose vulnerability <br />stems from the presence of an earthquak: falllt <br />zone adjace!1t to its existing central business <br />district. <br />To define safe growth, COnsider its op~o- <br />. site-unsafe growth. Ask yourself if accommo- <br />dating the expected 20-year population groWth <br />according to the existing future land-use plan <br />is likely to put more people in harm's way. Will <br />it result in more intense development in known <br />hazard areas? Will current redevelopment poli- <br />cies increase the amount of property vulner-' <br />able to hazard risks? Will the implementation <br />of the capital improvement program encourage <br />unsafe development proposals by facilitating <br />access to dangerous locations? . <br />If the answer to these questions is yes, <br />the jurisdiction could face an unsafe future. I! <br />needs to take a careful look at the i.mpacts of <br />'growth plans and regulations and to consider <br />revising them to take account ofthe safety of <br />future growth-in short, it needs to 'conduct a <br />safe growth audit. <br /> <br />SAFE GROWTH AND RESILIENCE <br />SCife growth is a significant fa~tor in com- <br />munity resilience-the capacity to withstand <br />shocks from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, <br />or other natural hazards without permanent <br />harm. Built on safe groV\lth prinCiples, resilient <br />communities are able to anticipate,weather, <br />and recover from the impacts of natural haz- <br />ards. Designed to be strong and flexible,they <br />may bend, but they do not break. Th~ir new <br />development is guided away from high-hazard <br />areas, and theiTvulnerable existing develop- <br />ment is relocated to safe areas. Their build- <br />ings are constructed or retrofitted to m,eet <br />hazard code standards. Their natural environ- <br />ment protective systems are mairitaineq and <br />conserved so as to be able to mitigate hazard <br />damage. And their citizens, governments., , <br />and businesses are prepared with in form a- <br />'tion about hazard vulnerability and disaster <br />resQurces. <br />Resilience cansometimes be overlooked <br />in the process of approving and building new <br />development projects. Applying the safe <br />growth audit principles ensures thatthe com- <br />muriity is qware of the impacts of population <br />and economic growth on its hazard vulnerabil- <br />. ity and is prepared to take action to address <br />the related public safety issues. For example, : <br />would a proposed rezoning put more people at <br />risk by allowing higher-density development in <br />the loci-year floodplain? Or would a proposed <br />bridge to a barrier island encourage growth in a <br />high-hazard area? If so, is there 'an alternative <br />plan or ordinance revision that would mitigate <br />the risks? <br />Natural hazard resilience is encouraged <br />through principles incorporated into three <br />types of local growth guidance instruments: <br /> <br />ZONING PRACTICE 10.09 <br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATlONlpage 2 <br />