Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/10/2006

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in the context of land-use planning, 'impact" means the effect of one use on another, per- haos so much so that the character of the neighborhood or community is changed. Some of the impacts may bdng positive, welcome changes, such as reusing or rep{acing abandoned buildings or providing amenities as part of a development project. However. ne~adve impacts can reduce the quality of tire in the neighborhood and community. Decision makers should consider whether the use could generate any of the fo[Iowin§ impacts: Traffic impacts · Congestion · Safety loss orraducfion · Noise · Glare from vehicles Visual impacts · Viewshed abstrucfion · Lack of/substandard landscaping · Unattractive/noncantextual buildings Environmental Impacts · Air and water pollution · Loss or reduction of habitat including sensitive areas (e.g., wet- tends) Nuisance Impacts · Noise · Glare (vehicles, parking lots, building lights, parking lot security lights, etc.) · Odor · Vibration · Electronic interference PrivaCy Impacts · Tall building encroachment · Poody placed buildings ·Poody sited outdoor gathedn§ places (especially associated with recreation) · Density and intensity af use increases Safety and Warfare Impacts · Exposure to fire, flooding, or natural disasters In contrast to their mare scholarly' approach, Anthony Flint, a veteran journalist who has covered development issues for the Boston G/obe, tells the stades of the foot sol- diers who march far and against sprawl. including former Maryland Gev. Pads Glendening, architect Andres Ouany, and developer Anthony Pa[azzoio, who challenged wetlands regulations all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in This Land: The 8aFde Over Sprawl and the Future of America. Together. the books offer good story. telling and hard economics on the hottest topic in zoning today. combined with a berm, landscaped buffers will provide the illusion of separation between CONCLUSION Assigning conditions is not an exact science. Depending on the neighborhood, even similar uses will have different [mpacts. Some wi([ be tolerated in one neighborhood but not in another. Planners can consider past exoeri- once with specific uses by identifying the impacts that occurred and evaluating the suc- cess of the standards imposed to address those impacts. There are resources to help planners and zoning ofticia[s understand the condi- tional use process. In particular. [oak for monographs. APA's Planning Advisory Service (PAS) reports, and articles an preparing zoning ordinances. Specialized texts, such as Chase that help in the prepa- ration of historic preservation ordinances or architectural review standards, wi[[ also be helpful. Rnally, resources that explain urban design concepts and standards should be particulady useful in identi~in~ appropriate conditional use standards. ZONING REPORTS SPRAWL COSTS: ECONOMIC IMPACT~ OF UNCHECKED DEVELOPMENT Robert W. 8urchell. Anthony Dawns, Barbara McCann, and Sahon Mukherii. 2oa$. Island Press, Washington, DC. 200 pp. $25. THIS LAND: THE BATII.E OVER SPRAWL AND THE RJl~ RE OF AMERICA Anthony Rint. 2006. Johns Hopkins UniversiO~ Press, Baltimore. 288 pp, $24-95. Zoning, for good or ill stands front and center in the debates over sprawl and/ts impact on the metropolitan environment. In Sprawl Costs: Economic Impacts of Unchecked Oevelopment, Burchei[ and his fel- low authors have explored for several years the economic costs of [ow-density develop- ment that has allowed land development to expand at a rate far faster than population growth in virtually every metropolitan area in North America, In this new book, they can- tinue their quest to attach rea( numbers to those costs to make the case that "sprawl costs us alL" But they also define an a~tema- tire mode of growth that couJd he(p ta solve the problems they illuminate. VOL. a3, NO. fi Zoning practice is a monthly publication of the ZONING PRACTICE 5.06 193