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Goal: Green Infrastructure: Proposed Re-Draft of Goal: Conserve, Manage and Increase Natural

The document discusses goals around preserving natural areas, wildlife habitat, and reducing impervious surfaces. It identifies factors contributing to losses in forest cover and increases in impervious surfaces, such as development patterns, economic issues, and cultural expectations. Potential strategies are proposed to make measurable improvements, including education campaigns, incentives, regulations, and inter-agency collaboration. Key players would be developers, government agencies, educators, non-profits and community groups.

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11 views

Goal: Green Infrastructure: Proposed Re-Draft of Goal: Conserve, Manage and Increase Natural

The document discusses goals around preserving natural areas, wildlife habitat, and reducing impervious surfaces. It identifies factors contributing to losses in forest cover and increases in impervious surfaces, such as development patterns, economic issues, and cultural expectations. Potential strategies are proposed to make measurable improvements, including education campaigns, incentives, regulations, and inter-agency collaboration. Key players would be developers, government agencies, educators, non-profits and community groups.

Uploaded by

Planning Docs
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Goal: Green Infrastructure

Preserve natural areas and features that are ecologically unusual or


environmentally sensitive. Preserve and enhance a diversity of plant and
animal species in self-sustaining concentrations. Increase and conserve
forests and slow the growth of impervious surface.

Proposed re-draft of goal: Conserve, manage and increase natural


areas and wildlife habitat. Preserve and expand tree canopy and natural
systems while reducing untreated impervious surfaces with a balanced
approach.

Content Expert: Christine Conn, MD DNR

M-NCPPC Healthy and Sustainable Communities Workshop


June 25 & 26, 2008
Indicators
Forest Cover
Some Highlights from Indicator Discussion
50
40
•Don’t trade forest cover for tree cover
Percent

30
•Create tree canopy database
20
10 Potential Indicators
0
•Ratio between development and impervious
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Year surfaces
•Ratio between demand for housing and
Impervious Surface
adequate public facilities with green environment
20
•Total storm water runoff
15
Percent

10 •Impervious surfaces tracked by watershed


5
• Measure cumulative impact of projects coming
0
in (net loss)
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Year
•Percentage of continuous forest acreage, urban
tree canopy, tree canopy- monitor how much,
condition, and extent of
M-NCPPC
Story Behind the Trend lines
Prioritized Factors
• Prioritized Factor Categories (overlapping, not independent)
• Education

• Market Forces
• Regulation and Policy
• Conflicting Goals (affordable housing vs. environment)
• Economics (lack of incentives, developers, public investment, impact
opportunities, individual issues)
• Development (type, smart growth, plan for high density vs. agricultural
land use)
• Cultural Expectations & Demands

M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

ASSUMPTION: Infill/redevelopment contributes more to loss of tree canopy and


pervious surface than does new development

IDEAS:
• Educate homeowners or developers on efficient redevelopment
• Spread the word, person-to-person
• Get government/media/school system to spread word
• County Council has monthly recognition of homeowners whose ‘rehab’ led to
largest reduction in energy consumption

KEY PLAYERS: Diverse group (people in this room)- media, County Council, utility
companies

M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

IDEAS:
• Biking, rail, consolidating stops for buses
• Greater public advocacy
• Home buying process: Realtors and Builders, home buyers,
incorporating high efficiency products- creating pamphlets, website
with ‘green cookbook’
• High efficiency products
• High cost- rail

KEY PLAYERS: Smart growth consultants, transit authority, consumers,


Planning board and Council, county agencies
M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

IDEAS:
• Education via utility bill reduction strategies
• Put visuals projected on walls (i.e. strip malls)
• Integrate in school curriculum

KEY PLAYERS: PSAs (via government agencies), people in this room, MCPS,
non-profit conservation groups

M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

IDEAS:
• Students pass an environmental competency test
• Weed Warrior program expanded
• Impervious surface tax and credit (tax reduced for mitigation)
• TV commercials
• Neighborhood tree-planting contest
• Coupon for tree-planting

KEY PLAYERS: Community organizations, Park and Planning,


Government

M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

IDEAS:
• Cost/benefit model
• Incentives for financial behavior modification, tools like
real-cost
• Valuing the ecological services provided

KEY PLAYERS : County regulations/government agencies

M-NCPPC
What Will Work to Make a
Measurable Difference

Potential Strategies/Actions (including partners and their roles):

IDEAS:
•
Information and resource sharing
•
Developing new resources
•
Make use of volunteers
•
Image of sustainability- what does it look like?- how we
build? Preserve green infrastructure?
KEY PLAYERS : Developers, planners, zoning board, media, peer
localities (similar communities to MoCo with success),
residents/community members

M-NCPPC

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