Presentation 3.1: Land-Use Policy and Zoning

1. Presentation 3.1: Land-Use Policy and Zoning

2. Outline • Introduction • Land-use policy and what it does • Multiple levels of policy • Policy-making process and your role • Zoning, the zoning process, and your role • Landscape code examples • Summary

3. Introduction There are a variety of tools that governments and communities can use to regulate development, natural resource use, and resource management. These tools can greatly influence wildland-urban interface issues. Policy is one such tool.

4. Land-use policy Policy is a purposive course of action or inaction that an actor or set of actors takes to deal with a problem.

5. Policy… • Determines • How land and resources are used • What resources require protection • Defines • Regulatory methods

6. Unintended consequences Policy can help conserve and enhance natural resources… OR It can inadvertently lead to their degradation.

7. Multiple levels Policies can be developed at all levels of government: • Federal • State • Local (city/county/parish) • Neighborhood

8. Exercise 3.1:Making the Link – Policy in the Interface

9. Exercise 3.1 List policies that influence: • Forests • Water • Wildlife • Air quality

10. Federal policy Examples: • Endangered Species Act • Clean Water Act • Clean Air Act In many cases, states are responsible for implementing or regulating federal policies.

11. State policy • States may create policies to supplement federal policy • Many state governments require local governments to develop comprehensive plans for growth management • States my also have nonregulatory guidelines (e.g., best management practices or BMPs)

12. Local policy Most states delegate their land-use authority to local governments Examples of local policies: • wetland protection ordinances • storm-water regulations • tree preservation ordinances

13. Neighborhood policy • Homeowners or property owners associations rules • Neighborhood covenants created by developers

14. Exercise 3.7: Guiding Neighborhood Policy

15. Exercise 3.7 Discussion Questions • What opportunities for influencing neighborhood-level policy and management did you observe? How would you approach the developer or residents in each scenario? What kinds of things could you do to gain their trust? • What types of information would you give residents? How could you convince them of the importance of this information? How could you correct misconceptions they might have? • How does the approach differ in Scenario 1 versus Scenario 2? Why? • How could you continue to communicate and work with the homeowners association in Scenario 2?

16. Collaboration Collaboration among agencies, stakeholders, and levels of government combines experience, authority, and resources, creating an ideal outcome.

17. Enlibra Doctrine • National Standards, Neighborhood Solutions • Collaboration, Not Polarization • Reward Results, Not Programs • Science for Facts, Process for Priorities • Markets before Mandates • Change a Heart, Change a Nation • Recognition of Costs and Benefits • Solutions Transcend Political Boundaries

18. Steps in the policy process • Problem identification • Policy agenda setting • Policy formulation • Policy adoption • Policy implementation • Policy evaluation

19. Steps in the policy process • Problem identification • Policy agenda setting • Policy formulation • Policy adoption • Policy implementation • Policy evaluation

20. Problem identification Natural resource professionals are … • Aware of important issues and short- and long-term consequences • Help policy makers prioritize issues • May be aware of potential solutions • Share ideas about what worked for other communities Providing consistent, reliable information increases resource professional’s credibility

21. Agenda setting • Increase public awareness about the issue • Encourage public involvement • Distribute flyers • Speak at community meetings • Rally support • Connect natural resource issues with current community priorities

22. Policy evaluation Assist decision makers in evaluating the affects a policy has on natural resources Example: • Policy aims to protect gopher tortoise • Resource professionals can provide data on tortoise populations and wildlife movement • Decision makers can determine if the policy is effective

23. Exercise 3.2: Tracking the Policy Process

24. What is zoning? Regulations that define appropriate land uses, minimum lot sizes, and acceptable building height and setback

25. Zoning defined • Divides communities into agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential land uses • Intended to promote compatibility of land uses

26. Zoning in the interface Effective zoning: • Promotes successful land-use regulation • Promotes natural resource protection • Promote the goals of the local comprehensive plan

27. Zone with care However, zoning ordinances have historically led to development that exacerbated interface issues. They need to be created with care. Zoning needs your input!

28. The zoning process • Data Gathering • Public Notification • Commission Review • Commission Vote • Public Comment • Review for Compatibility with Plan

29. The zoning process • Data Gathering • Public Notification • Commission Review • Commission Vote • Public Comment • Review for Compatibility with Plan

30. Potential roles for resource professionals • Serve on the zoning commission • Provide reliable data about resource conditions and land-use impacts for local decision makers Your chance to help shape development and reduce interface issues!

31. Landscape codes • Define minimum standards for planting and maintaining natural features within a community • Dictate • Design • Installation • Maintenance requirements

32. Use of landscape codes Encourage: • Preservation • Management • Replanting of trees to protect canopy • Improve storm-water management • Conserve vulnerable habitat • Protect floodplain

33. Landscape ordinances in three southern communities Protect existing trees and promote planting and maintenance of vegetation • Mandeville, Louisiana • Collier County, Florida • Southlake, Texas

34. Mandeville, Louisiana • Preserve forest character • Protect plant communities • Regulate land clearing • Require parking lot plantings • Protect large trees from removal

35. Collier County, Florida • Improve community aesthetics • Promote harmony between natural and built environments • Create micro-detention areas within open space of a development

36. Southlake, Texas • Landscape and Tree Preservation Ordinance created in 1990’s • New construction plans must be reviewed with landscape plans for permitting • City inspectors ensure plants are protected and planted properly

37. Summary • Policy and zoning are two types of tools that guide land-use decisions in the wildland-urban interface. • These tools affect natural resources and resource management. • You have a crucial role to play in the development effective policy and zoning.

38. Credits Photos: • Slides 9,13,16,26: Larry Korhnak • Slide 22: S.J. Krasemann/Peter Arnold, Inc. Literature: • Slide 4:Anderson 1984, and Heidenheimer, Heclo, and Adams. 1983. • Slide 12: Kundell, Myszewski, and DeMeo 2003. • Slides 18-19: Anderson, Brady, Bullock, and Stewart 1984. • Slide 25: Myszewski, and Kundell. 2005. • Slide 17: Western Governors Association 2003.