CBP/TRS 222/11
EPA903-R-99-01!
The Center for
Chesapeake
Communities'
Summit Report-
TOWARD A
SUSTAINABLE
CHESAPEAKE
Tools and techniques to
promote smart growth,
protect the environment
and
preserve quality-of-life
1999
I JR. EPA Region III
Regional Center for Environments
Information
3 050 Arch Street (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103
The Summit - Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake,
was held March 21-23,1999 at the
Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland
EPA Report Collection
Regional Center for Environmental Information
U.S. EPA Region III
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Chesapeake Bay Program
-------
The Center for Chesapeake Communities'
Summit -
Toward a Sustainable
Chesapeake
Tools and techniques to
promote smart growth,
protect the environment and
preserve quality-of-life
Regional f enter for [.mnoniiieiHal Informatic
US FPA Region III
1999 1650 Arch Si
Philadelphia, PA 1<)ini
Printed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Chesapeake Bay Program
-------
Summit Summary
prepared by the
Center for Chesapeake Communities
U.S. liTA Region III
Regional Center for Environmental
Information
1650 Arch Street (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Printed on Recycled Paper
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Table of Contents
Sponsors 1
Partners and Funding Sources 2
Introduction 3
Summit Summary
Toward A Sustainable Chesapeake 5
Summit Workshops
Track I - Starting Out Right 11
Building Consensus and Resolving Conflict 11
Cooperating With Our Neighbor Jurisdictions 13
Better Planning Through Visualization Tools 15
Smart Growth and Transportation 17
Track II - Characterizing Your Community 19
Measuring Progress and Success through
Community Indicators 19
Environmental Evaluations: A Characterization Tool 21
Better Planning Through Build-out Analysis 23
GIS and Other Tools for Forest Conservation 25
Track III - Planning For The Future 27
Developing Sustainable Codes and Ordinances 27
Redevelopment through a Shift in Tax Policy 29
Preserving Green Space 31
Pollution Prevention 33
Track IV - Implementing Sustainable
Community Initiatives 35
Retrofitting the Suburbs 35
Green Building Techniques 37
Low Impact Development 39
Making Smart Growth Work 41
Training Sessions
Community Capacity Building 43
Nurturing Sustainable Economic Development 45
Promoting Innovative Site Design 47
Rapid Watershed Planning 49
Conclusion
Moving Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 51
Appendix I - Resource Guide 53
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\*j
CHESAPEAKE
BAY TRUST
^^ The CCC thanks all the Sponsors who made the Summit possible:
• Baltimore Gas & Electric Company
* Center for Rural Pennsylvania
» Chesapeake Bay Trust
• Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service, USDA
* District of Columbia Government
* Maryland, Delaware, & the District of
Columbia Soft Drink Association
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
* Maryland Department of Transportation
» Maryland Energy Administration
* Maryland Office of Planning
• Office of Sustainable Development and
Intergovernmental Affairs, NOAA,
US Department of Commerce
* Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection
« Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
* U.S. Department of Energy's Rebuild
America program
* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0
Maryland Department of Transportation
MARYLAND ENERGY ADMINISTRATION
Rebuild America
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
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THE CCC WOULD LIKE TO THANK
THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR SUPPORT
SUMMIT PARTNERS:
Center for Watershed Protection
Chesapeake Bay Program
Environmental Finance Center
1000 Friends of Maryland
10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
THE FOLLOWING ASSOCIATIONS HAVE
HELPED MAKE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania
Maryland Municipal League
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs
Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors
Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Governments
Virginia Association of Counties
Virginia Municipal League
The Summit - Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake was funded in part by a U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Sustainable Development Challenge Grant, a competitive grant program that
"encourages community, business, and government to work cooperatively to develop flexible,
locally-oriented approaches that link place-based environmental management with
sustainable development, and revitalization."
For more information about the U.S. EPA's Center for Sustainability, visit their web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region03/sdwork/grants.htm
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
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••^••MM^HMM Introduction mm^mm^mmmmmmm
Bridging the gap between innovative, sustainable principles and implementation requires the synergistic
efforts of local elected officials, the business and financial community, developers, and the public at-
large. Each of these stakeholder groups pky a critical role in planning for a more sustainable future
given opportunity, tools, techniques and resources.
Since its inception, the Center for Chesapeake Communities (CCQ has managed a number of projects
including a Site Planning Demonstration Project that seeks to provide the region with a living model of
sustainable development in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, demonstrating the economic, ecological and
quality of life benefits of sustainable site planning. By measuring marketability, social and financial im-
pacts, and environmental impacts to local resources and the Chesapeake Bay, effective tools and tech-
niques are identified. The Project also categorizes the process by which communities define a set of sus-
tainable principles to plan for smart growth, and incorporate these principles into on-the-ground devel-
opment.
To disseminate these tools and techniques the CCC developed a two-day
conference to bring together individuals from throughout the Bay watershed One's mind,
involved in community development and growth, land use and planning. The Stretched by a new
Summit- Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake was held March 21-23 at the irfpa npvpr
Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, and attracted over '
three hundred people, half of which represented local governments. The *tS
Summit brought together, local, state, and federal government leaders as well dimensions."
as members of the business and development communities. The Summit re- rtfii/pr
ceived funding from 15 state, federal, non-profit and corporate organizations,
underscoring the need to address development and growth issues in the con- nO/IJieS
text of sustainability. ^^^^^^^^^^^
As a step in planning for this event, the CCQ in coordination with the Bay Program's Local Govern-
ment Advisory Committee and others, held several roundtables, one in each of the Chesapeake Bay
Program jurisdictions. These sessions offered an opportunity for local government officials, developers,
planners and concerned citizens to discuss growth and development in the context of building sustain-
able communities; to examine some of the impediments to growing in a sustainable manner; and to pro-
pose initiatives and solutions to overcome impediments.
While participant input reflected the unique characteristics of each region's policies and issues, there
were clear and similar themes that resonated from these discussions. These emerging themes centered
around the inherent obstacles local leaders face in planning for the future:
• the absence of public awareness and participation in community planning;
• the kck of coordination between state governments and local communities;
• the difficulty in providing flexible regulations and maintaining control over growth; and
• the lack of collaboration between neighboring municipalities and counties.
Building on the results of these roundtables and the Site Planning Demonstration Project, the CCC
structured an action agenda for the Summit. Two groups were identified to help build the agenda: the
Advisory Board, made up of Bay Program signatories including EPA state representatives; and an Edi-
torial Board, made up of local governments associations and local government representatives. Their
involvement was critical in ensuring that the Summit agenda addressed and met key goals of the Chesa-
peake Bay Program and the needs of local governments.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 3
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The Summit was designed as a catalyst to challenge local governments
to develop sustainable initiatives in the Bay watershed. To this end,
the Summit is designed to meet the needs of local governments at dif-
ferent levels of interest, planning, and implementation. The Summit
provided four tracks to address these differentials:
* Starting Out Right
* Characterizing Your Community
* Planning for the Future
» Implementing Sustainable Community Initiatives
A significant recommendation that came out of the roundtables and
discussions with local government officials was the need for success-
ful models to further their goals. As the summary notes, each work-
shop offered models, on-the-ground examples and references on
where to find more information.
We are encouraged that the Summit met its purpose to inform and
initiate plans and actions. We trust this document serves as a refer-
ence and guide to Summit participants and others to bridge the gap
between ideas and implementation.
President's Council on Sustainable Development
Vision Statement
"Our vision is of a life-sustaining Earth. We are committed to the
achievement of a dignified, peaceful, and equitable existence. A sus-
tainable United States will have a growing economy that provides eq-
uitable opportunities for satisfying livelihoods and a safe, healthy,
high quality of life for current and future generations. Our nation
will protect its environment, its natural resource base, and the func-
tions and viability of natural systems on which all life depends."
A National Town Meeting
Detroit, MI and Points
Across America
The Center for Chesapeake
Communities,
A Proud
NTM Partner
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
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i Summit Proceedings i
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
Qtizens and environmentalists in Chattanooga and Seattle represent
two of the earliest communities bringing the concept of sustainability to
the front line. Both have received national attention for their ability to
address the diverse needs of their many interest groups, and incorporate
them into a reality for their communities.
Many other communities are taking their lead, incorporating new ideas
and initiatives into comprehensive plans for their local economic, social
and natural environment. For example, Portland residents and local
government officials set urban growth boundaries to curtail sprawl, and
spawned a host of local advocates that work to sustain Portland. Most
recently Atlanta, led by the initiative of Georgia's governor, has joined
the move to promote livable communities.
In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Maryland works with local govern-
ments and the public and private sector through its Smart Growth ini-
tiative. Union County, Pennsylvania started by identifying sacred places,
and has developed an ongoing Sustainable Communities Initiative.
Virginia communities of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Com-
mission are seeking ways to implement recently established
Sustainability Accords.
Looking beyond the "sustainability" catch phrase, towns, cities, bor-
oughs, townships, and counties throughout the nation are finding op-
portunities to talk about, plan for, ana effect the long-term viability of
their communities. Local governments see their role in harnessing the
sustainability movement and tailoring it to their locale. Local officials
garner both political and public support for such initiatives, and serve as
a constant community advocate. Their inherent, statutory authority to
manage land use and infrastructure provide them the key opportunity to
incorporate innovative, sustainable strategies. Through their leadership
role, local governments provide unique contributions to the protection
and restoration of local natural resources and the Chesapeake Bay wa-
tershed, and will contribute even more given the tools and resources.
Before looking specifically at the tools, techniques and case studies of
model communities presented during the two-day event, the following
takes a closer look at three themes as presented by the Summit's plenary
speakers: 1) the concept of sustainability, 2) key steps in the process of
implementing sustainaole initiatives; and 3) roles as responsible, ac-
countable stewards. '
SUSTAINABILITY AS A FRAMEWORK
There is no single template of a sustainable, livable community- each
has individual economic and environmental features and social needs.
A definition of
sustainable
Development
"...to meet the needs of
the present without
compromising the
ability of future
generations to meet
their own needs."
-The World
Commission on
Environment and
Development
the limits set by ecology.
Michael Kinsley, director of Rocky Mountain Institute's (RMI) Eco-
nomic Renewal Program states that sustainable development embraces
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
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a new approach that respects the community and the environment, un-
like conventional approaches that cater to sprawl, rapid expansion, and
unchecked growth. In RMI's Economic Renewal Program: An Intro-
duction, Kinsley states sustainable development:
• "Redefines prosperity, weighing community values, quality of life,
and the environment alongside economic considerations;
• "Seeks true development, the sense of getting better, instead of
expansion, which is merely getting bigger,
• "Advocates the long-term stewardship of community resources,
ensuring that present actions don't erode the basis for future pros-
perity;
• Pursues self-reliance and a more democratic approach to deci-
sion-making, representing community-wide interests over those of
an elite few;
• "Stresses diversity, resilience, and a conviction that many small ef-
forts work better than a single one-size-fits-all solution."
Using sustainability as a framework, communities can facilitate a proc-
ess - building awareness, making an assessment, planning for the fu-
ture, and ultimately addressing the needs and interests ofthe disparate
parts of the community. Sustainable development does not ignore re-
ality, while conventional thought does not acknowledge full costs. Sus-
tainable development is a more comprehensive method of carrying out
planning, making our society more resilient and responsive to difficul-
ties and disasters.
William McDonough, Dean of the University of Virginia's School of
Architecture in Charlottesville, challenged Summit participants to inte-
grate principles of sustainable living into every facet of society, placing
our energies into viable alternatives to conventional design and prac-
tice. McDonough believes firmly in minimizing human impact on the
environment by modeling design on the elegance and effectiveness of
natural systems. If human impact on the environment is to be cor-
rectly assessed and dealt with responsibly, humans must understand
and measure their legacy, versus their accomplishments, for that is
what is left for future generations. Communities, industries, busi-
nesses, government and the public need to restructure the process by
which they function. Rather than working in an "eco-efficient" man-
ner - doing more with less - this generation's legacy must be one that
balances the needs for economic intelligence, for ethical intelligence
and equity intelligence with ecological intelligence. Only then can soci-
ety truly sustain itself and promise hope and prosperity for future gen-
erations.
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES
Certainly there are many impediments and barriers to working toward a
more sustainable, livable future. In planning for the Summit the CCC
held several workshops to specifically identify those barriers that im-
pede local governments and developers from implementing the strate-
gies and plans they knew offer their communities a more viable future.
Gus Garcia, Council member for the Gty of Austin, presented his ex-
perience as an environmentalist working as a local government official.
For any community to re-evaluate its current path, and start to move in
a more sustainable direction, it must take a step-by-step process that
allows the community to become more aware, builds time for assess-
The International Council for
Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI)
ICLEI was created to partner
with local governments to offer
support as they begin the jour-
ney toward sustainability. ICLEI
is an association of local gov-
ernments dedicated to the pre-
vention and solution of local,
regional, and global environ-
mental problems through local
action. Over 300 cities, towns,
counties, and their associa-
tions from around the world are
Members ofthe Council. ICLEI's
mission is to build and support
a worldwide movement of local
governments to achieve tangi-
ble improvements in global en-
vironmental conditions through
the cumulative impact of local
actions.
One of ICLEI's fundamental
services to its members is to
serve as an information clear-
inghouse on local environ-
mental initiatives. ICLEI has
performed this service through
the publication of newsletters,
a case study series, and a vari-
ety of technical manuals on
topics ranging from financing
energy efficiency projects to
solid waste management to the
use of municipal economic in-
struments to increase environ-
mental performance.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
-------
ment, and presents opportunities for action. When Councilman Garcia
first arrived in Austin from Mexico, it was a challenge to relate and
translate the vision he had as an environmentalist into an urban envi-
ronment. The community faced many impediments and barriers, in-
cluding the kck of inclusion of minorities in environmental issues. The
first stepthe community took was to inventory the area's environmental
assets. The community identified important features and special pkces,
and discussed how conventional practices for land use planning, waste
management and transportation were degrading these special places.
Over time, through education and outreach initiatives, citizens became
more aware of how their local economy and social structure related to
the environment, and the community assessed itself and defined its vi-
sion for the future. The next step was to develop a short list of priority
areas on which to concentrate. At this point, new impediments and bar-
riers are prevalent. "Enemies" of sustainability include sprawl, fossil
fuel pollution, high energy consumption, and lack of citizen awareness
and commitment to action. Such issues can easily overwhelm good in-
tentions and impede the process the community has set.
With the support of the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives, and other partners, Austin has adopted many smart growth
strategies, including: incentives for development in selected priority
zones, neighborhood involvement in community investments, and the
purchase of parklands, greenways, and open space. Bond financing of
green improvements was proposed to increase recreational services for
under-served residents and attract new residents to these communities.
Austin voters also approved a $19.8 million revenue bond, financed by
utility rate increases that will buy more land west of the city where set-
tlement impinges on water quality and threatened species.
Councilman Garcia asserted that communities have the capacity to meet
the challenges that negatively effect their local environment, but it takes
a strong commitment oy all interest groups in a community to engage in
a long-term process of awareness and assessment to plan for positive
action that will provide a sustainable environment for future genera-
tions.
THE CHALLENGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
An oft quoted conclusion to several of William McDonough's enlight-
ening and thought-provoking talks states, "Ignorance ends today, negli-
gence starts tomorrow." Today's western society cannot claim total ig-
norance of the environmental and economic degradation that is con-
suming the world, and our local environments. While the Summit
agenda is designed to offer communities the tools and techniques to ad-
dress such challenges as land use planning , pollution prevention, water-
shed management, and economic renewal, it is important to remember
that all of these practices impact the local as well as the regional envi-
ronment. Day-to-day policy issues and local planning benefit from the
knowledge and understanding of how they effect the larger, global envi-
ronment.
William M. Eichbaum, vice president of the World Wildlife Fund's
(WWF) US Conservation and Global Threats, presented that global per-
spective and summarized WWF's campaigns to protect and conserve
te world's Irving and natural resources. WWF projects look at global
"Starting today, we can
leave a foundation for the
next 100 years that centers
on the sustainable
protection of the world's
natural resources."
- William M. Eichbaum
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
-------
wanning, the presence of toxics, the loss of invaluable forests, the
practice of over fishing, and the identification and conservation of the
world's most precious eco-systems. The WWF identified 200 critical
areas worldwide, one of which is the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Twenty-five of those sites have been selected to receive an investment
of botn research and funding to address ecosystem issues in a more
sustainable manner.
In his long tenure as an advocate for the environment, Eichbaum of-
fered several critical lessons.
• If promoting conservation efforts to communities is to be success-
ful, aspirations of the people that live in them must be understood;
• People's efforts need to be managed and directed, and we need to
think about managing ourselves;
• The role of the local economy must be taken into consideration.
Creating government-citizen-industry partnerships can go far in
achieving goals;
• Public policy and investment are needed to guide smart growth.
Subsidies to promote sprawl must be redirected to promote smart
frowth;
thics must play a large role in conservation efforts;
• The characteristics of the local population must be taken into ac-
count. For example, in Chattanooga, policies and programs re-
spond to and respect the needs of the environment and the needs
of older urban communities;
• There are many opportunities to learn from the last millennium,
and we now have an grand opportunity to promote innovative,
new ideas and ways of doing things in the next.
Echoing McDonough's remarks Eichbaum states, "Starting today, we
can leave a foundation for the next 100 years that centers on the sus-
tainable protection of the world's natural resources."
LESSONS FROM OUR PAST
iuropeans, Dr. Kent Mountf ord, Estuanne Ecologist for the US
.'s Chesapeake Bay Program, stresses the urgency for communities
sadfastly address growth pressures or risk irreversible damage to
Looking at the history of the Bay region's growth since settlement by
the Europeans, Dr. Kent Mountford, Estuarine Ecologist for the US
EPA's ' ~ ~
to steac
the region.
The lessons of history are sobering, because, at differing levels of eco-
system, or landscape, organization human activities have reached a
land of "buildout" several times in the last four centuries. The slate
was not "clean" when the first Europeans arrived here, because native
American populations had occupied and modified the land by hunting,
fire and agriculture for thousands of years. They had attained some-
thing of a sustainable economy before the Europeans quite quickly di-
vided the land into titled parcels, a concept foreign to native Ameri-
cans. The land, once fully occupied by ownership and /or tied up by
survey, became a limited resource, turning greedy eyes to the Piedmont
frontier.
Despite high mortality in the Chesapeake Colonies, the continuing
flow of workers and external energy resources sustained exploitation of
the region's indigenous resources for profits which -like Walmart and
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
8
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K-Mart, did not fully benefit the indigenous community. Resource flow
outward was the objective. Collapses of the single-product tobacco
market reduced inflow of goods into the Colonies, and stimulated a
shift to grain crops, and deep plowing. As these expanded onto the
Piedmont, plowing fields together with the loss of vast forest acreages
caused very large soil erosion losses, filling in streams and weakening
crop land fertility.
Despite these massive changes, useful fishery production of the Bay
seems to have been sustained late into the 19th century. Over-
harvesting of all resources -from forest to fish and shellfish-, sediment
and nutrient loads, compounded by urbanization and a basin population
of 15,000,000, appear to have already exceeded the Bays capacity to
sustain yields early in the 20th century.
Human consumption of land and resources is couched on the positive
terms "Growth and Development," but the scale of disruption has
reached very large proportions in the current century, with bridges
short-circuiting rivers which were formerly an impediment to rapid
travel across the land. In the Chesapeake Basin 150 billion vehicle-miles
are driven annually, and this increases much faster than population. We
may have already exceeded by a factor of two the ability of the land and
Bay to sustain themselves against our impacts.
These trends proceed unimpeded. Do we intend to permit this and un-
derwrite continuing decline of the Bay?
REFERENCES: r,-
- >. . ,, '~ *,..;'"
"KMTs Econpaac
The Economic
1997.
Rocky Mountain Institute,
The ^X3Tndmtr^ and Michael
InrerrationaTCo^
http://www.icleLorg
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
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SUMMIT DESIGN
i
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
The Summit's plenary speakers offered participants a context in which
the workshops and training sessions fit. Working with a broad, pliable
definition of sustainability, the 20 sessions offered tools and techniques
available to local governments to support them in their efforts to ad-
dress local needs to promote smart growth, protect the environment,
and preserve quality of life.
Throughout the watershed, communities are at very different levels
along the journey toward a more sustainable future. Some are seeking
ways to define their community and its vision for the future, while oth-
ers have identified goals and are preparing implementation plans.
Whatever level a community finds itself, rf there is the political and
civic support for initiating a process to address the communities future,
there are tools, techniques, partners and supporters who can work with
and for the community in their venture.
The Summit agenda is designed to address the needs of communities
as very different levels. Summit tracks, featuring four workshops each,
mirror those steps local governments can take to move toward
sustainability. The following summary of the workshops outlines this
four-step process:
Starting Out Right explores techniques local govern-
ments can use to achieve community involvement and
build local consensus;
Characterizing Your Community offers tools to analyze
and define local resources, interests, and needs;
Planning for the Future features techniques to move
from a vision to a plan, reflecting the character and vision
of the community;
Implementing Sustainable Community Initiatives pro-
vides "how to" methods for sustainable programs and
policies.
Each workshop or training session summary highlights a tool or tech-
nique, a definition and description of its use, and is supplemented with
case studies of its use in communities throughout the watershed. A se-
lection of resources is also featured for each session, offering further
information about the presentation, the presenters or the tool itself.
This summary itself is intended to serve as a tool for local governments
as they begin their journey toward a more sustainable, livable future.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 10
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Starting Out Right
Building Consensus and Resolving Conflict
Tool: Mediation / Consensus-based public
dispute resolution
Dr. Frank Dukes, Associate Director for Institute for Environmental
Negotiation (IEN) at the University of Virginia presented the role con-
sensus building processes can pky in generating shared interests and
goals. Sustainabilityis both a process and a desired outcome. Communi-
ties planning for a long-term, viable future are on a journey to
sustainability. This journey takes them from:
1. Management to transformation - communities often find them-
selves trying to manage a conflict without any shared vision.
Management processes also tend to want to "fix" a problem and
move on. Transformation is looking beyond the borders of
management, identifying long-term goals and ideals;
2. Interests to relativeness - economic, social and environmental
interests are not independent interests, but very much interde-
pendent. To successfully address the challenges of one interest,
all other interests must be incorporated;
3. Common ground to a higher ground - taking individual interests
and relating them to a shared vision.
Sustainability can only be achieved with the participation and support of
a variety of interests. This participation makes conflict inevitable, but
such conflict need not be destructive. In fact, conflict should be seen as i
an opportunity to identify problems, create solutions, and improve rela-
tions.
Models:
How can counties protect their heritage and rural character when faced
with rapid growth? A relatively new concept, championed by the Na-
tional Park Service, is for communities to develop long-term action
plans to be implemented by community organizations in partnership
with local government. These have become known as "heritage plans"
or "heritage partnerships" and have been used by communities in Mary-
land and Pennsylvania to successfully market their areas for heritage
tourism, the fastest growing component of the American tourism indus-
try.
Many citizens of Fluvanna County, now the second fastest growing
county in Virginia, believe that their local heritage is at stake.
Fluvanna's heritage was the focus of a day-long "Community Forum"
Conflict need not be
destructive. In fact,
conflict should be
seen as an opportunity
to identify problems,
create solutions, and
improve relations.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
11
-------
facilitated bylEN. Organized by a broad coalition of citizens and non-
profit organizations with assistance from IEN, the Community Forum
was the first step in bringing citizens together to identify key features
of Fluvanna's historic, cultural and natural resources that local resi-
dents feel deserve preservation, protection and promotion.
During the Forum participants identified what is important to them,
and ways in which these things might be preserved, protected, or pro-
moted. This effort will help the development of the county's new
Comprehensive Plan and will also serve as a guide for future commu-
nity efforts to safeguard its heritage.
Resources:
University of Virginia's Institute for Environmental Negotia-
tions web site: http://www.virginia.edu/ ~envneg/IEN.html
University of Maryland's Institute for Government Services web site:
http://www.inforni.umd.edu/IGS/
Team Decision Center, a part of Pennsylvania State University
Contact: K. David Weidner, Instructor/Facilitator
225 Penn State Scanticon, University Park, PA 16802-7002;
phone: (814)863-5145; fax: (814) 863-5190
Presenter:
Dr. Frank Dukes, Associate Director, Institute for Environmental
Negotiation, University of Virginia
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 12
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Cooperating With Our Neighbor Jurisdictions
Tool: Collaboration / Partnerships
Regional collaboration is central to the achievement of smart growth
and watershed protection objectives. In addition, cooperative efforts
can strengthen a region's prosperity while improving the quality of life
of individual communities.
Model:
Cooperation amongst neighboring jurisdictions in the Portland region
began in earnest through transportation planning. In the 1970's, the re-
gion decided against massive additions to the freeway system, and in-
stead chose to use federal dollars for alternatives such as light rail and
other infrastructure projects. The broader result of this decision was to
create a transportation planning system that required flexibility, re-
gional planning, and citizen participation.
Rather than being limited to transportation, the principles of flexibility,
regional planning and citizen participation are the key to
"cooperatively solving most of our major public policy challenges.
The presentation by Michael Harrison, Legislative Assistant for Con-
gressman Blumanauer, focused on how the three principles are being
used to successfully restore the Johnson Creek Watershed in Oregon.
Model:
Gary V. Hodge, currently president of a new consulting firm Regional i
Policy Advisors, discussed Southern Maryland's experience with re-
gional collaboration. Having served 18 years as executive director for
the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, he has been involved
in successful regional initiatives that brought jobs, economic develop-
ment and more effective relations with the State. His presentation
highlighted the Southern Maryland's historic opportunity to bring more
than 6,000 high-technology jobs to the region, forging unprecedented
partnership with the State to build $200 million in transportation and
education infrastructure, and on the strength of these accomplish-
ments, to embark on the creation of a comprehensive regional strategy
that would articulate a vision for the future and lay the foundation for
a new generation of regional prosperity.
Securing long-term cooperation between the State and the region, the
Tri-County Council drafted and successfully pursued enactment by
Congress of an amendment to the federal Intermodel Surface Trans-
portation Efficiency Act of 1991, ensuring that the local elected offi-
cials of Calvert and Charles counties would continue to have an impor-
"As Individuals, organi-
zations, and communi-
ties we can work to
decrease risks to the
most valuable and
vulnerable aspects of
the quality of life for
all our region."
- taken from the 1998
Sustainability Accords of
the
Thomas Jefferson *
Sustainability Council
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
13
-------
tant role with the State in the selection of highway and transit projects.
Since 1987, when the State added $44 million in major highway proj-
ects to the construction program, die Tri- County Council has been in-
strumental in identifying regional transportation priorities and facilitat-
ing agreement with the Secretary of MDOT to fund new projects.
Model:
Nancy O'Brien, Executive Director for the Thomas Jefferson Planning
District Commission (TJPDQ, offered a diird example of how dispa-
rate parts of a community or region can effectively work together to
meet interjurisdictional goals and interests. The Thomas Jefferson
Sustainability Council was created in 1994 by the TJPDC The diverse
group of farmers, business people, foresters, environmentalists, devel-
opers and elected officials was given die charge to describe a future
where economic, human, social, and environmental health are assured.
With the participation of die public through several forums, die Coun-
cil has since developed a set of sustainable principles and goals, objec-
tives, indicators and benchmarks of a sustainable region. These ideals
can be used by the region's communities to assess where diey are,
where they want to go, and how they can get diere in die future, meet-
ing dieir own needs and the needs of the region.
The TJPDC is now taking these principles and objectives to commu-
nity leaders, and asking diem to promote principles of sustainability
through their organization and die community.
Resources:
Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission web site:
http://monticello.avenue.gen.va.us/tiDdc/
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission newsletter highlighting
two of dieir regional programs focused on water supply and watershed
management: http://www.hrpdc.org/newsletter/news_env2.html
National Association of Regional Councils web site:
http://www.narc.org
Presenters:
Michael P. Harrison, Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman Blu-
manauer, Portland, Oregon; Gary V. Hodge, President, Regional Policy
Advisors; Nancy O'Brien, Executive Director, Thomas Jefferson Plan-
ning District Commission.
Moderator:
Paul Farragut, Executive Director, Baltimore Metropolitan Council
A Selection of Thomas
Jefferson Planning
District Commission's
1998 Sustainability
Accords
Encourage and maintain
strong ties between the Re-
gion's urban and rural areas,
fostering healthy economic,
environmental, social and
political interactions.
Promote the cons/deration
of appropriate scale in all
development and land use
decisions.
Ensure that water quality
and quantity in the Regidn
are sufficient to support the
human population and eco-
systems.
Optimize the use and re-use
of developed land.
Promote clustering in resi-
dential areas and the inte-
gration of business, industry,
recreation, and open space.
Develop attractive and eco-
nomical transportation al-
ternative to single occu-
pancy vehicle use.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
14
-------
Better Planning Through Visualization Tools
.Tool: BLUEPRINTS and the Visual Interactive
Code (VIC)
Communities frequently struggle with how to manage change and are
often unaware of the positive choices they can make to encourage com-
patible development while protecting their cultural and natural re-
sources. The two projects featured in this presentation, BLUPRINTS
and the Visual Interactive Code (VIC), have an illustrative and engaging
multimedia format that makes information accessible and interesting to
all, particularly those who have trouble understanding complex commu-
nity design-related issues. Kelleann Foster, RLA, Associate Professor of
Landscape Architecture at Penn State utilizes these computer technolo-
gies and photo-realistic image manipulation to communicate alternative
design scenarios and policies to local decision makers.
The BLUPRINTS CD-ROM is a unique tool for learning about, or edu-
cating others about, responsible land use design practices that result in
sustainable development and improved environmental conditions.
BLUPRINTS, Best Land Use Principles & Results, Interactively Shown
helps to foster quality community design and planning through en-
hanced understanding of land use options. The CD-ROM dynamically
educates through illustrating innovative, sustainable alternatives as com-
pared to the status quo, highlighting the consequences of both. It in-
cludes economic impacts as well as social and legal implications. BLU-
PRINTS includes pictures and descriptions of actual examples high-
lighting how several communities have successfully implemented the
featured techniques.
Inspiration for the CD-ROM came from Foster's work with rural areas
in Pennsylvania struggling to control growth that threatens to erode the
positive characteristics of their communities. Foster notes that commu-
nities have choices they can make about their future, but often are not
aware of them. "I knew that there are effective ways to make those
choices a reality," she recalls, "but the challenge was to devise a way to
illustrate many of them while also suggesting ways to make them hap-
pen in any Pennsylvania community.
The Visual Interactive Code (VIC) overcomes the problems associated
with the typical code format -- text laden with legalese - which is very-
difficult to understand and apply, and often inadequately conveys what
a community desires for its future. VIC is a new regulatory communica-
tion format that allows the integration of a community's wealth of plan-
ning data with new multimedia computer technologies. The creation
VIC provides significant advantages over the conventional regulatory
format. It is more effective in communicating implications, and it al-
Just as blueprints for a
building explain what
goes where and how it
will look, zoning regu-
lations act as a blue-
print for a community,
telling us what can go
where and what it will
look like.
Communities need to
be able to control their
destinies, and
BLUPRINTS is a tool
that helps them do so.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
15
-------
lows a community to be specific about and sensitive to the peculiar lo-
cal character and natural resources that differentiate each portion of a
town.
Other advantages include:
* use of color and pictures makes information more relevant for the
community
» graphically driven structure is easy to use and is engaging for the
user
* user retrieves information in a manner similar to our thinking proc-
esses
* organizational structure allows easy ac- ^™""™^^""""^^^™
cess to vast, disparate amounts of data
development process and use encourages "Officials and the public in Flndlay Town-
communityparticipation.
most helpful part of the code," said
Resources: Foster. 'The visual images are so
Department of Landscape Architec- unintimidating, people actually enjoy
ture Perm State University web site: us|ng the system. Tnat,s certainlv not
http:/ / www.larch.psu.edu/
the typical experience in using planning
Visual Interactive Communications Group and zoning documents."
web site:
http://www.VICXjroup.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Presenter:
Kelleann Foster, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture,
Perm State University
Moderator:
Eric J. Walberg, Principle Physical Planner, Hampton Roads Planning
District Commission
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 16
-------
Smart Growth and Transportation
Tool: TEA-21
Reid Ewing, author of Best Development Practices and Transportation
and Land Use Innovations, cl^allenged workshop participants to grasp
and understand the necessity of a paradigm shift in how transportation
system performance is measured. He states there should be less empha-
sis on how fast vehicles move and more emphasis on how well people's
travel needs are met.
The old Speed Paradigm has been unable to address today's society and
its mobility. In brief, the cost of today's transportation mode of choice,
the automobile, is extraordinarily expensive because it includes not only
out-of-pocket costs to the car owner, but road subsidies, costs of "free"
parking, air pollution and uncompensated accident costs.
Therefore, the new paradigms - land use and transportation — need to
address the definition and purpose of transportation - the ability to en-
gage all people in desired activities at moderate cost to themselves and
society. The goal of "best development practices" for transportation is
slow and steady, not fast which detracts from the sense of community:
* Mobility- encouraging alternatives to single passenger auto trips;
* Accessibility- compact and efficient living centers;
* Livability - where the auto is not the focus of community design
and planning;
* Sustainability- meeting the needs of tomorrow's generation.
There is evidence that a shift from the old to the new paradigms is tak-
ing pkce at the federal, state and local level. President Clinton's Livabil-
ity Agenda has accelerated a growing trend toward sustainable commu-
nities. New opportunities in TEA-21, discussed below, offer further
support to this shift in paradigms. At the state level, some regions, in-
cluding Florida are implementing growth management plans that incor-
porate this new way of thinking and planning for society's transporta-
tion needs. This is also seen at the local level, most clearly in some of
the nation's popular urban sites such as Orlando and Portland.
Laura Olsen from the Surface Transportation Policy Project described
the opportunities that exist through TEA-21 to make communities
more livable. TEA-21 leaves the groundbreaking reforms of ISTEA in-
tact and provides new opportunities for innovation. However, she em-
phasized that citizens and local officials must take advantage of the new
and continuing programs. Over two billion dollars was authorized in
TEA-21, an increase, but overall not as much as it might seem, espe-
... traditionally, traffic
experts have operated
with one objective:
to move people into
and around cities as
rapidly and efficiently
as possible—But of
course that is no solu-
tion...Cities should be
an end, not a means.
— Kirkpatrick Sale
...the task of Increas-
ing urban mobility may
not call for more trans-
portation at all, but
may depend more on
such non-
transportation solu-
tions as the locations,
densities, and aesthet-
ics of everything done
to accommodate urban
man. — Wilfred Owen
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
17
-------
New Opportunities in TEA-21
1. Job Access and Reverse Commute Grants
* $750 million over 5 years (begins FY 99)
* Transit authorities and other service providers
may apply for grants to cover costs of developing
and implementing services to transport welfare
recipients and eligible low-income individual to
and from jobs.
2. Commuter Choice
* TEA-21 removes several barriers that have pre-
vented employers from offering a choke of com-
muting fringe benefits - parking, transit vouchers
or van-pool service. Employers can now lower
their tax liability by offering such a choice, and
employees can choose the most cost-effective
form of commuting.
• Levels the playing field, but participation is en-
tirely voluntary. Employers need to be informed.
3. Land Use Pilot Project
• The Transportation and Community and System
Preservation Pilot program (TCSP program) pro-
vides $120 million over 6 years in grants to ad-
dress links between land use, community, quality
of life and transportation.
* On a competitive basis, grants will be made to
state, local and regional agencies that can partner
with non-profit organizations, private sector in-
terests and others to make transportation and
land use connections. Money can be used for de-
sign, planning or implementation.
4. New Rail Starts
• Significant increase — $8.2 billion authorized and
$6.1 guaranteed; 191 New Start projects are
authorized, including Norfolk/Virginu Beach.
5. Bikes
• Funding for bike facilities has grown from $8 mil-
lion in 1990 to $265 million in 1997;
* New policies in TEA-21 create new standards for
consideration of bicycle and pedestrian needs
when road projects are undertaken. USDOT has
will consult with interested parties to develop
guidance on various approaches to accommodate
bike and pedestrian travel, including rethinking
the AASHTO design guidelines.
* Safety - TEA-21 modifies Hazard Elimination
programs to ensure that projects to protect the
safety of bicycling are eligible for safety funds,
and makes traffic calming specifically eligible.
daily considering federal funding makes up only
1/4 of total public sector spending on transporta-
tion. State Transportation funding increases in
the watershed by state include: Virginia with a
61.8% increase, Maryland with a 28.7% increase,
and DC with a 12.4% increase.
There are several significant changes in what pro-
grams receive support. While TEA-21 provides a
54% decrease in the share of funding dedicated
to the construction of new highways, there is a
modest increase in the amount dedicated to both
maintenance and transit, and just over $8 billion,
5 percent of TEA-21 dedicated to the Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ).
Enhancements ~ arguably the most controversial
and attacked program, also grew in size from an
average of $450 million/year to $620 million/
year. Finally, there was some expansion of eligi-
bility to provide for safety and educational activi-
ties for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Resources:
Transportation Action Network web
site: http://www.transact.org
TEA-21 web site: http://www.tea21 .org
The TEA-21 User's Guide - a 60 page booklet
put out by the Surface Transportation Policy Pro-
ject providing understandable language about
TEA-21 ~ Contact STPP: 202-466-2636.
Reid Ewing, et al. Best Development Practices.
American Planning Association, 1996. Contact:
(312) 786-6344
Presenter:
Reid Ewing, Fehr & Peers Transportation Con-
sultants; Laura Olsen, Campaign Manager, Sur-
face Transportation Policy Project
Moderator:
Yolanda Takesian, Community Planner, Maryland
Department of Transportation
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
18
-------
Characterizing Your Community
Measuring Progress and Success Through
Community Indicators
Tool: Sustainable indicators
How Sustainable is the Mid-Atlantic Region? — One of the greatest threats to the quality of life in the
Mid-Atlantic Region in the 21st century is the competing uses of land for human consumption. Sprawl de-
velopment is consuming our vital resource lands, including our forests, farmland and wetlands. Vehicle
miles traveled is increasing exponentially, while people are spending more time and energy commuting in
congested traffic.
Theresa Martelk, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) examined the environmental, social and
economic trends threatening the sustainability of the states in Bay watershed.
The data and trends are organized under five themes:
* Reducing Sprawl/Encouraging Low-Impact Development
* Protecting our Vital Resource Lands
* Minimizing Unsustainable Transportation Trends/Improving Infrastructure
» Enhancing our Quality of life by Linking Environmental, Economic, and Community Goals
• Realizing a New American Dream
Indicators under these themes, developed by the EPA's Sustainable Development Program, were used to
select longer-term, sustainable priorities and these indicators are being requested by state and local organi-
zations, committees and public groups. Sustainable Development is "development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the'ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The EPA
also manages a grant program to support sustainable development in communities.
Model:
Grady O'Rear, Loudoun County, VA, examined the environmental, social, economic and educational
potentials of a planned community in Loudoun County, Virginia known as EcoVillage. Top environ-
mental planners and architects have worked with future residents and community volunteers to create this
successful approach toward sustainability by using indicators. EcoVillage is located near Washington,
D.C, in one of the nation's fastest growing counties. It will be home to families and individuals who seek
a healthy lifestyle built on a foundation of community and commitment to the environment. Construction
is anticipated to begin early in 1999.
The vision of EcoVillage includes a neighborhood of diverse individuals who want to be part of a com-
munity that encourages collaboration and ensures privacy. The plan combines the cohousing ideal of
people living together in community with the ecological ideal of people living in harmony with the
Earth. Restoring biodiversity ensures commitment to protecting the wildlife, wetlands, forests, soil, air
and water. Landscape planning emphasizes native plants and wildflowers and, for those interested, will
create an opportunity for organic gardening and farming. The community will also support home-based
occupations, offering advanced telecommunications-high-speed Internet access and other options-to
promote a localized, sustainable economy.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 19
-------
Model:
Gregory Bowen, Calvert County, Maryland, presented his county's
work as an example of how a community can use indicators to plot its
priorities, its goals and its agenda for moving toward sustainability.
Calvert County is the fastest growing county in the State, with the major-
ity of diat growth occurring outside town centers. The County has devel-
oped a statement on sustainability, identified a County vision, outlined
the direats to that vision, and specified benchmarks and action highlights.
These benchmarks have been incorporated into the County's comprehen-
sive plan.
For example, the following are four of ten vision statements, related to
the County's rezoning process:
• Our landscape is dominated by forests and fields.
• Our Town Centers are attractive, convenient, and interesting
pkces to live, work and shop.
• Our wedands, streams, and forests support diriving plant and ani-
mal communities. Our seafood industry is prospering.
• We are building a strong local economy based on renewable re-
sources, high technology, retirement, recreation and tourism.
Based on diis vision, the County dien set benchmarks, a selection of
which is listed below, and structured the comprehensive plan to support
these benchmarks:
• 40,000 acres of farm and forest lands are preserved.
• 25% of all new households are located in Town Centers.
• There is a 40% reduction in nutrients entering the Chesapeake
Bay and Patuxent River.
• 90% of existing forest cover is retained.
• The commercial real property tax base is expanded from $147 mil-
lion to $220 million by 2002.
• 2,700 new in-County jobs for residents (by 2002).
• The number of visitors is increased to 250,000 (by 2002).
EcoVillage of
Loudoun County, Virginia
Resources:
Trends in Sustainability presentation on the internet:
http://www.epa.gov/region3/sdwork/trends.htm
Sustainable Development Challenge Grant Program web site:
http://www.epa.gov/region3/sdwork/grants.htm
EcoVillage of Loudoun County, Virginia web site: http://www.ecovil.com
Presenter:
Theresa Martelk, US Environmental Protection Agency, Grady O'Rear,
Loudoun County, Gregory Bowen, Deputy Director, Department of Planning
and Zoning, Calvert County, Maryland
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
20
-------
Environmental Evaluations: A Characterization Tool
Tool: Farm-A-Syst/ Home-A-Syst
^ST
&»* Farm-A-Syst / Home-A-Syst (FAS & HAS) serves as a model program to turn assessment into
action — changing individual actions to protect the environment through voluntary pollution prevention
programs. Voluntary assessments and voluntary action are powerful mechanisms, especially if there is sup-
port at the government and private sector levels. With partnerships between these two interests, FAS &
HAS overcome barriers to voluntary actions such as disconnected programs and policies; inaccessible legal
and technical standards.
The program is set up to work with individuals, families, farmers, ranchers, and water quality agencies who
are looking for cost-effective tools to prevent pollution. Gary Jackson, Director, National Farm-Syst/
Home-a-Syst, Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service outlined the program's three steps:
1. Assess onsite problems;
2. Identify actions to undertake;
3. Understand where to go for help and support.
To use The FAS & HAS as a model, local leaders need to identify a structure for the program to work un-
der, identify the various components, potential partners and interest groups that need to be involved, and
identify the method of communication to bring all the components together.
Model:
New York state has expanded the concept of Farm*A*Syst to become the Agricultural Environmental
Management (AEM) program. It is a state-wide voluntary, educational and incentive-based program,
which assists farmers in implementing environmental stewardship practices on their farms. Almost all
of the agricultural counties in New York are in some stage of implementing AEM.
While retaining Farm*A*Syst's confidentiality and voluntary aspects, AEM has expanded to a five-tier
system of assessment. It has also developed several new worksheets covering vineyards, horses, green-
houses and daily spreading practices for manure management, and farm-neighbor relations. Manage-
ment and delivery of AEM has facilitated a unique partnership between Cornell Extension, Soil and
Water Conservation Districts, USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and New York's De-
partment of Agriculture and Markets.
Model:
The Environmental Farmstead Evaluation is a standardized "scorecard" that was adapted from the
National Farm*A*Syst program to address the environmental concerns of regional dairy farming. The
evaluation, developed by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension, in
cooperation with USD A Natural Resources Conservation Service, focuses on the management activities
and farmstead conditions that prevent the degradation of ground water and surface water quality.
The objectives of the Environmental Farmstead Evaluation are to recognize farmers who manage their
farmsteads in an environmentally sensitive manner, and to identify site conditions that can to be addressed
to enhance environmental protection.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 21
-------
The Environmental Farmstead Evaluation addresses six key farmstead areas
at which water contamination can occur, including: barnyard management;
pesticide storage and handling; stream and drainage management; milk
house waste; well condition and construction; and home sewage system.
Each area is scored based on the environmental performance at each cate-
gory, and the scores combined for an overall ranking of the dairy farmstead.
Participating farmers with scores over 80 on the Environmental Farmstead
Evaluation qualify to receive a premium on their milk checks. Each farm-
stead is evaluated annually, or when management changes are made that
may affect Environmental Farmstead Evaluation scores. Farmers whose
farmsteads score less than 80 have the option to develop a Farmstead En-
hancement Plan. This plan then forms the basis for management changes in
order to achieve the environmental protection performance threshold.
Model:
The Environmental Quality Initiative (EQI) is the latest program of the
Dairy Network Partnership, an organization dedicated to enhancing envi-
ronmental quality while maintaining economic viability on regional dairy
farms. The EQI enables environmentally-minded milk drinkers to support
the use of environmentally sound management on dairy farms through their
selection of EQI-labeled dairy products.
With every grocery purchase that bears the EQI mark, a portion of the pur-
chase price is deposited in a fund that helps participating farmers to protect
shared natural resources. This new program helps educate the public on
the issues related to dairy farming and promotes consumer influence to
increase program participation.
Resources:
National Farm*A*Syst / Home*A*Syst web site:
http://www.wisc.edu/farmasyst
Environmental Quality Initiative web site: http://eqinitiative.com
Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) web site:
http://www.cce.cornen.edu/ag/environrnental-mgt/aem.html
Presenters:
Gary Jackson, Director, National Farm-Syst/Home-a-Syst, WI Cooperative
Extension Service; Deb Granthan, Cornell Cooperative Extension Service;
Les E. Lanyon, Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension Service; Jim Curtola,
Upper Susquehanna River Coalition, New York State Soil and Water
Conservation Committee.
Moderator:
Doug Knox, National Farm-a-Syst/Ffome-a-Syst, Natural Resource
Conservation Service
Farm*A*Syst/
Home*A*Syst
Meeting the challenge
of protecting private
and public drinking wa-
ter supplies in ways
that other programs do
not.
Its effective, voluntary,
and confidential risk
assessment programs
have won the confi-
dence of farmers,
homeowners, private
businesses and public
agencies nationwide.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
22
-------
Better Planning Through Build-Out Analysis
Tool: Build-Out Analysis
A scenario-based approach to regional land planning offers
several advantages. Notably, because the process intentionally investi-
gates several futures, different points-of-view about what could or what
should happen can be accommodated within the same study. The most
important reasons however, to use a scenario-based approach are the
potential benefits to local decision making processes.
Model:
Allan Shearer, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design pre-
sented alternative Futures for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, exploring
how urban, suburban, and rural development might affect this area in
the rapidly growing soudiern Pocono mountains region. Beautiful scen-
ery and year-round recreational opportunities have made this landscape
an ideal destination for tourists and honeymooners for over a century.
More recently, these same qualities have attracted new residential devel-
opment. In 1993 when this study was conducted, Monroe County was
the second fastest growing region in the Commonwealth, and it was es-
timated that by 2020 the population would almost double to 190,000
people. Given the development pressures that will accompany this rela-
tively large increase, it is possible that without careful planning the new
growth may destroy the very same qualities that attracted residents to
the County in the first pkce.
To examine potential patterns of development and the associated im-
pacts the study team created a set of six alternative future scenarios of
build-out based on existing plans, trends, and the opinions of area resi-
dents. The word scenario is commonly understood to mean an outline
of events, usually the plot of a story, pky, or film. Similarly for this re-
search project, a scenario is an outline or plot for a future of Monroe
County.
Scenarios can be used by:
* Property owners or land managers to understand the range of
potential impacts to their lands that may be caused by regional
change. Said another way, scenarios can help to assess how the
multiple actions of neighboring property owners or the policies
of local, regional, and national governments could affect one's
own land;
» Elected officials and public administrators to test the resilience
of existing plans against assumptions about the stability of cur-
rent trends;
For elected officials
and public adminis-
trators, scenarios
can be used to test
the resilience of
existing plans
against assumptions
about the stability of
current trends.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
23
-------
* Planners to test current planning ideas in terms of an evolving
sense of public perceptions or wants; and
* All members of a community to better understand how the
presently unknowable and numerous decisions that will be, and
must be, made impact the future.
In these ways, scenario techniques within a build-out analysis enable a
community and its leaders to make more informed decisions to achieve
a desirable future.
The study was conducted in the fall of 1993 and was funded by Region
III of the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Monroe
County Commissioners, the Monroe County Conservation District, the
Monroe County Planning Commission, and the Pacific Northwest Re-
search Station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Vegetation data was provided by the Laboratory for Environmental
Applications of Remote Sensing at Cornell University.
Resources:
The final project report can be seen at:
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/depts/larchdep/research/monroe
Presenter:
Allan Shearer, Research Fellow, Harvard University, Graduate School
of Design
Moderator:
Joe Tassone, Principle Planner, Maryland Office of Planning
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 24
-------
I
GIS and Other Tools for Forest Conservation
Tool: CIS-based Analysis
Tools for Creating Greener Cities - Helping communities un-
derstand the vast environmental and economic benefits trees provide to
cities. Trees' dollar value to storm water management, air quality, and
energy use can be mapped and quantified using GIS. With this informa-
tion in hand, city managers and planners can create policies and land use
plans that maximize natural capital and result in greener cities.
Resource Analysis - American Forests is using GIS analysis and satel-
lite data to look at vegetation trends in major metropolitan areas includ-
ing Chesapeake Bay Regional Ecosystem Analysis (released March '99);
Puget sound Regional Ecosystem Analysis (July '98); Atlanta urban eco-
system analysis (1996).
Alice Ewen of American Forests explained how QTYgreen™ software
is used to collect field inventory data and generate economic benefits
estimates associated with tree canopy collected from sample sites
throughout the region. Data has been collected in the DGBaltimore
corridor and Bellevue, Washington.
QTYgreen™ works step by step, analyzing storm water runoff reduc-
tion estimates, energy savings, air quality, and carbon sequestration.
American Forests has data available to communities throughout the
Chesapeake Bay Region, including Fairfax County, VA, and may have
subset data of vegetation maps for your area. QTYgreen™ is also
available to interested communities through possible software grants for
qualified applicants within the Chesapeake Bay Region, or by purchas-
ing the hardware/software.
Model:
Baltimore County, MD has developed an Integrated Watershed Man-
agement Program that addresses federal non-point source pollution
control mandates, State of Maryland initiatives for restoration of the
Chesapeake Bay, and local priorities and cooperative water quality proj-
ects. Included are programs for growth management and land conser-
vation, resource protection/regulation, environmental restoration, facil-
ity maintenance, monitoring, planning and research, and citizen educa-
tion and participation. In particular, Baltimore County has aggressively
enacted stream buffer protection, implemented stream restoration proj-
ects, developed forest assessment methods, and established a commu-
nity reforestation program. Throughout these efforts, the County has
focused on the functional role of stream systems and forests for mainte-
nance of watershed ecology.
The ecology of the
southeastern portion
of the Chesapeake Bay
watershed has
changed dramatically
since 1973. Forests
have declined and ur-
ban development has
expanded.
An analysis of a 1.5
million acre area sur-
rounding the Balti-
more-Washington cor-
ridor shows similar
trends.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
25
-------
Model:
Montgomery County has adopted and is implementing a county-wide
open space preservation program. The program has several elements
including: a municipal government education program; a model zoning
for riparian corridor conservation (already adopted by several munici-
palities) a guidebook for riparian corridor preservation; and an overall
protection strategy.
Montgomery County's $100 million open space acquisition program
and the state and county farmland preservation program have perma-
nently preserved over 1400 acres of open space and 2722 acres of
farmland so far. To supplement the land acquisition program, the
county also sought other means by which to balance the constitutional
right of the landowners to develop their property with society's desire
for open space. Two basic ground rules were set:
* Any approach developed must preserve the economic value of the
land;
* Open space, not houses, should be the dominant feature after de-
velopment.
With these two rules in mind, the county developed Land Preserva-
tion Districts (LPD). The LPD requires 75 percent of the land to be
permanently preserved as open space, with only 25 percent of the
land will be used for roads, driveways, and houses and yards. Site
design flexibility is greatly enhanced, and environmental features,
such as woodlands, steep slopes, and stream corridors, can be pro-
tected. The LPD provides a win-win situation as developers can take
advantage of site characteristics to ideally locate homes, property
owners gain financially, and the community gets permanently pre-
served open space.
Resources:
American Forests web site: http://www.americanforests.org/
NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) web site:
http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/nemo/index.html
Presenters:
Alice Ewen, QTYgreen Director, American Forests; Donald C
Outen, Chief of Policy Planning and Research, Baltimore County
Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management;
Eric Jarrell, Senior Environmental Planner, Montgomery County
Planning Commission
Moderator:
Caren Glotfelty, Professor of Forestry, Pennsylvania State University
There are economic
Implications of tree loss
for stormwater manage-
ment and clean air In the
Baltimore-Washington
corridor.
Maintaining and restoring
tree cover is a cost effec-
tive way to Improve the
Environment and achieve
a sustainable quality of
life
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
26
-------
Planning for the Future
Developing Sustainable Codes and Ordinances
Tool: Codes and Ordinances
Working with many communities throughout the watershed, Dan Slone,
an attorney at McGuire, Woods, Battle and Boothe, notes that commu-
nities often create their codes and ordinances in a vacuum - without
recognizing the unintended consequences. Often communities expect
that by adopting new ordinances, development will be stimulated. But
absent any initiatives before the ordinances are in place, new codes will
not necessarily stimulate action.
To combat these preconceived ideas of the role of codes and ordi-
nances, local governments need to view their regulatory authority as
part of a larger picture. Codes and ordinances are part of the whole
planning process, connected to everything else. They should be viewed
as an incentive mechanism for what the community wants to see in the
way of site design rather than a regulatory barrier for what the commu-
nity does not want to see.
To implement sustainable codes and ordinances, there must be a cham-
pion to drive the community, to educate the developer, the realtor, the
taxpayers, and the financial community. That champion must be able to
speak the language of all these interests.
Model:
Peter Johnston, Principle at Redman/Johnston Associates, highlighted
the Town of Chesapeake City's traditional neighborhood development
code. For the regulations to serve as an incentive mechanism, the com-
munity first needed to define the vision for the Town. Two of the most
important issues that define the town and its sense of pkce are that
streets are secondary to residents, and that the historic district defines
the community both economically and as a design guideline. This vision
is used to create functioning ordinances. The vision became part of the
comprehensive plan review, and was then incorporated into the Town's
development regulations.
Model:
Tom Kurtz has served as the Manager of Patton Township in Centre
County, Pennsylvania since 1984, and has been involved in the Town-
ship's open space ordinance. Patton Township is a rapidly growing sub-
urban/rural township just west of State College and the main campus of
Perm State University. Current population is approximately 10,500.
The Township is a leading member of several Spring Creek initiatives,
including the Watershed Community, the Watershed Commission, and
What are some exam-
ples of sustainable site
design that can be en-
couraged through
regulations?
• narrow streets
• tighter turning radii
• Innovative waste
water treatment
• a//eys
• trees In parking lots
• smaller lots
• dark sky standards
• utilities In the road
• encroachments
• rear garages
• straw bale con-
struction
• non-concrete side-
walks
• grey water use
• apartments over
bus/nesses
• co-housing
• composting
• creating affordable
housing In Infill
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
27
-------
the 1-99 Partnership for Sustainable Development. Through its ordi-
nances, the Township can dedicate land adjacent to stream corridors
and forests as permanent open space areas. Through the use of the Ru-
ral Preservation District regulations greenways can be maintained and
vistas can be preserved. This in turn provides protection for the Val-
ley's groundwater and surface water resources.
Resources:
Street Design Guidelines at http://www.ite.org
Guides and model codes and ordinances at web site:
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/landuse/lucodtoc.htm
Model codes and ordinances at web site:
http://www.epa.gov/Region3/greenkit
Congress for the New Urbanism web site:
http://www.cnu.org/index.html
Presenters:
Dan Slone, McGuire, Woods, Batde and Boothe; Peter Johnston,
Principal, Redman/Johnston Associates; Tom Kurtz, Manager, Pat-
ton Township
Moderator:
Susan N. Hall, Director of Communications, Center for Chesapeake
Communities
Codes and ordinances
should be viewed as an
incentive mechanism
for what the community
wants to see in the way
of site design rather
than a regulatory bar-
rier for what the com-
munity does not want
to see.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
28
-------
I
Redevelopment Through A Shift In Tax Policy
Tool: Innovative Tax Policies
Joshua Vincent, Center for the Study of Economics has studied the
benefits to the two tier tax, or split rate tax for many years, and works
with communities to re-evaluate and change their tax policies to pro-
mote smart growth. Communities throughout the watershed have expe-
rienced massive suburban growth. Cheap land in the countryside, cheap
mortgages for new construction, transportation patterns and ever-
increasing tax on sales, income and infill projects only encourage sprawl.
A common-sense solution to discourage sprawl and encourage home-
owners and businesses to use their sites more productively (thereby pro-
viding more jobs and construction) is tax on land values.
Like any program that will bring change to the status quo, involvement
at the community level through education and outreach are essential.
Grass roots organizations can help promote and educate the public on
the facts of split tax rate and how it will affect the community. There
are clear, successful examples throughout Pennsylvania where 16 com-
munities have instituted the split tax rate, and everyone can learn from
their example. But, Vincent cautions, land tax will not work in a vac-
uum, and communities should also consider smart growth policies en-
couraging strong zoning and open space regulations.
There are many faces to sprawl. It inhibits the use of transit by pushing
places of work and residence away from mass transit infrastructure. It
requires travel by auto and encourages new development to build for
the automobile instead of the pedestrian. It pollutes the air, the water,
and ultimately, communities' quality of life.
To combat sprawl, local government must look at innovative antidotes
that encourage compact, mixed-use development that pkces homes
near jobs, schools, recreation and shopping, promotes, walking and cy-
cling, and enhances the efficiency of travel. To counteract these nega-
tives, local governments can look to the reformation of property taxes -
reducing the tax rate applied to building values, while increasing the tax
rate applied to land values.
In his article, Tax Reform Motivates Sustainable Development, Rick
Rybeck states, "Property tax reform can help create economic incen-
tives to develop land adjacent to public infrastructure and amenities
while reducing development pressures at sites farther away." He con-
tinues, "The higher land tax cannot be avoided or passed on to space
users. Thus land owners are motivated to generate income from which
to pay the tax. The greatest economic imperative to develop land will
To counteract sprawl,
the property tax can
be reformed by
reducing the tax rate
applied to building
values, while
increasing the tax rate
applied to land values.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
29
-------
exist where land values are highest, adjacent to existing infrastructures
and amenities. At the same time, a reduction in the tax rate applied to
building values makes that'development more profitable. Away from
infrastructure, where land values are low, taxes will be low and there
will be less economic motivation for development."
Model:
Harrisburg City officials have described land value tax crucial to die
cities revitalization. Harrisburg was labeled the second most distressed
city in the early 1980s. Once plagued by over 4,200 vacant lots, Harris-
burg now has fewer than 500. A more vital downtown has led to more
jobs available in the inner city, a drop in crime by 22.5 percent since
1981, and a 51 percent drop in fires since 1982. These results are espe-
cially noteworthy when one considers the fact that 41 percent of the
land and buildings of Harrisburg are owned by state or non-profit bod-
ies and cannot be taxed by the city.
Model:
Municipalities in Maryland have the authority to set differential prop-
erty tax rates. The Honorable Daniel Hartley, former Mayor of North
Beach in Calvert County, MD considered tax reform for his commu-
nity. North Beach is a small, but clear example of how tax on land val-
ues could work, though it has not been adopted as yet. This town of
2,700 people has a large supply of vacant and underused land yet it is
on the Chesapeake Bay, where developers are seeking development op-
portunities. Denied the chance to develop a large, already infrastruc-
tured area (largely due to a recalcitrant landowner), the development
community has been forced to look to pristine wetlands to build and
develop. Research done by the Center for the Study of Economics
shows that land value tax can make a difference in North Beach.
Resources:
Center for the Study of Economics web site:
http://www.smart.net/ -hgeorge
Presenters:
Joshua Vincent, Center for the Study of Economics; The Honorable
Daniel Hartley, North Beach; Rick Rybeck, staff attorney for the
Honorable Hilda Howland M. Mason
Moderator:
Ann Swanson, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission
From 1970 to 1990,
the density of urban
populations in the
Unites States
decreased by 23%.
From 1970 to 1990,
more than 30,000
square miles of once-
rural lands in the
United States became
urban, as classified by
the U.S. Census
Bureau.
— Associated Press
article "Census: Cities
Takeover U.S."
12/18/91
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
30
-------
Preserving Green Space
Tool: Open Space Bonds/ Public Funds
On election day 1998, voters across the country considered a wide array of ballot measures designed to
protect or improve parks, open space, farmlands, historic resources, habitat areas and watershed. In a sur-
vey conducted by Phyllis Myers, President of State Resource Strategies on the national trend to preserve
open space land in the U.S., results concluded that 1) voters approved 72 percent of the 240 measures re-
lated to conservation, parklands and smart growth; 2) the approved ballot measures will trigger more .than
$7.5 billion in additional state and local conservation spending; 3) across the nation conservation ballot
measures elicited strong constituency and grassroots engagement.
At the local level, governments are committing to local bonds, local revenue to protect and preserve natu-
ral resources, farmland, and recreational lands. Highlighting the importance of local government authority
in preserving green space, the survey concluded that of the 240 measures, 226 ballot measures were consid-
ered in counties towns, cities and special taxing districts. Of these, 163 measures were approved. While
most of the approved measures provide dollars directly through bonds or "pay-as-you-go" authority, the
approved measures also include 19 regulatory and 4 advisory measures.
Model:
Debi Osbome, Director of the Chesapeake Field Office, Trust for Public Lands (TPL) works closely with
communities to identify innovative finance strategies create urban parks, gardens, greenways, and river-
ways, build livable communities by setting aside open space in the path of growth, conserve land for water-
shed protection, scenic beauty, and close-to-home recreation, and safeguard the character of communities
by preserving historic landmarks and landscapes.
TPL negotiated the permanent protection of the 515-acre Belt Woods Home Farm that surrounds 109-
acre state-owned Natural Environmental Area, located in Prince George's County, just 13 miles from
Washington, DC Now owned by the State of Maryland, the property in recognized internationally as a
critical nesting area for neotropical songbirds and mature, state champion trees. The property was ac-
quired with State, County, City of Bowie, private foundation and individual dollars.
Model:
In Baltimore City, TPL is working to create the 14-mile long Gwynns Falls Trail. When complete, this lin-
ear park will provide access to urban wildlands and a number of cultural, natural and historic sites for resi-
dents from over 20 neighborhoods. To date, TPL has assisted the City of Baltimore in acquiring six prop-
erties totaling twenty-two acres, commissioned a multi-disciplinary Master Plan, and secured public fund-
ing for construction. This project was one of the first urban greenway projects in the nation to receive
funding under the new Federal Intermodel Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) enhancements
program.
Model:
The Rappahannock River, flanked by Richmond to the south and Washington, DC to the north is a key
protection project for TPL. The Rappahannock Valley has experienced tremendous environmental pres-
sure from population growth and development. Citizens representing all facets of the community banded
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 31
-------
together to determine preservation measures for parts of the Valley.
Local public support opened die way for die Rappahannock River
National "Wildlife Refuge. The cornerstone of die refuge -was laid in
1995 widi TPL's protection of a 1,100-acre property on Cat Point
Creek, a tidal tributary of die Rappahannock The land was secured
through a partnership between die TPL and die Chesapeake Bay
Foundation. TPL first negotiated a purchase widi the private land-
owner and secured die property widi a grant from a fund created by
die North American Wedands Conservation Act. After purchasing
die property, TPL transferred die land to die Bay Foundation. Af-
ter the Bay Foundation restored die wedands, it donated die prop-
erty to die US. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Model:
Responding to the rapid loss of land to development in recent
years, die Bucks County Commissioners created die Bucks County
Open Space Task Force to develop a practical plan to protect diose
natural resource areas and farmland deemed essential to preserve
die unique character of Bucks County. The Task Force was charged
widi creating an inventory of specific existing sites; setting site selec-
tion criteria; establishing a priority rating system; recommending
mediods of acquiring land rights; developing a formula for die allo-
cation of funds to municipalities to implement dieir open space
plans; and recommending methods of financing land acquisition.
One of a series of recommendations included the use of general ob-
ligation security bonds, borrowing $59 million over a 10 year period
to fund die open space program. This recommendation led to a
successful referendum.
Resources:
Rural Legacy Program (Maryland) web site:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/rurallegacy.html
The Trust for Public Land web site:
http://www.tpl.org
phone: 1-800-714-LAND
Presenters:
Phyllis Myers, President, State Resource Strategies; Edward Evans,
Chair, Bucks County Open Space Task Force; Debi Osborne, Di-
rector, Chesapeake Field Office, Trust for Public Lands
Moderator:
Theresa Pierno, Director, Education, Bay Policy and Growdi Man-
agement Unit, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Rural Legacy
Program
To preserve green space the
State of Maryland promotes
the Rural Legacy*Program, Un-
der this program, between $70
and $140 million will be com-
mitted to preserve about
50,000 to 75,000 acres of
Maryland's farms, forests and
open spaces during the next
five years,The Rural Legacy
Program is part of a compre-
hensive package of program's
that support Maryland's Smart
Growth policy. Rural Legacy's
goal, according to Theresa
Pierno, Director for Education,
Bay Policy and Growth Manage-
ment Unit, Maryland Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, is
to preserve open space, farm-
land and natural resources.
County governments,;as well as
groups of local governments
can apply for state funds to
protect critical-open spaces.
However, Theresa pointed out
that the program was ex-
tremely competitive. To be suc-
cessful in the competitive proc-
ess, the application must seek
to protect a combination of re-
sources, contiguous forest
lands, and demonstrate a
strong local commitment to
preservation. The State com-
mitted 29 million; dollars to the
program in itsiflrst two years.
This year, the Governor has
proposed $25 million in his
budget to fund one year of the
program.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
32
-------
Process to Achieve Economic and Social Goals
Through Pollution Prevention
Tool: Public / Private Sector Partnerships
Local governments in the Bay watershed have repeatedly indicated a
need for tools, techniques and models to help them contribute to the
Bay restoration and protection effort, while simultaneously achieving
local goals. The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) is a
national forum promoting the development, implementation, and
evaluation of efforts to avoid, eliminate, or reduce waste generated to
air, land, and water.
The NPPR serves as a host for information exchange - advance pollu-
tion prevention by maintaining and improving opportunities for ex-
changing ideas and facilitating coordination of efforts. They hold an-
nual conferences, facilitate communication through all available media,
support and improve a national pollution prevention information clear-
inghouse, and participate in pollution prevention activities of regional
roundtables and academic pollution prevention initiatives.
The NPPR also serves as a policy advocate - advance pollution preven-
tion by influencing the development and implementation of policies,
legislation and regulations.
To more effectively address the unique needs of local governments, the
NPPR has created a Local Government workgroup. This group's goal
is to strengthen the role and effectiveness of local government's contri-
bution to pollution prevention efforts across the country. It was pivotal
in publishing a compendium of case studies on innovative local govern-
ment pollution prevention initiatives as well as coordinating National
Pollution Prevention Week promotional activities across the country.
The group is also active in conducting local government training work-
shops that are held in conjunction with Roundtable national meetings.
Model:
Business have led the way in pollution prevention techniques, and many
programs they have initiated can be useful to local governments. BGE
has long been a partner in Maryland environmental protection and con-
servation effort. BGE's fleet maintenance is an example of "reduce, re-
use, recycle." By changing the maintenance practices, for example,
BGE reduced the amount of oil used by more than 10 percent from
1995 to 1997. The goal is to reduce that volume by 5 percent, saving an
additional 950 gallons in 1998. BGE is also a full-circle recycler of anti-
freeze. This means that the antifreeze used is recycled and returned for
reuse. Recycled non-hazardous waste, such as scrap metal, generated
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
What are the Benefits
of Promoting P2?
* Promotes efficiency
in the small busi-
ness community
which helps busi-
nesses improve their
bottom line;
* Creates an environ-
ment in which a
positive relationship
between govern-
ment and business
can be established;
* Reduces amount of
harmful chemical
contaminants that
enter the environ-
ment via illegal dis-
posal into drains,
stormwater systems
and streams;
+ Decreases amount
of waste entering
landfills;
4 Reduces disposal
costs for busi-
nesses;
+ Reduces potential
damage to wastewa-
ter treatment plants
due to toxic chemi-
cal disposal.
33
-------
substantial revenue for BGE. Since 1993, BGE has recycled 24,240 tons of scrap metal, generating $6.5
million in sales and saving the company $100,000 in annual disposal costs.
Businesses for the Bay recognized BGE Environmental Scientist Steve Farkas as the Mentor of the Year
for his work in helping businesses adopt pollution prevention programs. BGE is an active partner in the
Chesapeake Bay Program's Toxics Subcommittee and its Pollution Prevention Workgroup. Businesses for
the Bay is a program -within the Chesapeake Bay Program to encourage voluntary pollution prevention ef-
forts by large, medium and small businesses.
Model:
While local governments can learn from the pollution prevention practices of larger companies, they can
also take a leading role in helping smaller businesses, also critical players in protecting the local environ-
ment. Montgomery County, in recognition of the growing need to address the hazardous waste manage-
ment needs of businesses, developed the EcoWise program. The Program provides businesses with an
economically viable opportunity to dispose of small quantities of hazardous materials. In addition to haz-
ardous waste collection service, Montgomery County provides free publicity to businesses which partici-
pate in the EcoWise program. Such publicity includes a press release announcing a business' participation,
signs, posters, and decals to alert customers of the business' environmental concern.
Model:
Businesses for a Cleaner River is an element of the Elizabeth River Project's (ERP) effort to include busi-
nesses in pollution prevention activities. The ERP was established in 1992 to improve and protect the wa-
ter quality of the Elizabeth River, a tidal estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Businesses played a major role in
many of the action items of the 120-member Watershed Action Team as they worked to implement their
goals. Thus Businesses for a Cleaner River is an effort to help businesses, large and small, find solutions
that save money and reduce pollution. In particular, businesses are provided information on methods of
reducing costs for energy, water, and raw materials; reducing costs of waste disposal; improving landscap-
ing of property while reducing landscaping maintenance costs; and improving community image. Busi-
nesses for a Cleaner River offers free, confidential research and training on cost-effective alternatives to
reduce pollution at the source and minimize costly waste.
Resource:
National Pollution Prevention Roundtable web site: http://www.p2.org
Local Government Pollution Prevention Toolkit: Tools and Models to help local governments implement
pollution prevention (P2) and protect the Chesapeake Bay, its rivers and streams, U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency for the Chesapeake Bay Program, 1998. Contact: 1-800-YOUR-BAY.
To learn more about Businesses for the Bay contact the Chesapeake Bay Program
Office at 1-800-YOUR-BAY.
Presenters:
Michele Russo, Local Government Workgroup of the National Pollution
Prevention Roundtable; Steve Farkas, BGE
Moderator:
Thomas Griffin, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 34
-------
Implementing Sustainable Community Initiatives
Retrofitting the Suburbs
Tool: Tools for Design Processes for Greenfields: New Urbanism
Revitalizing existing urban centers and creating quality new development that achieves local design and
planning objectives is a goal of many communities throughout the Bay watershed. Leonard Bogorad, Sen-
ior Vice President of Robert Charles Lesser & Co. has worked on numerous projects around the country
that facilitate suburban infill in a sustainable manner. In order to incorporate smart growth strategies into
the plan for the communities growdi, often the first step is educating the numerous players involved in a
suburban retrofit - the developers, realtors, bankers, local governments, and the public - about the differ-
ences between smart growth and conventional development:
* Smart growth plans the urban character of a community on a human scale, where the pedestrian is
served by the car;
* In terms of financial growth, smart growth is measured not in years or generations, but as a sustain-
able, long-term time frame with regular maintenance;
* Smart growth incorporated a sense of community, and provides incentives for a societal mix of in-
comes and housing types.
Certainly barriers exist to new urbanism such projects are often large and require long-term commitments.
This in turn requires both political and public will and the buy-in of the business community. However,
smart growth can be made easier by offering opportunities for dialogue between the different parties in-
volved, designating smart growth districts, incorporating smart growth regulatory changes, and minimizing
the red tape needed in innovative projects. For examples, in downtown Silver Spring the State of Mary-
land will commit $178 million, and Montgomery County $109 million over the next 20 years.
^
Model:
Involving the community and streamlining the regulatory process are two key actions that advance
sustainable development objectives at the local level. Susan Hoffman, Community Relations Manager for
Montgomery County, Maryland, discussed the County's comprehensive process to engage citizens and
other special interests in the redevelopment of Silver Spring's downtown.
The Honorable Doug Duncan, Montgomery County Executive, appointed a diverse Silver Spring Advi-
sory Board to develop a consensus vision for the revitalization effort. The Advisory Board, which was
composed of community, business, environmental and other interests, met over a two-year period to de-
termine the future of this older urban community. By involving the citizens and other interests up-front,
die County was able to focus die attention of the revitalization effort on die needs of the community, not
on the interests of technical experts or County planners. Meetings were often contentious and in some
cases divisive, but in the end the process promoted progressive dialogue diat moved the Advisory Board
forward toward a consensus vision for the revitalization of Silver Spring.
After a number of revitalization proposals were presented to the Silver Spring Advisory Board, it decided
to endorse the plan proposed by the Peterson Company. Tom Maskey, of the Peterson Company, de-
scribed the revitalization plan. Their design was partially a result of the vision set by the Advisory Board
and partially created by market forces.
Maskey pointed out diat one of the reasons the redevelopment project was so appealing from a devel-
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 35
-------
oper's perspective is that the county and the state worked closely with the developer to remove many of the
regulatory barriers that usually plague downtown revitalization projects. These "green tape" policies help to
make revitalization projects more economically appealing. Also, the work of the Advisory Board limited
community opposition to the project. Relatively high density development in existing neighborhoods usually
brings a level of opposition from the community. Since the community had such a prominent role in the re-
development effort, opposition was avoided. For these two reasons, the government's flexibility in its regu-
lations and the substantial and sustained involvement of the community, the redevelopment project has been
an early success. The Silver Spring redevelopment project was scheduled for its ground-breaking in April
1999.
Model:
Tom J. D'Alesandro, IV, Vice President of Terrabrook, offered his perspective on the Reston Town
Center community as a model. As the first major planned community in the US, Reston set a new standard
for planning new urban areas. One significant reason for its success has been the commitment to create a
community where people of all social, economic backgrounds can live, find employment, recreate and wor-
ship. Reston is a greenfield development that has worked financially while establishing a thriving community
in the process.
The vitality of Reston Town Center (RTQ is attributable to the principles that went into its design and con-
struction:
* RTC has to be concentrated enough to be entirely walkable;
* It has to be readily accessible by car as well as foot;
* Must contain a rich enough mix of uses to multiply reasons for being there;
* The density of the uses had to be high enough to bring sufficient people in; and
* The spaces had to be attractive so that people would choose to shop there.
Many lessons can be learned from the experiences of the RTQ a greenfield development that demonstrates a
sensitive approach to urban growth economically, environmentally, and socially. Reston and the RTC were
carefully planned and built with particular attention paid to the quality of design over a 35 year process. It
required working with local government to change the status quo and think about development in a new
way - similar to what the new urbanism movement is doing. Tremendous long term commitment by several
different owners was a prerequisite to its success.
Resources:
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center http://mainst.org/
Urban Studies and Planning Program, School of Architecture, University of Maryland:
http://www.bsos.umd.edu/ursp/linksJitm
Urban Land Institute: http://www.uli.org
Presenters:
Leonard Bogorad, Senior Vice President, Robert Charles Lesser & Co.; Tom Maskey, Peterson Company,
Susan Hoffman, Community Relations Manager, Montgomery County, MD; Tom J. D'Alesandro, IV, Vice
President, Terrabrook
Moderator:
David O'Neill, Center for Chesapeake Communities
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 36
-------
Green Building Techniques
Tool: Energy Efficient, Green Construction
and Design
Sustainable design and development is a comprehensive activity that in-
cludes: energy efficiency, use of alternative sustainable building materi-
als, and environmentally sensitive site development. To bring green de-
velopment into the mainstream, it must be market driven, affordable,
powerfully address social and community needs, and institutionalized.
Harry Gordon, FAIA Principal, Burt Hill Kosar Rittleman Associates,
has been fostering cultural change for the last two decades through his
architectural practice, becoming one of the profession's leaders in en-
ergy and environmentally responsive design. Cultural change occurs
when people recognize that something is not working. Once problems
and symptoms are identified, the second step in cultural change occurs
when people develop partial responses to some of these symptoms.
Gradually, better integrated solutions emerge. Finally these new prac-
tices become common practice.
Some change occurs top down. Other times, and perhaps most power-
fully in this culture, change is market driven. Fortune 500 companies
and others are moving to incorporate green design into their everyday ,
operations. For example, Interface Carpeting Inc. is completely re-
organizing themselves based on ideas of a Second Industrial Revolution.
A large part of this process is optimizing their use of resources and ma-
terials. Carrier, Hermann Miller, Armstrong, and others are all looking at
similar ideas as a means of promoting business excellence. Cultural
Change will be marked by:
4 Integrated and comprehensive designs;
* Solutions that address environmental, business, and social needs;
* People will see Good Design as requiring Green Building
Technologies.
Mark Bailey, Rebuild America Program, DOE, next described the Re-
build America Program - designed to assist local governments form
local partnerships, in part to promote this cultural change. The program
is focused on improving the local economy, creating jobs, protecting the
environment, and enhancing the quality of life. Projects range from
work in rural Alaska to big cities and small towns. For example, Reno,
Nevada conducted a comprehensive review of their public buildings to
increase comfort and affordability. Rebuild America offers training, edu-
cation, and other resources. Central High School in Little Rock, Arkan-
sas began a process with 20 high school students auditing their school
It only takes one quart
of oil to contaminate
250,000 gallons of
water.
You can save a tree
with each four foot
stack of paper you
recycle.
If 100,000 Americans
stopped their junk
mail, we could save
about 150,000 trees
every year.
It takes 95 % less
energy to produce an
aluminum product
from recycled
aluminum than raw
aluminum.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
37
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and presenting their findings. They found that $57,000 in energy savings could easily be realized. Their
presentation to Gty Council is currently being reviewed. Clearly though, success hinges on local champi-
ons who are key to community capacity building.
Model:
Tallib Horn, Assistant Director, East Harbor Village Center, Inc, spoke of the South East Baltimore
Empowerment Zone. To forge an effective partnership, communities must be effectively organized.
Energy Efficiency was seen as a way to create local prosperity. The local Harbor Initiative was created
through a HUD Sustainable Communities Challenge Grant, combined with an Energy Efficiency Grant,
and Hope 6 HUD Grant. The community has gone through a strategic Land-Use Plan for the community,
and is using it to direct community transformation. Resident energy experts are part of a steering commit-
tee that assists with upgrading the energy efficiency of existing and emerging buildings. They are currently
conducting an energy assessment of the entire community. An upcoming community charrette will look at
creating a generation plant, recycling businesses, and energy efficiency strategies for upgrading the commu-
nity.
Model:
Bob Rowan, Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
presented the green building techniques used on campus. The campus is mainly medical and health based
and is focused on education, training, and community service. It is Maryland's oldest public campus and
contains 4,337,000 square feet of institutional space, on 25 acres, and uses 10 million dollars each year on
energy.
The campus is currently in the midst of an on-going revitalization program that includes a number of en-
ergy efficiency efforts using a variety of energy conservation strategies:
* Bench-marking is used to track consumption;
* Centralized heating services save space and increase efficiencies;
» Infra-red roof analysis identifies heat loss and insulation breakdown;
* Fluorescent lights are used throughout the University along with motion sensors, and high-power fac-
tor engines.
Resources:
U.S. Department of Energy Clearinghouse web sites: http://www.eren.doe.gov
Maryland Department of Energy: 1 (800) 72-ENERGY
Presenters:
Harry T. Gordon, FALA, Principal, Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates; Mark Bailey, Rebuild America
Program Manager, US. Department of Energy, Talib Horn, Assistant Director, East Harbor Village
Center, Inc.; Robert M Rowan, Assistant Vice President, Office of Facilities Management, University of
Maryland at Baltimore
Moderator:
Mark Bundy, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 38
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Low Impact Development
Tool: Low Impact Development (LID)
Reducing the environmental impacts of development is a criti-
cal goal of communities located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. LID
is a new technology designed to reduce the impacts of growth and de-
velopment on water quality and natural resources. In addition, low-
impact development designs can significantly reduce the cost of devel-
opment. LID is a storm water micro-scale management technology
where controls are designed and integrated into multi-functional site
features to restore and closely mimic pre-development watershed hy-
drologic functions. LID reduces development and maintenance costs
and promotes public education / participation in pollution prevention
and maintenance of LID practices.
For too long, rainwater has been viewed as a waste product rather than
a resource. Roadblocks exist to implementing LID, such as regulations
(waivers/exceptions), conventional practices, the inertia of change, and
the need for education and training of local government staff, the build-
ing community and public. However, the benefits to LID are tremen-
dous. LID is universally applicable, is economically sustainable and is a
practical, simple and comprehensive way to achieve multiple purposes
in pollution prevention and land use planning. The sidebar features a
selection of micro-management techniques.
Tom Cahill, President of Cahill and Associates, looked at what sustain-
able site design practices, such as LID mean in terms of land and water
resources. Sustainable site design minimizes the disturbance to natural
hydrology, by.
• working with the natural characteristics of the site and maximizing
the use of already built areas;
• maintaining the natural hydrologic cycle by not increasing the vol-
ume of storm water runoff and maintaining the recharge of storm
water to ground water,
• maintaining water quality by using native plants and existing vegeta-
tion to serve as filters, limiting the use of future chemical site main-
tenance; and
• avoiding excessive earthworks and impervious surfaces that would
create erosion and sediment problems.
Model:
For the last 25 years, Mr. Coffman has been instrumental in the devel-
opment and implementation of Prince George's County's storm water
management program which many consider to be one of the more com-
prehensive and innovative programs in the country. More recently, he
pioneered the development of the innovative bioretention or Rain Gar-
LID Techniques
Bio-retention /
rain gardens
Rooftop retention
Infiltration practices
Permeable surfaces
Parking lot storage
Street storage
Sand filters
Sidewalk storage
Dutch drains
Under ground storage-
catch basins
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
39
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dens best management practice and the new environmentally sensitive
cost effective low impact development (LID) technology for the
County.
Prince George's County is host to a number of models using LID prac-
tices. For example, in Sommerset, the developer designed shallow
landscaped depressions called rain gardens on each lot to control storm
water quality and quantity. This resulted in a $4000 cost savings per lot
and allowed the developer to recover 6 lots that would have been lost
to a storm water pond if conventional storm water management prac-
tices had been implemented.
Model:
John Tippett is the Executive Director of the Friends of the Rappahan-
nock, a 1,000+ member river conservation organization, based in
Fredericks burg, VA Among other programs, Mr. Tippett is leading
an EPA Sustainable Development Challenge Grant project to market
the economic benefits of innovative urban BMP and site planning
practices to developers in the watershed. The project also seeks to re-
move roadblocks to implementation of reduced impact practices
within local governments. By offering case studies of communities in
the watershed and particularly in Virginia that have implemented green
development practices, many of the traditional roadblocks can be
eliminated.
Rain Gardens are a
natural solution to re-
duce stormwater pollu-
tion to protect our wa-
ter resources and the
environment. Multi-
functional use of the
landscape to treat
parking lots, urban
streetscape and build-
ings is attractive and
environmentally sensi-
tive.
Resources:
Several publications are available from Prince George's
County, including the Low Impact Development Design Man-
ual and a brochure entitled Rain Gardens: The Natural Solution, and
a reference guide entitled How Does Your Garden Grow. Contact:
(301) 883-5822.
Wastersbed & Lake BMPs: Best Management Practices Appropriate for
Established Urban Communities, Lake Bancroft Watershed Improve-
ment District, Contact: 703-820-7700
Growing Greener in Your Rappahannock Watershed: Case Studies on
the Economic and Environmental Benefits of "Green Development"
Practices; Contact Friends of the Rappahannock, PO Box 7254,
Fredericksburg, VA 22404
Presenters:
Larry Coffman, Prince George's County, MD, Department of Envi-
ronmental Resources; John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the
Rappahannock; Tom Cahill, President, Cahill and Associates
Moderator:
Bob Kaufman, Vice-President, Michael T. Rose Companies
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
40
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Making Smart Growth Work
Tool: Public/ Private Partnerships and
Innovative Financing - Historic Tax Credits, and
Enterprise Zone Tax Credits
Achieving Smart Growth principles requires the support and participa-
tion of all elements of a community. The American Can Factory and
Bagby's Furniture brownfield projects are considered examples of how
a coordinated public-private partnership can achieve the objectives of
the developer, its partners and the community.
Andy Frank, Baltimore Development Corporation was on hand to talk
about the feasibility of smart growth projects. They are difficult, and
require an innovative developer, an enlightened city and public officials
committed to success. But the benefits to such projects are great, and
in Baltimore's case, created hundreds of jobs downtown.
Smart growth opens new doors such as the cities investment in historic
tax credits. It also attracts new types of investment such as high tech
business support. Knowing there would be benefits to taking on the
challenge of these more difficult projects, the city worked closely with
the developer and assisted with changes to building code and parking
regulations.
Susan Wilson, Enterprise Social Investment Corporation, helped find
the investment for these smart growth projects. They seek investors
who want a profit, but also want to do social good, and therefore most
of the investors are local or have a local interest. Tax credits ensure that
there will be an economic return down the road.
— Rendering by Fred Schonbach
of Schonbach Graphics.
Provided by Struever Bros.,
Eccles & Rouse, developer/
general contractor for the renova-
tion of the Bagdby Furniture build-
ing.
Model:
American Can Company building, designed to manufacture cans for lo-
cal canneries, was built in 1895 on 9.5 acres. Struever Bros., Eccles &
Rouse gained site control in 1997 and found the site a mess with col-
lapsing structures and lead contamination. By working with the neigh-
borhood, starting the day Struever Bros, took over the site, the devel-
oper gained a clear perspective of what the community wanted. Com-
munity meetings were also helpful in addressing the concerns of local
merchants and restaurants worried about the impact of large commer-
cial chains.
While working under the standards of the National Park Service was a
challenge, it helped in renovating the building so that it maintained
much of its historic character (steel windows with 15,000 panes of
glass), but also melded with the character of a waterfront community.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
41
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The building has attracted tenants such as DAP, the nation's largest
sealant company which relocated to Baltimore from Ohio, and hired
100 people, as well as a graphics design firm, a specialty restaurant, and
book store and wine and spirits shop.
Model:
The Bagby Furniture building is a second brownfield example, reno-
vated by Struever Bros located in Little Italy, downtown Baltimore.
Built in 1902-1907 as a factory and warehouse, the 100,000 square foot
building has giant masonry walls, and large wooden columns. Struever
Bros, needed innovative financing to make this project feasible, and
therefore looked to the National Historic Register to receive tax credits.
The developer was able to get the building listed not for its architectural
design, which was not extraordinary, but for the historic importance the
business offered the Qty and the furniture industry. With the use of the
Enterprise Zone Tax Credit Struever Bros, will pay a reduced property
tax rate for 10 years - and reduced 80 percent for years 1-5.
While the project faced many challenges, including building community
support for the project, and finding options for adequate parking, it is a
clear example of what innovative public-private partnerships can do.
Resources:
Smart Growth Network web site: http://smartgrowth.org
Maryland's Smart Growth web site:
http://www.op.state.md.us/smartgrowth
Presenters:
Tim Pula, Development Director, Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse;
Katie Hearn, Development Director, Struever Bros., Eccles and Rouse;
Andy Frank, Baltimore Development Corporation; and Susan Wilson,
Enterprise Social Investment Corporation
Moderator:
Tom Bass, Manager, Communications and Legislative Affairs, Maryland
Office of Planning
— Photo by Harry Connelly.
Provided by Struever Bros,
Eccles & Rouse, developer/
general contractor for the
renovation of the American
Can Company building.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake
42
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Training Session
i
Community Capacity Building
How do local leaders involve their citizens? How do communities come together to build a vision? First,
our definition of the "community needs to expand and change as the community grows. The community
can play a very powerful role in implementing change, but for the community to be effective, all the appro-
priate stakeholders must be identified and brought to the table. Outreach and communication are critical
to informing the public. But for community capacity building to serve as a tool, training is key. Training
allows communities to take what they have learned and put it into action. The following three tools and
two case studies were offered as aids in the community capacity building process.
Tool: Green Communities
The Green Communities program was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III to assist local communities in taking responsibility for protecting their environment re-
sources. A Green Community values its shared vision for a healthy future, and works together toward
long-lasting solutions for improvement. Through partnering and an online Assistance Kit, EPA's Green
Communities empowers citizens and community officials to solve problems, and make decisions in ways
that integrate the unique environmental, social and economic issues found in their own communities.
Resource:
Susan McDowell, US EPA phone: 215-814-2739; web site:
http://www.epa.gov/Region3/greenkit: email: mcdowell.susan@epamail.epa.gov
.Tool: Community Environmental Review (CER)
The CER is designed to provide local governments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with direct
technical assistance from regional experts in the fields of natural resource protection, land use
management, and sustainable economic development. In a two-day event, local leaders and the public ex-
plore innovative strategies with the team of experts, specifically related to their community to achieve local
goals and contribute to the health of the Bay.
Resource:
Center for Chesapeake Communities phone: 410-267-8595; web site:
http://www.chesapeakecommunities.org/support.htrnl; email: shall@chesapeakecommunities.org
, Tool: Countryside Exchange
The Countryside Exchange brings together international teams of volunteer professionals who
work with communities on issues such as farmland preservation, growth management, intergov-
ernmental cooperation, quality of life, tourism development, and watershed planning. A team of six to
eight professionals from Canada, England, Scotland, the United States and Wales spends one week of in-
tensive study in the community to examine issues identified in advance by the host community. The team
meets with local residents, officials, and organizations, and tours important sites. At the week's end, the
team presents their recommendations at a public meeting and in a written report.
The first Exchange in the Chesapeake Bay region was held in 1994 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,
the Chester River Watershed in Maryland, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In 1996, Bay region partici-
pants included the Spring Creek Watershed of central Pennsylvania, and the Wicomico River Watershed in
southern Maryland.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 43
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Resource:
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Maryland Office: 410-3776270; Pennsylvania Office: 717-
236-8825; Virginia Office: 804-775-0951; http://www.acb-online.org
Model: Union County, Pennsylvania
The Sustainable Community Program for the Buffalo Valley is an innovative initiative created by the Alli-
ance for Sustainable Communities and the Union County Planning Commission to train local citizens on
how they can guide long range planning and sustainable growth in a community. The program was de-
pendent upon the quality of input and support from local citizens interested in the economic and ecologi-
cal health of their community. The location selected for this program was the Buffalo Valley area of Union
County, an area which historically has resisted planning and land use regulation.
More than 100 citizens participated in a two day workshop, in Mifflinburg, Pa., in March of 1997. At-
tendees included engineers, architects, builders, farmers, business owners, educators and high school stu-
dents. One of the major results of the workshop was the identification of "Sacred Places" within the Buf-
falo Valley and the mapping of those locations. At the conclusion of the workshop the participants them-
selves decided to undertake a grass roots planning process, beginning with community education, to carry
forward the ideas which they learned during the workshop. A steering committee has met monthly since
March of 1997 and has adopted a work plan, established a speaker's bureau and has developed a presenta-
tion to use when speaking to various community groups.
Resource:
Union County Planning web site:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1193/SusComm.htm
The Sustainable Communities Network web site: http://www.sustainable.org
Model: Falls Church, Virginia
The City of Falls Church, VA, with a residential recycling rate of 67 percent (i.e. two-thirds of all waste is
recycled), is a national leader in recycling. Community involvement in program development and educa-
tion have been key to the program's success. Hundreds of adult and youth volunteers are involved in part-
nership with local government program on a continuing basis. The cornerstone of citizen efforts are the
Recycling and Litter Prevention Council, composed of an executive committee, and communication; the
Recycling Block Captains, who distribute recycling information in their neighborhood; and "Operation
Earthwatch," a program that encourages elementary-age youth to reduce waste and perform other environ-
mental activities. Creating organizational structures for people to work together, providing opportunities
for idea-sharing and "ownership," and personal communication and acknowledgment have been important
elements of the strategy for building community capacity.
Resource:
Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality web site:
http://www.deq.state.va.us/programs/
Trainers:
Fran Flanigan, Executive Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Susan McDowell, US Environmental
Protection Agency, Region III; Annette Mills, Recycling Coordinator, City of Falls Church, Virginia;
Tony Redman, President, Redman/Johnston Associates; Fred Wilder, Planning Director, Union County
Planning Department, Pennsylvania
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 44
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Training Session
Nurturing Sustainable Economic Growth
Communities throughout the Chesapeake region are learning that economic "growth" does not always
mean an enhanced quality of life. Local governments know all too well the vicious cycle of needing to sup-
port the local economy by promoting development. But this increased development requires increased
services, and often a decrease in the quality of life and sense of place for the community.
Michael Kinsley, director of the Rocky Mountain Institute's (RMI) Economic Renewal Program, and
author of The Economic Renewal Guide, discussed the opportunities communities have to evaluate their
local, individual strengths, consider alternative, innovative strategies, and begin to outline practical steps for
sustainable economic renewal.
Tool: Economic Assessment
The first step to initiating economic renewal, Kinsley stated, is to consider four principles and re-
lates them locally to identify community goals:
A. Plug the Leaks - "Before trying to pour more money into a leaky economic bucket, a town should
simply plug the leaks." By considering what products and services traditionally provided outside
the community can be provided locally, the community can begin to put money back into the local
economy. Consider where many residents buy food, water, energy, health care, and housing.
B. Support Existing Businesses - According to a 1991 report by the National Conference of Sate Leg-
islators, small businesses are the largest source of new stable and consistent creators of new jobs.
Look for opportunities to support this sector by promoting small business development, often fed-
erally funded, and community development corporations.
G Encourage New Local Enterprise - New enterprise can often come out of established small busi-
nesses that seek growth alternatives. Such innovation often requires creative financing of which
there are many practical, successful models.
D. Recruit Compatible New Businesses - Businesses look for communities with local enterprises and
a high quality of life. New business can meet need unfulfilled by existing businesses. Consider
what the local community has to offer the prospective business, but also what the business can do
for the local community.
"RMI's Economic Renewal Program: An Introduction " offers models of communities that have applied
these four principles, and then used several tools to support their economic development effort. The Pro-
gram also takes a community through a process by which to achieve practical results, and considers differ-
ent options of timing and goals to expect.
Resources:
Rocky Mountain Institute's web site: http://www.rmi.org
Funding Resources:
Funding for Water Quality in Virginia:
http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MDSG/EFC/Info/vawq.htrnl
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 45
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Funding for Water Quality in Maryland:
http://www.mdsg.urnd.edu/MDSG/EFC/Info/rndwq.htrnl
Funding for Water Quality in Pennsylvania:
http://www.mdsg.urnd.edu/MDSG/EFG/Info/pawq.htrnl
Trainers:
Elizabeth Hickey, Coordinator, Environmental Finance Center, Michael Kinsley, Director, Rocky
Mountain Institute; Denise Harris, Associate Planner in Fauquier County, Dan Nees, Environmental
Finance Center.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 46
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Training Session
Promoting Innovative Site Planning
This hands on training session incorporated many of the strategies and tools presented throughout the
Summit. Presentations by Randall Aiendt, Vice-president, Natural Lands Trust, and Mark Gutshall, Senior
Environmental Manager, LandStudies, Inc., served to help local officials bridge the gap between ideas and
implementation.
Mr. Arendt presents a practical, easy-to-use technique that enables developers and local officials to work
together to accomplish their different objectives, namely the construction of full-density residential subdi-
visions (developers' goal) in such a way that helps to build a community-wide network of permanent con-
servation land (public officials' goal).
Tool: Conservation Subdivision Design
The presentation was extensively illustrated with numerous financially successful examples of
"conservation subdivision designs", together with a straight-forward four-step methodology of
laying out residential developments around the central organization principle of open space conservation.
Development of this nature are "twice green", simultaneously achieving both economic and environmental
goals.
The four step process was internalized by allowing the participants to apply the design process to a real
parcel of land: selecting house sites in relation to the pre-identified conservation areas, aligning street and
trails, and finally drawing in the lot lines.
Model:
There are examples of communities that have been able to preserve hundreds- (sometimes thousands) of
acres of open space within a five-year period without spending a dolkr of public money, all involving situa-
tions where developers have achieved their full density objectives at lower production cost, and where the
original equity of landowners has not been disturbed.
The planning approach advocated in Growing Greener has conserved more than 500 acres prime farm-
land in a single township (Lower Makefiled, Bucks county, PA) in just five years, and that figure continues
to increase as new conservation subdivisions are proposed and approved. At an average land value of
$7,000 per acre, this represents approximately $3.5 million worth of conservation, achieved without spend-
ing public funds, without controversial down-zoning, and without complicated density transfers (TDRs).
A similar per-acre saving has also occurred in Hamburg Township, Livingston County, Michigan, where
650 acres of land has been protected through conservation subdivision design over the last six years. And
2000 acres have also been saved through this same technique in Calvert county, Maryland during the first
two years of the new land-use techniques being adopted. The combined value of those lands is in the
neighborhood of $15 million, which makes this technique probably one of the most cost-effective planning
tools available to growing communities.
Model:
The Center for Chesapeake Communities, LandStudies, Inc., and Spring Township, Pennsylvania have
worked together on a Site Planning Demonstration Project, a program that seeks to provide a living model
of sustainable development in the Bay watershed. Funded through the US EPA's Sustainable Develop-
ment Challenge Grants Program and the Chesapeake Bay Program, the project selected a parcel of land in
Spring Township, PA on which three site planning scenarios were developed and analyzed to determine
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 47
-------
which development design and pattern was most sustainable.
To direct the team of local officials, architects, planners and developers in the site designs, the group pre-
pared a list of principles of sustainable site design. These principles were organized on four different
scales - regional, neighborhood, site and building - providing an overall context in which the benefits of
sustainable site planning and development are maximized.
The site scenarios played to important roles. First, it showed how conventional, by-right development de-
sign works against the principles of sustainable site planning, instead basing its design on concepts such as
vehicle orientation, disregard for the site's hydrology, kck of connections with a development, absence of
linkages with the surrounding community and limited open space preservation. Spring Township is taking
pro-active steps to address these regulatory impediments to innovative site design.
In addition to these important design elements, the draft site planning scenarios promote a process that
helps ensure that the core design principles are implemented. The draft site plan scenarios' design frame-
work promote flexibility- the central element of this process. It is intended that whomever acquires the
land takes advantage of the flexibility offered by the Township's revised regulations and ordinances and
builds a model community.
Resources:
Growing Greener, by Randall G. Arendt; a new community planning initiative which is designed
to help communities use the development regulation process to their advantage to protect inter-
connected networks of greenways and permanent open space, contact (610)353-5587.
Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide to Creating Open Space Networks, by Randall
G. Arendt; 60 pages. Figures, site plans, index. Published 1996 Island Press; contact (610)353-5587.
Natural Lands Trust web site: http://natlands.org
Alex Wilson, Jenifer L. Uncapher, Lisa McManigal, L. Hunter Lovins, Maureen Cureton, William D.
Browning. Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate. John Wiley & Sons; New York,
1998.
Trainers:
Randall Arendt, Vice-President, Natural Lands Trust; Mark Gutshall, Senior Environmental Manager,
LandStudies, Inc.
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 48
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Training Session
Preparing Watershed Management
The presentation by Richard A. Qaytor, Jr. P.E., Principle Engineer, and Edward W. Brown, Water Re-
sources Engineer at the Center for Watershed Protection, outlined the following eight tools of watershed
protection representative of the measures that should be taken to achieve watershed planning goals. The
practice of watershed protection is about making choices about what tools apply, and in what combination.
The eight watershed protection tools roughly correspond to the stages of the development cycle from the
initial land use planning, site design, and construction through home ownership. As a result, watershed
managers will need to apply some form of all eight tools in every watershed to provide comprehensive wa-
tershed protection. A brief description of each tool is provided below.
, Tool: Land use planning/zoning
One of the goals of watershed planning is to shift development toward subwatersheds that can
support a particular type of land use and/ or density. The basic goal of the watershed plan is to
apply land use planning techniques to redirect development, preserve sensitive areas, and maintain or re-
duce the impervious cover within a given subwatershed.
A wide variety of techniques can be used to manage land use and impervious cover in subwatersheds.
Some of these include: watershed-based zoning, overlay zoning, impervious overlay zoning, floating zon-
ing, incentive zoning, performance zoning, urban growth boundaries, large lot zoning, transfer of develop-
ment rights and limiting infrastructure extensions. All of these .techniques are described in greater detail in
the Center for Watershed Protection's publications listed below.
: Land conservation
_«r A watershed manager must choose which of these natural and cultural areas should be conserved
•*N** in a subwatershed in order to sustain the integrity of its aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and to
maintain desired human uses from its waters. Examples of land areas that may want to be conserved in a
subwatershed include:
» Critical habitats for plant and animal communities;
* Aquatic corridors along streams and shorelines; and
» Hydrologic reserve areas that sustain a stream's hydrologic regime and offer flood protection.
t Tool: Aquatic buffers
A buffer has many uses and benefits. Its primary use is to physically protect and separate a stream,
lake or wetland channel from future disturbance or encroachment. For streams, a network of
buffers acts as a right-of-way during floods and sustains the integrity of stream ecosystems and habitats.
Technically, a buffer is one type of land conservation area, but it has added importance in a storm water
management sense in its ability to provide water quality benefits.
Tool: Better site design
This watershed protection tool emphasizes the key storm water management link between the site
and watershed levels.
Tool: Erosion and sediment control
Perhaps the most destructive stage of the development cycle is the relatively short period when
vegetation is cleared and a site is graded to create a buildable landscape. The potential impacts to
receiving waters are particularly severe at this stage. A combination of clearing restrictions, ero-
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 49
-------
sion prevention and sediment controls, coupled with a diligent plan review and strict construction en-
forcement are needed to help mitigate these impacts. Many communities rely primarily on sediment con-
trol as the primary strategy for sediment loss, though increasingly, the value of non-structural practices for
erosion prevention are being recognized.
, Tool: Storm water BMPs
A watershed plan needs to ensure that storm water BMPs are being properly designed, con-
structed, and maintained in the subwatershed. Watershed plans can help to determine what the
primary storm water objectives for a subwatershed are or should be and subsequently, provide guidance
on the selection, design and location of BMPs at individual development sites. While the specific design
objectives for storm water BMPs can often be unique to each subwatershed, the general goals for storm
water are usually the same:
* maintain groundwater recharge and quality,
* reduce storm water pollutant loads;
* protect stream channels;
* prevent increased overbank flooding; and,
* safely convey extreme floods.
, Tool: Non-storm water discharges
In some watersheds, non-storm water discharges can contribute significant pollutant loads to re-
ceiving waters. Key program elements consist of inspections of private septic systems, repair or
replacement of failing systems, utilizing more advanced on-site septic controls, identifying and eliminating
illicit connections from municipal storm water systems, and spill prevention.
(Tool: Watershed stewardship programs
The goal of watershed stewardship is to increase public understanding and awareness about wa-
tersheds, promote better stewardship of private lands, and develop funding to sustain watershed
management efforts. There are six basic programs that watershed managers should consider to promote a
greater watershed stewardship:
1. Watershed Advocacy
2. Watershed Education
3. Pollution Prevention
4. Watershed Maintenance
5. Indicator Monitoring
6. Restoration
A manager will generally need to apply some form of all eight tools in every watershed to provide com-
prehensive watershed protection.
Resources: Rapid Watershed Planning Handbook, 1998, and other sources are available
through the Center for Watershed Protection web site: http://www.pipeline.com/ ~mrrunoff/
Trainers:
Richard A Qaytor, Jr. P.E., Principle Engineer, Center for Watershed Protection, Edward W. Brown,
Water Resources Engineer, Center for Watershed Protection; Deborah S. Caraco, Environmental Engi-
neer, Center for Watershed Protection; Jennifer Zielinski, Watershed Engineer, Center for Watershed
Protection
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 50
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Moving Toward A
Sustainable Chesapeake
The final plenary session, closing out the two day event, brought together a broad range of views to
discuss next steps in moving toward a more sustainable future. Gary Gardner, Senior Researcher for the
Worldwatch Institute, looked at the global perspective. At Worldwatch Institute he has observed some
disturbing trends, but likewise sees opportunities in the positive trends. For example, the ozone shield in
heavily populated areas is thinning twice as fast as scientists predicted, worldwide forests are vanishing at
17 million hectares per year, an area about the size of Mexico, water tables are falling - in India at a rate of
3 feet per year, global warming has caused the melting of glaciers, the decline of coral reefs, and an in-
crease in disease, while flooding has displaced over one million people, and scientists have found an in-
creased level of unnatural chemicals in humans in northern Canada.
There is good news, however. Wind and solar power is replacing traditional energy sources, cars in
Europe and America are very efficient, emitting a fraction of the pollutants emitted just a decade ago, eco
industrial parks are working to seriously reduce the amount of material use, population growth is down to
80 million people per year from 90 million, and there is increased recognition of the value of environ-
mental practices such as replacing trees cut for production. The question society must answer is "are the
positive trends having enough of an impact on the environment to rectify the negatives?"
Anne Landfield, Project Manager for Ecobalance, Inc., represented the business perspective. For indus-
tries to truly become more sustainable, they need to review the impact the entire manufacturing process
has on the environment. More and more companies are interested in analyzing the manufactured product
from cradle to grave - making a life cycle assessment. By discerning energy and materials used and the
wastes and matter distributed, companies can assess what part of the process most effects the environ-
ment, and .where best to impact the system. As more companies implement the life cycle assessment in
their work, business and consumers can better understand and address their impact on the environment.
Roan Conrad, Director for the Office of Sustainable Development and Intergovernmental Affairs, Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, outlined the. role of the federal governments in promot-
ing the livable communities movement. In the last decade, the impetus for sustainability has come from
three groups of people:
1. the visionaries - planners, architects and designers;
2. local activists - politicians and local leaders;
3. environmentalists.
"What has been missing is the involvement of the federal government and the business community. How-
ever, that is changing. Vice President Al Gore's Livable Communities Initiatives, started two and one
half years ago, has produced an extensive report on making US cities more livable, and has pkced the issue
before Congress, who have in turn should tremendous interest in this initiative by creating caucuses to
broaden discussion of sustainable development and smart growth.
Six federal agencies now have offices devoted to sustainable development. It is more of a challenge to the
federal government to synthesize its efforts, reduce the barriers of complexity within itself, and implement
a system that promotes strong decision-making at the local level, giving communities the support needed
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 51
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to direct change. Also key to this process is a better assessment of the
role of economics in a sustainable society, so that models can be devel-
oped.
Finally, the panel looked at the local perspective, outlined by Al Eisen-
berg, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, US Depart-
ment of Transportation and former Board of Supervisor, County of Ar-
lington, Virginia. There is great disparity and disjointedness in what
communities are doing to build and protect their futures. Arlington is a
national model for its transit oriented development that has consoli-
dated growth. Nearby, however, Fauquier county will lose 86,000 acres
over the next 20 years.
The solution, states Eisenberg, is to involve all the community's
stakeholders, from the federal government to the local business com-
munity to the local activists, for each has some type of authority and can
make choices about the community's future. The federal government
must play a role in clean air transportation. Local leaders need to col-
laborate with and define how they want their cities and towns to look
Local players also must serve a very important role as translators - the
many different interests that make up a community all speak different
languages. To work together and build consensus effectively, these dis-
parate interests must be interpreted.
In conclusion, there is much work to do, and many people that need to
become more involved in moving communities in the Bay watershed
toward a more sustainable future. Communities have a goal - to make a
more livable, sustainable environment that fosters economic, social and
ecological growth and prosperity. It is now the task of local leaders, and
in particular local governments, to build partnerships at all levels , both
locally and regionally, build awareness among stakeholders, and take the
initiative to promote change using the tools, techniques and strategies
available.
The Center for Chesapeake Communities will continue to serve as a
clearinghouse of these tools and techniques, and will work to build and
strengthen natural partnerships - aligning the strengths of the federal,
state and local governments with the business and environmental com-
munities to enable local governments to work to build a sustainable fu-
ture.
Resource:
Center for Chesapeake Communities web site:
http://www.chesapeakecommunities.org
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 52
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APPENDIX I
Resource Guide for a Sustainable Chesapeake
Starting Out Right
The Institute for Environmental Negotiations, phone: 804-924-1970, seeks to make mediation and con-
sensus building services available to governments, citizen organizations and businesses dealing with con-
flicts and complex policy choices related to land use and the natural and built environments.
http://www.virginia.edu/ -envneg/IENhtml
The University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Services (IGS) is able to offer affordable consul-
tation and technical support in many different specialized areas to local governments, state agencies, civic
associations, and nonprofit organizations; e-mail: jbl28@umail.umd.edu
http://www.inform.umd.edu/IGS/
Pennsylvania State University's Team Decision Center combines the ktest advances in group systems tech-
nology with professional group facilitation to offer proven solutions to all-too-common communications
barriers. Contact: K. David Weidner, Instructor/Facilitator, 225 Perm State Scanticon, University Park,
PA 16802-7002; phone: (814) 863-5145; fax: (814) 863-5190
Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission provides a forum for regional solutions to regional prob-
lems, and hosts a Sustainability Council that is directed to build an agreement among citizens, businesses,
organizations, and governments in the region to build a future where the vitality of the economy and envi-
ronment are forever ensured, http://monticello.avenue.gen.va.us/tjpdc/
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission hosts a newsletter highlighting two of their regional pro-
grams focused on water supply and watershed management:
http://www.hrpdc.org/newsletter/news_env2.html
National Association of Regional Councils is a nonprofit, membership organization serving the interests of
regional councils nationwide. Their web site offers information on regional economic, metropolitan and
transportation efforts nationally, and suggests further references. 1700 K Street, Suite 1300
Washington D.C; phone: (202) 457-0710; http://www.narc.org
To order a copy of PA BLUPRINTS CD-ROM, send a check for $14 made out to Perm State to the De-
partment of Landscape Architecture, The Pennsylvania State University, 210 Unit "D", University Park,
PA 16802-1429. The cost covers the disk plus postage and handling. This version of PA BLUPRINTS is
tailored to Pennsylvania's municipal code but can be of use to communities in other states as well. The
CD-ROM runs on both Mac and Windows platforms, http://www.larch.psu.edu/
To leam more about the Visual Interactive Code, contact the Visual Interactive Communications Group at
P.O. Box 254, State College, PA 16804-0254; phone: (814) 234-0354; fax: (814) 234-1945
http://www.VICGroup.com
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Transportation Action Network— TransAct is an Internet service for disseminating information about
transportation, the environment and communities, http://www.transact.org
TEA-21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century) in its entirety can be found at this web site along
with further information about Techniques for Innovative Financing and Joint Development of Transit
Projects and Planning and Environmental Provisions, http://www.tea21.org
The TEA-21 User's Guide ~ a 60 page booklet put out by the Surface Transportation Policy Project pro-
viding understandable language about TEA-21 - Contact STPP: 202-466-2636.
Reid Ewing, et al. Best Development Practices: Doing the Right Thing and Making Money at the Same
Time, American Planning Association, 1996. Contact: (312) 786-6344.
Reid Ewing, Transportation and Land Use Innovations, American Planning Association, 1997. Contact
(312) 786-6344.
Characterizing Your Community
Trends in Sustainability presentation, created by the U.S. EPA, examines the environmental, social and
economic trends threatening the sustainability of the states in Region III: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Dela-
ware, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
http://www.epa.gov/region3/sdwork/trends.htm
Sustainable Development Challenge Grant Program, offered by the U.S. EPA, is intended to encourage
community, business, and government to work cooperatively to develop flexible, locally-oriented ap-
proaches that link pkce-based environmental management with sustainable development, and revitaliza-
tion. http://www.epa.gov/region3/sdwork/grants.htm
EcoVillage of Loudoun County, Virginia, is a new community demonstrating the value of creating a vital,
healthy nurturing community in harmony with the environment, http://www.ecovil.com
National Farm*A*Syst / Home*A*Syst is a national program supported by the USDA and the U.S. EPA
that works to prevent nonpoint source pollution through farm and home pollution risk assessments and
planning activities that result in voluntary action, http://www.wisc.edu/farmasyst
Environmental Quality Initiative (EQI) is an innovative new project of the Dairy Network Partnership
(DNP), a collaboration of educational and environmental organizations. The EQI is a new market-based
strategy that links environmentally-minded consumers directly with dairy farmers who share their concerns
for our natural resources through a private, non-regulatory approach to environmental quality protection.
http://eqinitiative.com
Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) is a voluntary, locally-led and implemented initiative de-
veloped in New York State to help farmers implement environmentally-sound farming practices, http://
www.cce.comen.edu/ag/envirorimental-mgt/aem.html
The study of Alternative Futures for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, is the product of student work in a
graduate level studio at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. The full report is available at:
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/depts/larchdep/research/monroe
Toward a Sustainable Chesapeake 54
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American Forests is the nation's oldest nonprofit citizen conservation organization, founded in 1875. It has
made available an analysis of the Chesapeake Bay EcoSystem http://www.americanforests.org/
NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) is a University of Connecticut Cooperative Exten-
sion System project using innovative techniques to teach local officials about the sources and impacts of
nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, how different land uses affect water quality, and what towns can do to
protect water quality. The unique educational approach of the project is to use geographic information sys-
tem (GIS) technology to simplify and explain the complex relationship between land use to water quality.
http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/nemo/index.html
Planning for the Future
Street Design Guidelines are available through the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The Institute has
initiated programs to collect information on important transportation issues and to make it readily available
to the transportation community through this ITE web site: http://www.ite.org
Guides and model codes and ordinances are available through the U.S. Department of Energy's web site
for the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, a very comprehensive site that offers a toolkit,
success stories and a database of references: http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/landuse/lucodtoc.htm
Model codes and ordinances are also available through the U.S. EPA's Green Communities web site. The
Green Communities Assistance Kit is packaged as a step-by-step guide for planning and implementing
sustainable actions. It poses four basic questions, each resulting in a specific outcome.
http://www.epa.gov/Region3/greenkit
Congress for the New Urbanism offers tools and techniques for the restoration of existing urban centers
and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communi-
ties of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preser-
vation of our built legacy, http://www.cnu.org/index.html
The Center for the Study of Economics has conducted a number of studies of the feasibility of implement-
ing the two tier tax rate in communities throughout the watershed. Mr. Joshua Vincent has worked pro
bono and as a paid consultant to over 40 municipalities, counties, NGOs and national governments.
Phone:410-740-1177.
Rural Legacy Program - For more information contact the Department of Natural Resources at 410-260-
8403, e-mail at gdehart@dnr.state.md.us or the Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation at (410) 841-
5860, or e-mail at frantzil@mda.state.md.us.
The Trust for Public Land pioneers new ways to finance parks and open space, promotes the importance
of public land, and helps communities establish land-protection goals. Phone: 1-800-714-LAND;
http://www.tpl.org
National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) provides a global forum for promoting the develop-
ment, implementation, and evaluation of efforts to avoid, eliminate or reduce pollution at the source.
http://www.p2.org
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Local Government Pollution Prevention Toolkit: Tools and Models to help local governments implement
pollution prevention (P2) and protect the Chesapeake Bay, its rivers and streams, U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency for the Chesapeake Bay Program, 1998. Contact: 1-800-YOUR-BAY.
Businesses for the Bay is a voluntary team of forward-thinking industries, commercial establishments and
small businesses within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, committed to implementing pollution prevention
in daily operations and reducing chemical releases to the Bay. To join this team contact the Chesapeake
Bay Program Off ice at 1-800-YOUR-BAY.
Implementing Sustainable Community Initiatives
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center works with communities
across the nation to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas. Based in historic preservation,
the Main Street approach was developed to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of Ameri-
can communities' built environment, but has become a powerful economic development tool as well.
http://mainst.org/
Urban Studies and Planning Program, School of Architecture, University of Maryland offers a page of links
of planning-related resources: http://www.bsos.urnd.edu/ursp/links.htm
Urban Land Institute is a member organization offering tools and techniques for the development and real
estate community encouraging higher standards of land use planning and real estate development.
http://www.uli.org
U.S. Department of Energy Clearinghouse offers a comprehensive resource for energy efficiency and re-
newable energy information, http://www.eren.doe.gov
Several publications are available from Prince George's County, including the Low Impact Development
Design Manual and a brochure entitled Rain Gardens: The Natural Solution, and a reference guide enti-
tled How Does Your Garden Grow. Contact: (301) 883-5822.
Watershed & Lake BMPs: Best Management Practices Appropriate for Established Urban Communities, is
a report designed for use in urban or urbanizing watersheds. The Lake Barcroft Watershed Improvement
District in Fairfax, VA has identified and demonstrated management practices that help control problems
resulting from storm water. To order, contact Lake Barcroft Watershed Improvement District, 3428
Mansfield Rd., Falls Church, VA 22041; phone: (703) 820-7700
Growing Greener in Your Rappahannock Watershed: Case Studies on the Economic and Environmental
Benefits of "Green Development" Practices; Contact Friends of the Rappahannock, PO Box 7254,
Fredericksburg, VA 22404.
Smart Growth Network helps create national, regional, and local coalitions to encourage metropolitan de-
velopment that is environmentally smart, fiscally smart, economically and socially smart. The web site in-
cludes a comprehensive database of references, tools, techniques and case studies related to making com-
munities grow smarter, http://smartgrowth.org
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Maryland's Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation initiative is recognized nationally for its efforts
to reverse the inefficient and often costly pattern of development that has been the standard in this coun-
try for the past half century. The site features what state agencies and local governments are doing to plan
for a more sustainable future, http://www.op.state.md.us/smartgrowth
Community Capacity Building
The Green Communities Tool Kit is available to all communities via the internet. For further information
contact Susan McDowell, US EPA, phone: (215) 814-2739; email: mcdowell.susan@epamail.epa.gov;
http://www.epa.gov/Region3/greenkit
Information about die Community Environmental Review Process (CER) and full reports from CERs
completed in Hampstead, MD and Warrenton, VA are available through the Center for Chesapeake Com-
munities; Phone: (410) 267-8595; http://www.chesapealfficommunities.org/support.html
Details on the Countryside Stewardship Exchange are available through the Alliance for the Chesapeake
Bay, Maryland Office: 410-3776270; Pennsylvania Office: 717-236-8825; Virginia Office: 804-775-0951;
http://www.acb-online.org
Union County Planning has a web site available for diose interested in learning more about the process by
which the County developed its visioning and planning strategy.
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1193/SusComm.htm
The Sustainable Communities Network links citizens to resources and one anodier to create healthy, vital,
sustainable communities: http://www.sustainable.org
Nurturing Sustainable Economic Growth
Funding sources for water quality initiatives are available through the Environment Finance Center (EFC),
part of the University System of Maryland. The EFC has identified over thirty-five Federal, state and local
funding programs which could be used by public as well as private landowners interested in preserving wa-
ter quality. They can be viewed at the following web site, or ordered by mail for $1 each; contact: Environ-
mental Finance Center, The University System of Maryland, 0112 Skinner Hall
College Park, MD 20742-7640; phone: (301) 405-6383, fax: (301) 314-9581;
e-mail: efc@mdsg.umd.edu
Funding for Water Quality in Virginia: http://www.rndsg.umd.edu/MDSG/EFC/Info/vawq.html
Funding for Water Quality in Maryland: http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MDSG/EFC/Info/mdwq.html
Funding for Water Quality in Pennsylvania: http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MDSG/EFC/Info/pawq.html
Promoting Innovative Site Planning
Growing Greener, by Randall G. Arendt; a new community planning initiative which is designed to help
communities use the development regulation process to their advantage to protect interconnected net-
works of greenways and permanent open space, contact (610)353-5587.
Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide to Creating Open Space Networks, by Randall
G. Arendt; 60 pages. Figures, site plans, index. Published 1996 Island Press; contact (610)353-5587.
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Natural Lands Trust is a non-profit, regional lands trust that over the past several decades has helped con-
serve more than 64,000 acres of natural areas. Today the Trust owns and manages a system of 48 preserves
which includes some of the most ecologically significant land in the area. The Trust web site offers tools
and techniques for conserving land through financial options and development and design options.
http://natlands.org
Alex Wilson, Jenifer L. Uncapher, Lisa McManigal, L. Hunter Lovins, Maureen Cureton, William D.
Browning. Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate, John Wiley & Sons; New York,
1998.
Preparing Watershed Management
The Center for Watershed Protection was founded in 1992. The Center works with local, state, and federal
governmental agencies, environmental consulting firms, watershed organizations, and the general public to
provide objective and scientifically sound information on effective techniques to protect and restore urban
watersheds. The Center also acts as a technical resource for local and state governments around the coun-
try to develop more effective urban stormwater and watershed protection programs. Rapid Watershed
Planning Handbook, 1998, and other sources are available through the Center for Watershed Protection -
phone: (410) 461-8323.
http://www.pipeline.com/ ~tnrrunoff/
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Chesapeake Bay Program
The Chesapeake Bay Program is the cooperative partnership
among the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the
District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a
tri-state legislative body; the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, representing the federal government; and partici-
pating advisory groups.
www.chesapeakebay.net/bayprogram
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