NATIONAL AWARD FOR
Smart * Growth
ACHIEVEMENT
•
United States
Environmental Protection
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A Message from Administrator Whitman
Congratulations to the winners of the first National Awards for Smart Growth
Achievement! The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is proud to sponsor these awards to honor communities that are working for a
cleaner environment and a higher quality of life for their citizens.
EPA's support for smart growth is right in line with our goals to achieve cleaner
air, purer water and better protected land. Smart growth is an important tool in
realizing these benefits. By making use of existing infrastructure and redeveloping
brownfields, economic development and renewal is resulting in the transformation
of community eyesores into community assets. Smart growth makes sense for our
environment, our economy and our communities.
Smart growth also advances an important priority for the Bush Administration,
that of building a more collaborative, results-based government. EPA is committed
to working in partnership with federal agencies, tribes, corporations, preservationists,
and citizens to achieve smarter growth across the nation. We understand that land
use decisions are a local matter, and that our role in smart growth is to provide
assistance to help with those decisions. To that end, EPA offers regulatory
flexibility, information, and technical support.
The National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement are intended to recognize
communities for innovative approaches to smart growth and to continue spreading
the word about how smart growth can be achieved. Indeed, each winner serves
as a model for other communities and shows that we can preserve open space,
save money on roads and sewers, keep homes affordable, and boost prosperity
for this and future generations.
Christine Todd Whitman
EPA Administrator
smart growth
noun \ smart groth \
1. growth that serves the
economy, the community
and the environment
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Environmental Protection and
Smart Growth
The built environment — the developments where we live,
work, shop, and play — has both direct and indirect effects
on the natural environment. Smart growth development approaches
have clear environmental benefits, including: improved air and
water quality, greater wetlands and open space preservation, and
more clean up and re-use of brownfield sites. Below are examples
of how the location and design of growth impacts the natural
environment:
^ Between 1954 and 1997, developed land area almost
quadrupled from 18.6 million acres to about 74 million
acres in the contiguous 48 states. The consequences of this
land consumption include habitat loss and fragmentation,
wetland destruction, and degradation of water quality.
^ The National Water Quality Inventory: 1998 Report to Congress
identified runoff from development as one of the leading
sources of water quality impairment. Runoff from development
was ranked as the sixth leading source of impairment in rivers,
fourth in lakes, and second in estuaries.
^ As development moves away from existing communities, con-
taminated or blighted land is often left behind. EPA estimates
that between 500,000 and one million brownfields tarnish
the landscapes of communities across America. Brownfields
are abandoned or underutilized properties where redevelop-
ment is hindered by possible environmental contamination.
Smart Growth promotes practices that can lessen the environmental
impacts of development, including: redevelopment of brownfields,
creation of compact walkable neighborhoods, reduced impervious
surfaces, safeguarding of environmentally sensitive areas, mixing
of land uses (e.g., residential, office, and retail), transit accessibility,
and support for pedestrian and bicycle activity.
A New Jersey study found that compact development would
produce 40 percent less water pollution than more dispersed
development patterns. In a Seattle study, authors found that by
mixing land uses and enhancing the relative convenience of
non-auto travel, 12.2 percent of all trips were nonmotorized,
compared to 3.9 percent in single-use residential neighborhoods.
While individually, smart growth methods can yield significant
environmental improvements, a synergistic approach combining
a number of policies and programs can deliver even greater
environmental benefits.
For more information on the benefits of smart growth, see
"Our Built and Natural Environments, A Technical Review
of the Interactions between Land Use, Transportation, and
Environmental Quality." This document is available from
the EPA by calling 513-891-6561 or on the Internet at:
www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/publications.htm
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National Award for Smart
Growth Achievement Winners
Winner Arlington County,Virginia
Category: Overall Excellence in Smart Growth
Project: Rosslyn-Ballston Metro Corridor
Winner: Town of Breckenridge Planning
Department, Colorado
Category: Built Projects
Project: Wellington Neighborhood
Winner: City/County Association of
Governments of San Mateo
County, California
Category: Policies and Regulations
Project: Transit-Oriented Development
Incentive Program
Winner: Massachusetts Executive
Office of Environmental Affairs
Category: Community Outreach and Education
Project: Community Preservation Initiative
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About the Award
^his national recognition program was created by EPA
Administrator Christine Todd Whitman in 2002 and is
sponsored by EPA's Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation.
In this inaugural year, the call for entries resulted in over 100
applications from across the country.
Each award recipient has incorporated the principles of smart
growth to create places that respect community culture and the
environment, foster economic development, and enhance quality
of life. The winning entries were selected based on their replic-
ability and effectiveness in advancing smart growth and also reflect
appropriate citizen and stakeholder participation or partnerships.
The award recipients were chosen through a multi-step process.
Advice on the entries was provided by a panel of external experts
representing a broad range of constituencies with interest and
expertise in the built environment and smart growth. An internal
EPA review panel then provided additional comments on the
entries. EPA's Associate Administrator for Policy, Economics
and Innovation made the final award determinations.
The principles of smart growth include:
I. Mix land uses.
2. Take advantage of compact building design.
3. Create housing opportunities and choices for a
range of household types, family sizes and incomes.
4. Create walkable neighborhoods.
5. Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a
strong sense of place.
6. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and
critical environmental areas.
7. Reinvest in and strengthen existing communities
and achieve more balanced regional development.
8. Provide a variety of transportation choices.
9. Make development decisions predictable, fair and
cost-effective.
10. Encourage citizen and stakeholder participation in
development decisions.
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Rosslyn-Ballston Metro Corridor
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington's planning approach places dense, mixed-use, infill
development at five Metro stations and tapers it down to
residential neighborhoods.The result? Over 21 million
square feet of office/retail/commercial space, 3,000+ hotel
rooms, and 22,500 residential units creating vibrant "urban
villages" where people live, shop, work and play using transit,
pedestrian walkways, bicycles or cars.
Overall Excellence
in Smart Growth
Winner
Arlington County uses smart growth principles to generate
residential, retail and recreational development around
the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor of Metro stations. The corridor
includes five stations: Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon,
Virginia Square, and Ballston. Arlington adopted a General
Land Use Plan (GLUP) to concentrate dense, mixed-use
development at the stations and developed sector plans to
ensure that each station maintained a distinct sense of
community. Incentive zoning is used to attract private sector
transit-oriented development.
The sector plans set goals for type of use, open space, infrastruc-
ture and design. Each plan focuses growth within a walkable
radius of the stations, and preserves established neighborhoods
and natural areas. Arlington's urban villages emphasize pedes-
trian access and safety, and incorporate public art, "pocket"
parks, wide sidewalks with restaurant seating, bike lanes, street
trees, traffic calming, and street-level retail. A site plan review
links goals in the GLUP with details of each proposed project.
Metro station locations and the GLUP continue to guide
development. Between 1999 and 2002, the corridor gained
2,500 apartments and condos, 1.5 million square feet of
office space, 379,000 square feet of retail space, and five
miles of bike lanes. The corridor is so popular that preserving
affordable housing is a challenge. In 2001, Arlington adopted
an expanded bonus density provision for development of
affordable housing, allowing up to 25 percent more density.
The transit successes and corresponding environmental perform-
ance are impressive. Metro ridership doubled in the corridor
between 1991 and 2002. Nearly 50 percent of corridor residents
use transit to commute. As of the end of 2001, the corridor has
over 18.3 million square feet of office space, 3.4 million square
feet of retail/commercial space, over 3,000 hotel rooms, and
22,500 residential units — with much more under construc-
tion. Creating this development at typical suburban densities
could consume over 14 square miles of open space compared
to the roughly two square mile Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
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Highlights
Rosslyn-Ballston Metro Corridor • Overall Excellence in Smart Growth Winner
The Corridor as a Model
Many of Arlington's policies and procedures
could be implemented in other communities.
Planning density around Metro stops is a
model for directing growth to new or exist-
ing transit corridors while protecting older
neighborhoods and natural areas. When
residents are involved in developing plans,
they are more likely to support density at the
stations and the amenities it can provide for
the neighborhood.
Developing Community
Community partnerships such as the Ballston
Partnership, Clarendon Alliance, and Rosslyn
Renaissance ensure full and active participa-
tion by citizens and businesses in nearly all
public and private development and policy
decisions. The County solicits citizen input
through over 40 Board-appointed County
Commissions and nearly 60 neighborhood
civic associations. Arlington uses a compre-
hensive site plan review process including
public meetings with staff, citizens, County
Commissions, and developers.
Arlington County has
Stuart Park, located across the street from the Ball
Station and flanked by offices and apartment buildings with street
level retail, is popular with area residents and employees.
mamtamec
and economic commitment
to transit-oriented
decades. Residents support
the smart growth program
because they participate
in developing plans and
reviewing projects, pay low
taxes thanks to the strong
commercial tax base, and
enjoy the convenient shops,
services and transit.
Planning Commissioi
and long-time resident
•^
For More Information
Robert Brosnan
Planning Director
Arlington County
Department of Community Planning,
Housing, and Development
Tel: 703-228-3516
Rbrosnan@co.arlington.va.us
This aerial photo demon-
strates the effectiveness
of Arlington's approach
around the Rosslyn and
Court House stations.
It also shows that smart
growth results in a wide
range of housing types
from apartments and
condos to townhouses
and single-family
detached homes.
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Wellington Neighborhood
Breckenridge, Colorado
The Wellington Neighborhood in Breckenridge,
Colorado provides affordable and market-rate
housing on a site that was once dredge-mined.
The project recycles land, creates housing for
working families, provides a free transit shuttle
to the nearby downtown, and helps the region
avoid "mountain sprawl."
Built Projects
Winner
Locals who work in the historic resort town of Breckenridge
were being squeezed out of the area by median costs of
$725,000 for a single-family home. For many workers, the
American Dream was only available across Hoosier Pass, a 45-
minute commute over treacherous mountain roads. Meanwhile,
an 85-acre site in French Gulch on the town's outskirts sat amid
hundreds of acres spoiled by mining, and the zoning allowed
only four homes.
Breckenridge has reclaimed 22 acres of this brownfield site to
develop the Wellington Neighborhood, a compact community
built in the style of traditional neighborhoods with attractive
and affordable homes. Fifty-eight of 122 approved homes have
been constructed. Another 20 acres is preserved as open space
or community parks. The project was planned in two stages:
first, the French Gulch Remediation Opportunities Group
(FROG), composed of citizens, property owners, the Colorado
Department of Public Health, and EPA officials, worked for
several years with the Keystone Center, a non-profit environ-
mental mediation group, to prioritize clean-up actions and
funding. Second, Breckenridge officials and residents worked
together over four years to plan and design the neighborhood.
The Breckenridge Planning Department encouraged Wellingtons
traditional neighborhood design through flexible zoning for hous-
ing setbacks (closer to the street), road widths (narrower), and lot
sizes (smaller). Housing affordability is ensured through covenants
to keep homes affordable for future generations. Streamlined
purchaser qualification standards facilitate transactions and
reduce administrative requirements. The project was funded in
part with public sector incentives worth more than $ 1 million,
as well as a U.S. EPA and Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment "Prospective Purchaser Agreement"
that partially funded the clean-up and wetland reclamation.
Using smart growth principles, Wellington has increased the
supply of affordable housing, cleaned a contaminated site, and
created a compact, walkable neighborhood with access to trails
and open space. Eighty percent of homes are reserved for pur-
chase by people who work in Summit County, at about one-third
(or less) the cost of the median purchase price in Breckenridge.
Wellington's location near downtown Breckenridge places
housing near job centers, reducing commute times and related
emissions. New homeowners include the town manager, gov-
ernment employees, shop owners, teachers and police officers.
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Highlights
Wellington Neighborhood • Built Projects Winner
A Good Model
The Wellington Neighborhood serves as a
model for design, planning, development,
construction, and community participation.
This project has particular relevance to
communities in resort or "gateway" towns
where affordable housing for permanent res-
idents is scarce. Wellington's design/plan-
ning team also used this model for a low-
income housing community in Boulder and
hopes to expand the concept into other
mountain communities in Colorado.
Community and Access
Wellington residents enjoy the strong com-
munity that has developed in a short time.
Fostering this sense of place is architecture
that complements both human scale and
historic setting. Wellington's compact plan
includes public greens and connections that
create a safe and appealing environment for
outdoor play, bicycling, and pedestrians.
Free public transportation links Wellington
to downtown and ski areas. Residents enjoy
easy access to trails and thousands of acres
of open space.
For More Information
Peter Grosshuesch
Planning Director
Town of Breckenridge
Tel: 970-453-3162
peterg@ci.breckenridge.co.us.
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' You've got to find ways to
keep the police officers, the
teachers, the managers in the
community These people
are both the economic engine
and the soul of the town.
There's nothing else like the
Wellington Neighborhood in
the county and not much else
like it in the whole country."
la, Mayor of Breckenridg
Wellington's houses are
clustered together in
groups often and feature
front porches and rear
alleys. Clustering of homes
allows the neighborhood
to preserve public open
space and trails.
>a,
The Wellington Neighborhood sits atop land
reclaimed from the Wellington-Oro Mine, which
produced gold, silver, and lead until 1972.The site
contained 30-foot high piles of river rock.
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San Mateo County Transit-
Oriented Development (TOD)
Incentive Program
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo'sTOD Incentive Program uses trans-
portation funds to help build more housing near rail
stations. It spurs construction of needed housing and
creates environmental benefits by giving people the
Policies and
Regulations
Winner
option of commuting and running errands by rail.
This program directly links land use with efficient
use of the existing transportation system.
In California and in local governments across the country,
land use decisions often focus on maximizing sales tax rev-
enue to balance budgets. This creates a greater incentive to build
office and retail space but creates a disincentive to construct
housing. As jobs and housing spread out, the transportation
system can become overburdened. Modeling showed that
San Mateo County could reduce congestion by locating more
housing near transit stations, giving people easy access to rail.
To address a housing shortfall, reduce congestion, and
improve environmental quality, the City/County Association
of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG) provides
incentives for land use agencies (20 constituent cities as well
as the county) to create housing near transit stations. C/CAG
allocates up to 10 percent of State Transportation Improvement
Program funds for the San Mateo County TOD Incentive
Program. The program provides a financial incentive for local
land use authorities to develop housing near transit stations.
Under the program, a jurisdiction receives incentive funds based
on the number of bedrooms in the housing units. Typically,
eligible projects receive up to $2,000 per bedroom. In order to
be eligible for the program, housing must be within one-third
of a mile of a rail transit station, and density must be at least
40 units per acre. In the event that the program is oversubscribed,
C/CAG may reduce the funding per bedroom or provide
additional funding to the program. Land use agencies only get
the funding once the units are built or are under construction.
Funds are then used to support improvements either on- or
off-site as determined by the land use agency. In addition to
direct transportation improvements, some general improve-
ments such as landscaping, lighting, sidewalks, plazas, and
recreational projects are allowed.
For the first cycle, October 1999 to September 2001, C/CAG
programmed $2.3 million to the TOD Incentive Program to
support development of 1,282 bedrooms in five projects. The
second cycle, February 2002 to February 2004, has programmed
over $2.9 million for 10 projects to facilitate the creation of
2,407 bedrooms.
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Highlights
San Mateo County TOD Incentive Program • Policies and Regulations Winner
Interest from Other Jurisdictions
The success of C/CAG's TOD Incentive
Program has encouraged other jurisdictions
to implement similar programs. The
Metropolitan Transportation Commission,
the metropolitan planning organization for
the San Francisco Bay Area, adopted a
Housing Incentive Program based on
C/CAG's model. Legislation being considered
at the state level would create a similar pro-
gram. Sacramento, Fresno, and Monterey
Counties (in California) are also considering
similar programs.
Integration with Transportation
Planning
The TOD Incentive Program recognizes that
coordinating land use and transportation is
critical to achieving an efficient transporta-
tion system and making the best use of tax
dollars. C/CAG's approach is an innovative
use of transportation funds that provides
incentives to land use decision-makers to
achieve transit-oriented development.
For More Information
Richard Napier
Executive Director
City/County Association of
Governments of San Mateo County
Tel: 650-599-1420
rnapier@co.sanmateo.ca.us
Construction underway on Phase I of the Franklin
Street project, which will provide 206 residential
units at the Redwood City Caltrain Station.
" Redwood City is proud
to have received the first-
ever TOD Incentive
grant from C/CAG for
f> \) B
~
well received bv the
community and will
provide 206 new
residential units,
including 31 affordable
units, and convenient
retail — all within
walking distance to the
Caltrain Station and
Downtown District
employment/services."
Maureen Riordan,
Senior Planner,
City of Redwood City
Phase I of the Franklin Street Project, near completion.The
project received $1.2 million in TOD Incentive Program funds.
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Massachusetts Community
Preservation Initiative
State of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Community Preservation Initiative is
a statewide smart growth program that helps municipal
officials and community leaders understand the poten-
tial effects of future growth. It provides tools, technical
assistance and outreach to encourage informed and
balanced growth decisions.
Community Outreach
and Education
Winner
The Community Preservation Initiative (CPI) was developed
by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs to create a constituency of residents and elected officials
who support and implement smart growth. CPI's philosophy is
that planning is not just for professionals and that all residents
should play a role in shaping their collective future. CPI encour-
ages communities to grow where infrastructure already exists,
redevelop urban areas, and utilize density to offset pressures on
open space.
Under CPI, the state provides tools to help communities see
the effects of growth and make more informed choices. CPI
created 351 buildout maps, one for each community in the
state, to illustrate how a community is currently zoned and the
quantity and location of land available for development. CPI has
presented buildout maps in three venues: to every community's
Board of Selectmen or City Council; at 20 Summits of
up to 150 people from up to 20 communities, and at six
"SuperSummits" of up to 300 people each. The buildout
maps have inspired many communities to change their bylaws
and zoning to better support the type of growth they want in
their communities and to enhance environmental protection.
An innovative aspect of CPI is the release of two software tools
to help communities make informed choices. The Fiscal Impact
Tool analyzes financial implications of development scenarios
and the Alternative Futures Tool enables a user to analyze a
variety of buildout scenarios by altering zoning. Other high-
lights of CPI's outreach efforts include making over 120 pre-
sentations about the state-wide Community Preservation Act
(CPA), under which communities can adopt a surcharge on
local property levies and receive up to a 100 percent state
match, and creating a high quality web site.
Partners in CPI include about 60 organizations representing
affordable housing, historic preservation and open space
interests, who help educate the public about the CPA through
workshops, conferences, and the web. CPI also partners with
state agencies, including the Department of Housing and
Community Development, Executive Office of Transportation
and Construction, and Department of Economic
Development.
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Highlights
Education, Not Regulation
The Community Preservation Initiative
emphasizes education, not regulation. For
example, in concert with other state agency
partners, CPI grants up to $30,000 in
planning assistance to communities seeking
to establish and develop Community
Development Planning Programs, based
on the content of the buildout project.
So far, 200 communities have signed up
to utilize these grants to develop plans for
community growth, to update master
plans, or begin plan implementation.
Academic Partnership
Reaches New Leaders
In collaboration with the University of
Massachusetts, CPI created the Community
Preservation Institute to teach community
leaders more about implementing community
preservation efforts. The Institute has grown
from one to five campuses in 18 months.
More than 125 graduates have passed through
the nine-week program, creating a growing
network of empowered community leaders.
For More Information
John Hultgren
Deputy Director of
Community Preservation
Massachusetts Executive Office
of Environmental Affairs
Tel: 617-626-1153
john.hultgren@state.ma.us
Absolute Development Constraints
Martha's vineyard
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'A hundred years after we
are gone and forgotten,
those who never heard of
us will be living with the
results of our actions"
Oliver Wendell Holmes
«*_^*_ <**,'- •?
--»; gr *
-F/V^ we shape our
buildings, and
then they shape us.
Winston Churchill
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Acknowledgements
Review Panel
Joel Hirschhorn, National Governors Association
Deron Lovaas, Natural Resources Defense Council
Joe Molinaro, National Association of REALTORS®
Nadejda Mishkovsky, International City/County
Management Association
Mike Watkins, Duany Plater-Zyberk
Betty Weiss, National Neighborhood Coalition
Felicia Young, Federal Highway Administration
National Building Museum
The 2002 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement were
presented at a ceremony at the National Building Museum
in Washington, DC on November 18. The National Building
Museum, created by an act of Congress in 1980, is America's
premier cultural institution dedicated to exploring and
celebrating architecture, design, engineering, construction and
urban planning. Since opening its doors in 1985, the Museum has
become a vital forum for exchanging ideas and information about
such topical issues as managing suburban growth, preserving
landmarks and communities, and revitalizing urban centers. The
Museum's engaging exhibitions and education programs, including
innovative curricula for school children and stimulating programs
for adults, annually attract nearly 400,000 people.
Photos
Front Cover: Bethesda Row, Bethesda, A/ID. Photo courtesy of Federal
Realty Investment Trust.
Winners page: Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL Photo courtesy ofLiisa Lcola.
About the Award, top: Transit Mall, Portland, OR. Photo courtesy ofLiisa Lcola.
About the Award, bottom: Charrette for grayfield mall reconstruction.
Photo courtesy of Chuck Bohl.
Case study photos courtesy of award winners.
Opposite, top: Hoyt Street Yards redevelopment project, Portland, OR. Photo
courtesy ofLiisa Lcola.
Opposite, bottom: Denver. CO. Photodisc, Scenics ofAmerica/PhotoLink.
This Page: Cache Valley, Newton, UT. Photo used with permission of
Alex S.MacLean/Landslides Aerial Photography.
Back Cover: Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA. Photo courtesy of
Liisa Lcola.
Support for the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement program was provided by ICF Consulting under contract to the EPA.
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Smart t Growth
ACH I EVEMENT
For more information about the
National Awards for Smart Growth
Achievement and EPA's other
smart growth activities, see:
www.epa.gov/smartgrowth
xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
1808-T
Washington, DC 20460
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