2010-252A (17) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

➢ Energy Conservation Areas While the county's urban service area boundary has successfully controlled where urban development has occurred in recent years, much of the development that has occurred within the urban service area can be classified as suburban -style sprawl. Suburban sprawl is characterized by low-density development consisting of disconnected, segregated uses and excessive dependence on the automobile for nearly all transportation. Because of the predominance of suburban -style development within the urban service area, much of the urban service area could be classified as an energy conservation area. As defined by the state, an energy conservation area is an area characterized by an inefficient land use pattern and transportation system in need of retrofitting to increase energy conservation. To increase energy conservation in the county's urban service area, the county should promote mixed use development, consider the impact of proposed amendments to the Future Land Use Map upon the county's jobs/housing balance, strengthen pedestrian and vehicular connectivity requirements between adjacent developments, and allow traditional neighborhood design (TND) developments as conditional uses in conventional zoning districts. Environmental Consequences of Urban Sprawl A second major urban sprawl concern is the loss of valuable land to development. Those lands can include agriculture or farm land; open space and native land; and land which is environmentally sensitive. Once developed, there is little chance for reconversion of that land to its native or natural use. At the same time, large tracts within the developed areas of the county remain vacant. As the result of sprawl, environmental degradation is likely to occur in two ways: the first is the outright loss of natural lands and environmentally sensitive lands. Those lands play an important role in maintaining the natural balance of the ecosystem as well as contributing to the aesthetic beauty and recreational resources of the county. The second is the result of development without public services and infrastructure. As development in those areas increases, the dependence on individual well and septic systems can result in the contamination of underground water supplies and can require expensive clean up measures, development of services and facilities, and the removal of public health threats. ➢ Greenhouse Gas Emissions According to a 2007 report by the International Panel on Climate Change, scientific consensus now exists that greenhouse gas accumulations due to human activities are contributing to global warming with potentially catastrophic consequences ("the enhanced greenhouse effect"). One of the primary causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect is air pollution resulting from automobile emissions. By increasing vehicle trip length and the share of overall trips made in automobiles, a sprawling land use pattern is a contributor to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Future Land Use Element 122