Smart growth

celebrates more questions
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

The presentation of a smart growth audit for the town of Boone sparked public interest, along with plenty of questions.

John Cock, associate planner with the Lawrence Group, the organization the town commissioned to complete the audit, presented the findings at a special meeting of the Boone Town Council Jan. 9.

The council commissioned the audit in spring 2007 to assess current growth policies and make recommendations for improvements, and the Lawrence Group did so by interviewing key stakeholders, such as residents, business owners, developers, local government officials and staff, and university representatives, and thoroughly examining regulations.

Regarding Boone, Cock said the major smart growth disconnect is its regulations and policies, which he said “are leading to a future markedly different than the vision of the long range plans and policies.”

The assessment was based on 10 smart growth principles from the Smart Growth Network: Mix land uses, take advantage of compact building design, create a range of housing opportunities and choices, create walkable neighborhoods, foster communities with a strong sense of place, preserve open space, direct growth toward existing communities, provide a variety of transportation choices, make development decisions fair, predictable and cost-effective, and encourage community and stakeholder collaboration.

With the audit having been completed and needs now assessed, Cock said the next stop would be to develop a detailed, community-wide master plan. Many of the audit’s recommendations would follow the plan, in terms of rewriting development regulations, developing new transportation standards and so on.

“Currently, you’ve got a good comprehensive plan with some good goals and a very loose strategic growth plan,” Cock said, “but it needs to go further and deeper, needs to look at a parcel by parcel level at where appropriate types of development are in the community.”

An audience member asked about a timeline for implementation, and Cock said smart growth plans can be developed over a year or two, though the Lawrence Group typically sees plans implemented in nine to 10 months.

Responding to a question about the community embracing such change, particularly regarding a potential “not in my backyard” sentiment, Cock said advancement should be strategic in nature.

“Try to direct where you’re going to have your growth,” he said. “Let it be strategic, so you don’t … disturb the folks who are satisfied with what they have, but look for the opportunities to create the kind of change the community wants to see.”

Area developer Phil Templeton asked for clarification on the ninth principle mentioned, in that desirable projects would receive little static in the approval process, while the more undesirable projects would have to endure a more cumbersome process.

“I hope I misunderstood you,” Templeton said. “I hope you didn’t mean it like that, because that’s exactly what our problem is today.”

Cock clarified that a project’s desirability would be determined by stakeholders – not just town staff and officials. The approval process for a desirable project would be simple, while less desirable projects would undergo further scrutiny, he said.

For instance, if the stakeholder criteria opposed “strip” development, a proposed strip mall could still be developed, but only in a certain area.

“But a lot of this predictability depends on what section of town you’re in, so development will vary,” council member Stephen Phillips added.

Boone planning commission vice chairwoman Mary Ruth McRae asked how the town would address opponents of smart growth and the proposed changes.

Cock said great things can still be accomplished if people hold out, though sometimes it requires “difficult political decisions,” such as eminent domain. “I know that’s a dirty word in a lot of groups … and that’s a last resort, but sometimes you just have to build around them, and sometimes there are other options.”

Planning commissioner Bunk Spann asked Cock to elaborate on the notion of form-based codes,” and Cock said form-based coding is a method of land-use regulation that focuses on the form of development rather than simply land use. As an example, Cock described an old house in a downtown or residential area. Though the house could be occupied by a commercial office, its form is a house, meaning it is appropriate for the location.

Chris Turner, director of AppalCART, said he found the whole idea of improving transportation options to be exciting, particular in terms of more pedestrian-friendly areas, but also developing neighborhoods that are more transit-friendly.

“I think the more options we give people, the more hope we have of reducing the amount of miles traveled in town and getting people out of those cars,” Turner said.

Resident Anne Marie Yates said it seemed that smart growth, much like the town’s Unified Development Ordinance, has its own inconsistencies. There are neighborhoods and communities where changes cannot be made, she said, mentioning mixed use as an example.

“What you’re saying to me in smart growth is, ‘We want you to walk more and develop more mixed uses in your area, so that you walk more,’ but due to recent regulations (steep slope development and view-shed preservation), that’s not going to happen in my community, and it’s just going to be flat-out difficult for me to walk anywhere from where I live.”

McRae commented on the encouragement of higher density, saying that good can come from such density, but only for those who want to live that way.

“There are also negative externalities to increased density, particularly in a college town, because of all the dynamics we know about,” she said. “All those kinds of things … need to be explored very seriously, but we’ve got to think about those negative externalities at the same time, rather than say, ‘This is rainbow stew.’”