Rural Brunswick Rural Brunswick Smart GrowthSmart Growth

A Success Story in A Success Story in Beginning with Beginning with Habitat Habitat ImplementationImplementation

Have Traditional “Open Space” or “Cluster Approaches” benefited

wildlife habitat?“While there are benefits to conservation

subdivisions, recently published research by Lenth and colleagues (2006) demonstrates that the ecological characteristics of clustered housing developments are more similar to traditional dispersed developments than they are to undeveloped sites”

Linking Conservation and Land Use Planning, Defenders of Wildlife, April 2007

“Mid-level densities of one dwelling per 5 or 10 acres can accelerate habitat fragmentation …”

“Identifying priority areas on the landscape for protection could help planners design multiple conservation developments so that they all contribute to protecting one large habitat patch, thus yielding greater benefits”

Linking Conservation and Land Use Planning, Defenders of Wildlife, April 2007

Original Brunswick OSD approach (ca. 1994) also has shown limited habitat benefit

• Requires set percentage of original parcel be dedicated as open space

• Includes general language about open space qualities, but provides little guidance regarding what, where, and how

• Frequently resulted in scattered chunks of relatively unusable land being set aside

RBSG: A slightly different approach• Overlay zone that identifies citizen priorities for

conservation up front• Works with existing subdivision ordinance, does

not replace it• Utilizes avoidance, minimization, mitigation

approach to maintain habitat contiguity and connectivity

• Does not mandate subdivision design• Allows for off-site land conservation• Addresses non-subdivision development

Setting the Stage for RBSG

Included updated delineation of unfragmented habitat types

What?

Who?

The working group included: 2 town councilors, planning board member, conservation commission member, large land owner, realtor, consulting engineer, land trust representative, and a sportsman/hunter.

Public Outreach is Key• Workgroup met monthly for 10 months• 3 focus group meetings held with:

– Local realtors and developers– Homeowners in traditional subdivisions– Homeowners in OSD’s

• Public forum to hear comments (all landowners sent invitation)

• Workshops with Planning Board and Council (all landowners sent invitation)

• Landowners invited to meet with planner

Recom

men

ded Action

s

RBSG: Results of the process

RBSG: New definitions required

RBSG: other issues• Process is key! Keep landowners, developers, realtors, AND

ELECTED OFFICIALS in loop at every step• In lieu fee considered, but rejected for political reasons• Concern over loss of property tax revenue addressed by

assessor and comparison sales history• The “blueprint” developed through the process has helped with

recent acquisition proposals and land trust strategic planning• Now being used as a component of “open space impact fee”

proposal• Will be a criteria in Land for Brunswick’s Future scoring

FMI:http://www.brunswickme.org/planning/index.htm

www.beginningwithhabitat.orgSteve Walker

Beginning with Habitat

Program Coordinator

41 State House Station

Augusta, ME 04333

207-287-5254

steve.walker@maine.gov