We find it strange that at a time in America when communities are embracing SmartGrowth development and trying to leave as little impact on the environment while still growing for the future, that Leeds is taking an approach of low density development.
Of course if you want no development at all this approach works. The question is can we afford no development at all?
We possibly could have before we invested in the new schools, but that ship has sailed to the tune of over $40 million in bonds.
Show me a way to pay for schools without new development or saying to simply tighten our belts and I'll shut up right now and delete everything I have written.
The first payment on the schools is $2.8 million dollars and that is about one fourth (1/4) of our budget. If you can shave that out of our budget then we must be the most wasteful city in America. Not to mention our services need increasing, not decreased.
Cities raise revenue through property owners and business. All the rest is chump change when you are talking millions of dollars. We can become the "speed trap" of America and it won't put a dent into the payment of our schools.
As we've said time and time again - we are already in debt. We will not get out of it without development.
We've heard that this zoning is about stopping developers from making money off the citizens. If that is true our goose is cooked, because developers indeed expect to make money. That is the reason they develop in the first place, along with a desire to truly help communities grow and prosper. Those that don't are the ones not willing to make reasonable changes and alter plans where needed.
We have much bigger problems in Leeds than the number of apartments in an acre when it comes to development.
Are you concerned about any of the following in Leeds:
- Empty houses?
- Empty shopping centers?
- Empty downtown stores?
- Empty strip malls?
- Empty overgrown lots in the middle of neighborhoods?
There are numerous solutions from infill development to SmartGrowth development and they do not try to control density to a point that it keeps development away.
SmartGrowth development is the new trend across America, so what is it?From the Environmental Protection Agency and the Northeast Midwest Planing Institute:
Good codes are the foundation upon which great communities are built. They are the framework that regulates where and what type of development may occur. Codes guide everything from permissible land uses, to building densities, locations, and setbacks, to street widths and parking requirements. When done well, codes make it easier for a community to implement its vision. However, when they are out of date or don't line up with the community's vision, codes can actually keep communities from getting the development they want. For example, the standard zoning practice of the past few decades has separated residential, retail, and office uses. Today, however, this zoning stands in the way of communities that want to create vibrant, walkable neighborhoods that mix these uses and give residents the option to walk to the store, walk to work, or own a home business.
Communities are finally discovering an alternative to conventional development patterns that cause suburban sprawl, destroy open lands, siphon vitality from existing communities, and create gridlocked lifestyles.
A major solution to these problems is infill development—the creative recycling of vacant or underutilized lands within cities and suburbs. Every city, town, and suburb has these types of properties. They range from the single vacant lot to surface parking lots to empty shopping malls.
Once considered eyesores, such sites are becoming prized as catalysts that improve solid communities and revitalize those facing problems. Successful infill, for example, addresses traffic issues by creating communities where people live closer to work and school, and where biking, walking, and transit can substitute for auto travel.
Successful infill development can offer these rewards for communities:
• provide housing (both affordable and market rate) near job centers and transit;
• increase the property-tax base;
• preserve open space at the edge of regions;
• provide new residents to support shopping districts and services;
• capitalize on community assets such as parks, infrastructure, and transit; and
• create new community assets such as child-care centers, arts districts, and shopping areas.
Successful infill expresses not what a community will settle for but what it really wants. To be considered successful, it must be financially viable while demonstrating excellent design.
Excellent design refers not to the architectural design of a single building but to the quality of place created by a fabric of well-designed buildings and public spaces. Each element of public and private spaces, from awnings and windows, to benches and sidewalks, to roads and transit stations, needs to be carefully crafted. Excellent design creates places that are safe and attractive, that give people a variety of transportation options, and that encourage private investment and development.
For communities to define and plan for successful infill development, recommended strategies include:
• Build a common vision and create a plan.
• Take action to implement the plan.
• Encourage mixed-use infill development that includes housing.
• Demand quality design.
• Address transportation issues at the community level.
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA - An example of SmartGrowth development.Below is taken from the SmartGrowth plan code of Montgomery, Alabama.
1.2 PURPOSE
The purpose of this Code is to enable, encourage, and qualify the implementation of the following policies.
1.2.1 The Region
a. That the region should retain its natural infrastructure and visual character derived from topography, woodlands, farmlands, riparian corridors, and coastlines.
b. That growth strategies should encourage infill and redevelopment in parity with new communities.
c. That development contiguous to urban areas should be structured in the neighborhood pattern and be integrated with the existing urban pattern.
d. That development non-contiguous to urban areas should be organized in the pattern of clusters, traditional neighborhoods or villages, and regional centers.
e. That Affordable Housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.
f. That transportation corridors should be planned and reserved in coordination with land use.
g. That green corridors should be used to define and connect the urbanized areas.
h. That the region should include a framework of transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems that provide alternatives to the automobile.
1.2.2 The Community
a. That neighborhoods and regional centers should be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and mixed--use.
b. That neighborhoods and regional centers should be the preferred pattern of development and that districts specializing in single-use should be the exception.
c. That ordinary activities of daily living should occur within walking distance of most dwellings, allowing independence to those who do not drive.
d. That interconnected networks of Thoroughfares should be designed to disperse and reduce the length of automobile trips.
e. That within neighborhoods, a range of housing types and price levels should be provided to accommodate diverse ages and incomes.
f. That appropriate building densities and land uses should be provided within walking distance of transit stops.
g. That civic, institutional, and commercial activity should be embedded in downtowns, not isolated in remote single-use complexes.
h. That schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.
i. That a range of open space including parks, squares, and playgrounds should be distributed within neighborhoods and urban zones.
1.2.3 The Block and the Building
a. That buildings and landscaping should contribute to the physical definition of Thoroughfares as civic places.
b. That development should adequately accommodate automobiles while respecting the pedestrian and the spatial form of public space.
c. That the design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at the expense of accessibility.
d. That architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice.
e. That buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of geography and climate through energy efficient methods.
f. That Civic Buildings and public gathering places should be provided locations that reinforce community identity and support self-government.
g. That Civic Buildings should be distinctive and appropriate to a role more important than the other buildings that constitute the fabric of the city.
h. That the preservation and renewal of historic buildings should be facilitated to affirm the continuity and evolution of society.
i. That the harmonious and orderly evolution of urban areas should be secured through graphic codes that serve as guides for change.
How about we break out that Master Plan and work on that and consider development that has proven to take care of the same problems we have in Leeds instead of just passing an ordinance that addresses apartment density?
Leeds can be all it can be, with a vision that is created by all of us with some proper planning and discussion.
We'll continue the series Monday morning.
