Environmental Stewardship Regional Practices

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Conservation subdivision design has become a popular way to look at land use in Lake County, Florida. The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council has hosted five workshops to teach communities about protecting natural resources while planning for population growth.

"Conservation subdivision design is essentially the same approach to doing a golf course community design, but without the golf course," East Central Florida RPC Acting Executive Director Jeff Jones says. "First you identify the natural resources you want to protect, and you create primary and secondary resource lists. The primary resources are areas that are formally protected through some federal, state or local statutes that require permits, like wetlands. The secondary resources are those that support the primary resources, like upland buffers to wetland areas."

Residential or commercial development is planned around the protected areas. Lot sizes are reduced to increase density in the areas of the subdivision where building occurs. This prevents developers from losing money when they create conservation areas. It also allows for savings in providing infrastructure to the clustered neighborhood.

These types of communities are beneficial for residents as well. Jones explains, "Golf course communities have always proven to be attractive to residents-not as much to golfers as to people who like to have property next to the open space. But golf courses have proven not to be sustainable or economically feasible since the landowners get stuck with high operation and maintenance costs. The open space in conservation subdivisions provides an alternative to residents' desire to live next to a golf course."

This simplicity of the technique has added to its popularity. Jones says, "It's a pretty straightforward design approach. It makes sense. And it's not too technical, so it's easily understood by local leaders and community members."

East Central Florida Regional Planning Council 631 North Wymore Rd, Ste 100 Maitland, FL 32751 Tel: 407.623.1075 Fax: 407.623.1084 http://www.ecfrpc.org/Main/Main.asp