Wisconsin and Smart Growth: An assessment of Conservation Subdivision Zoning Policies Using Content Analysis
Amanda N. Bowman
Communities utilize smart growth methods to combat the effects of sprawl that injure public health, the environment, and community interactions. Wisconsin is one of ten states in the nation that helped provide tools for communities to redirect their development methods. One of those methods is the concept of a conservation subdivision pioneered by Randall Arendt in the 1990's. This innovative urban design incorporates the concept of designing around environmentally sensitive areas. Open Space is integrated into the neighborhood with housing clustered around it to maintain the "rural character" of a community.
To accommodate this design into a community, the municipality must modify its zoning ordinances to allow for flexibility of different neighborhood layouts. The University of Wisconsin Extension, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, and Randall Arendt have developed "model ordinances" that communities can use as a general guideline to modify their own municipal code. However, these serve as a tool rather than a mandate, and there is no record of what communities have adopted these policies or the types of policies being utilized.
Utilizing content analysis, I investigated communities with known conservation neighborhoods as well as communities with populations over 12,500 to determine the location and distribution of CSD ordinances in the state. Furthermore, I looked at 30 of those communities' ordinances to see to what degree they are implementing policies that support the concepts of land conservation and conservation design objectives to determine if they are really establishing neighborhoods that are different from conventional developments.
Conservation design is not a perfect solution, but it can create effective subdivision neighborhoods if ordinances adopt meaningful standards. Communities should model after other communities with noted successes, focus on design standards that promote ecological principles, and integrate more specific standards for maintenance of open space and natural features, and cultivate opportunities for cooperation with resource management professionals and educators. The success of conservation design innovations rests in the hands of the willingness of people to take the time and effort to educate each other and design cooperative, consistent plan objectives that focus on designing around the environment.