Urban Containment – American Style(s)

Dr. Arthur C. Nelson, FAICP

Professor & Director, Urban Affairs & Planning

Virginia Tech – Alexandria Center

Regional Leadership Institute

Urban Containment – God’s Will?

“The Lord said to Moses . . . Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites

. . . cities to dwell in; and pasture lands round about the cities . . . The pasture lands of the cities . . . shall

reach from the wall of the city outward . . . all around.

“The city shall be in the middle…”

Numbers 35: 1-5.

Goals of Urban Containment

• Preserve public goods.

• Minimize adverse land use interactions and maximize positive ones.

• Minimize taxpayer exposure.

• Distribute benefits & burdens equitably.

• Improve overall quality of life.

“Best” Containment Practices

• Urban Growth Containment Boundary

• Resource land preservation

• Infill, redevelopment, aka “refill”

• Inclusionary housing

• Regional asset sharing

• Multi-modal accessibility

• Responsiveness to change

Emerging Empirical Evidence

• Containment/growth management improves economic development.

• Containment prevents beltways & increases retail/service trade.

• Containment increases farming.• Containment reduces racial segregation.

• Containment makes jobs more accessible to low/mod-incomes.

• Containment eliminates blight.

Downsides

• Threatens existing neighborhoods.• Raises housing prices by making area more

attractive & economically efficient.• Can decrease homeownership (though just

the opposite can also happen).• Increases infrastructure costs in near-term.

• Pushes some economic activities out.• Reduces opportunity to live on large lots.

Different Flavors of Urban Containment

• Urban Services & Facilities• Urban Growth Phasing

• Rural Growth Management• Rural/Open Space Preservation• Intergovernmental Agreements

Urban Services & Facilities

• Urban Service Area

• Infrastructure Phasing

• Municipal Boundary

• Level of Service Standards

• Spatial Capital Investment

• Special Service Districts

• State Priority Funding Areas

Urban Service AreaUrban Service Area

• Limits geographic extent of service.

• Rural areas denied urban services.

• Typical of water and wastewater.

InfrastructureInfrastructure PhasingPhasing

• Plans for location and timing of future urban service extensions.

• Plan is basis for capital improvement investments.

• Example: Sioux Falls, SD, 2015 Growth Management Plan.

Municipal BoundaryMunicipal Boundary

• Key facilities and services provided only by municipality.

• Access to key facilities and services attained only through annexation.

• Example is Lincoln, Nebraska.

Level of Service StandardsLevel of Service Standards

• Performance standards for urban services vary spatially between “urban” and “rural”

land uses.

• Example: Palm Beach County, Florida, where rural areas are not allowed to have

public/community water and sewer.

Spatial Capital InvestmentSpatial Capital Investment

• Focuses new infrastructure investments in existing or planned urban areas.

• Example: Maryland’s “priority” investment areas.

• Example: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Special Service DistrictsSpecial Service Districts

• Sole provider of key public facilities and services.

• Adopts policy of limiting infrastructure extensions to areas targeted for urban

development.

• De factor urban service limits.

• Example: Baltimore County, Maryland.

State Priority Funding Areas

• State infrastructure investments targeted to urban and urbanizing areas based on state

criteria.

• Local governments may invest in other areas but at their own expense.

• Maryland statewide for roads, water, sewer and schools.

• Colorado in metropolitan areas for transportation.

Urban Growth Phasing

• Tiered Growth Strategy

• Urban Reserve District

• Public Land Management

Tiered Growth StrategyTiered Growth Strategy

• “Rings” of development intensity and infrastructure provision.

• Pricing strategies often used.

• Example: Tucson’s “central core”, “mid-city”, “evolving city” and “future city” tiers

each with different planning and design standards.

Urban Reserve DistrictUrban Reserve District

• Special areas reserved for future urban-scale development at the urban fringe.

• Usually reserved through large lot zoning, nonurban infrastructure, and “shadow”

platting.• At appropriate time, urban infrastructure

installed and urban scale development allowed.• Example: San Luis Obispo.

Public Land ManagementPublic Land Management

• Preserve publicly-owned land from development.

• Potentially “trading” some publicly-owned land where development should occur with

owners of rural land where development should not.

• Example: Pima County, Arizona.

Rural Growth Management

• Agriculture/Open Space District

• Urban Fringe Resource Management

• Rural Growth Monitoring

Agriculture/Open Space DistrictAgriculture/Open Space District

• Exclusive farm, forest, and other open space uses allowed.

• Very large minimum lot sizes.

• No or few “urban” residences allowed.

• Example: Wicomico County, Maryland.

Urban Fringe Resource Urban Fringe Resource ManagementManagement

• Overlay district in rural areas where new development reviewed under stringent

standards to protect habitat, sensitive landscapes, etc.

• Resource management plans required.

• Example: Chico, California.

Rural Growth MonitoringRural Growth Monitoring

• Projected demand for legitimate development of rural lands undertaken.

• Selected rural lands allocated for low density urban development not using key

urban facilities and services.

• Example: King County, Washington.

Rural/Open Space Preservation

• Transfer of Development Rights

• Purchase of Development Rights

• Urban Fringe Land Acquisition

• Urban/Rural Buffer

• Community Separator

Transfer of Development RightsTransfer of Development Rights

• Development rights are assigned to rural “sending” areas but cannot be exercised

unless purchased by developer and transferred to urban “receiving” areas.

• Example: Pinelands, New Jersey.

Purchase of Development RightsPurchase of Development Rights

• Development rights assigned through a planning process based on reasonable

factors are purchased by local government through a voluntary purchase program.

• Can also include privately donated conservation easements.

• Example: King County, Washington.

Urban Fringe Land AcquisitionUrban Fringe Land Acquisition

• Urban fringe land identified and targeted for acquisition in conscientious effort to contain urban development.

• Special state and regional funds typically used, but sometimes done by local government.

• Examples: Boulder, Colorado; Maryland.

Urban/Rural BufferUrban/Rural Buffer

• Small scale greenbelt edge around city.• Land acquired through combination of

acquisition and donation with conservation easement.

• Privately owned land not provided with key urban services and limited to open space

uses.• Example: Davis, California.

Community SeparatorCommunity Separator

• Narrow band of open space separating one community from another.

• Land uses restricted to nonurban activities; no urban services allowed. Essentially

large lot residential zoning but with some land acquisition.

• Example: Sonoma County, California.

Intergovernmental Agreements

• Joint Planning Areas

• Spheres of Influence

• Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

Joint Planning AreasJoint Planning Areas

• Municipalities agree on land use development affecting unincorporated

areas.

• Agreements implemented through inter-local agreement enforceable by any party.

Spheres of InfluenceSpheres of Influence

• State designates future annexations areas of municipalities and creates independent board

to assure that development in affected unincorporated areas are consistent with

overall development plans of the relevant municipalities.

• Example: California, Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo).

Extraterritorial JurisdictionExtraterritorial Jurisdiction

• Legislature authorizes municipalities to review and approve subdivisions,

rezoning requests, and other land use actions in unincorporated areas within 1-

5 miles typically.

• Example: Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

American-Style

Urban Containment

Is Creative & Flexible

But what Really Works?