Development & conservation: green infrastructure
Published in MapleLine Magazine:
May 5, 2010 
MapleLine Magazine: getting behind the news >>
by Gerard V. LeBlanc, MCIP
Sustainability has become an essential component of successful business endeavours. Despite the challenges it presents, several south-Island projects such as Dockside Green and Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa, among others, are built examples of sustainable development.
Essential to achieving sustainable development projects is preserving natural areas, providing community amenities and improving personal and community health. Getting communities to a ‘sustainable destination’ requires sound business practices and cooperation between developers and local government.
An innovative opportunity to consider is to use green infrastructure in projects and in development approvals. It includes interconnected natural or built features in a development that help clean water, enable wildlife to thrive and protect natural systems.
Green infrastructure includes parks, rivers, creeks, wetlands, rain gardens and green street stormwater management systems. These areas can provide habitat, recreation, clean water and land that increase community resilience and diversity. It can be implemented through subdivision, zoning, drainage and other bylaws and with the use of development permits. Using a green infrastructure approach to development achieves improved development projects and strong, resilient communities.
When a developer seeks project approvals local government review them in the lens of maximizing economic benefits, amenities and improving community liveability. It’s been demonstrated that by preserving green infrastructure - wetlands, forested areas, streams and rivers – the benefits that both developers and communities want can be met.
By preserving valuable water, wildlife and natural areas, optimum returns on investment and community health benefits can be achieved. It requires that government and business work cooperatively to balance development with natural areas protection. Developers can acknowledge the value of their sites’ natural features by preserving them, obtaining increased densities in return. Local governments can consider development applications as opportunities to deliver improved community health and conservation benefits. As an example, Ducks Unlimited notes that in 2003 the value of preserving Canadian wetlands was over $20 billion nationally; refer to www.ducks.ca/conserve/wetland_values/pdf/nv6_wet.pdf for information on similar figures.
Implementing
green infrastructure through alternative subdivision standards can
result in significant community conservation opportunities and reduced
infrastructure costs. You can read about the potential $1.295M savings
to the developer of the Cumbria Woods (Village of Cumberland, BC)
through the use of green infrastructure at the two websites noted here.
It’s important to remember that not all sites will produce the same
results given variable site and development conditions. See
www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/epdpa/mpp/stormwater/case_studies/pdfs/52.pdf
and also
www.jtc.sala.ubc.ca/bulletins/TB_issue_12_Cumbria_edit.pdf
[Photo at left: Central Park in Cumbria Woods serves an important
role in stormwater management.]
The Cumbria Woods case study shows how green infrastructure can be used for improved street design, stormwater management and parks and open space. Streets are narrower, lots are accessed from rear lanes and lots have reduced yard setbacks. Detained stormwater is released slowly through swales thus protecting streams and fish from ‘flushes’ following heavy rains. An integrated parks system helps achieve stream and ground water protection and enhances a community’s social infrastructure.
In Cumbria Woods, the value of using green infrastructure demonstrates savings in development costs of over $11,000 per lot. As noted earlier, different developments will likely produce different results. Nonetheless, an economic case can be made for using green infrastructure.
The community value of using green infrastructure increases significantly over time. Pedestrian-oriented aspects help improve community health; detention and slow release of stormwater benefits long-term groundwater management and stream health; parks become homes for birds and small wildlife and important community space. Investment in community assets through green infrastructure development creates a beneficial and sustainable approach to long-term community asset-building and to successful and sustainable business. MM
Additional information on green infrastructure can be found at:
City of Vancouver
www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/engsvcs/streets/greenways
City of Portland, Oregon
www.portlandonline.com/bes/
Centre for Applied Conservation, University of British Columbia
http://cacr.forestry.ubc.ca/
Design Centre for Sustainability
http://www.dcs.sala.ubc.ca/
Smart Growth BC
http://smartgrowth.bc.ca
Gerard LeBlanc has over 30 years of land use planning experience
with the last 20 years spent working on Vancouver Island. He is a
principal with Landworks
Consultants Inc., providing planning services to clients on
Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Gerard has worked with
Ducks Unlimited promoting the Green
Bylaws Toolkit. He is not associated with the Cumbria Woods project but
uses it as an example of how to effectively apply green infrastructure.
MapleLine Business Centre - Get your flyers and brochures copied at the MapleLine Business Centre. Spiral and cerlox binding available. 6707 West Coast Road (in Sooke town centre), Sooke, BC. Phone: 250-642-7729 or toll-free 1-877-595-6925. info@maplelinebusinesscentre.com
This article is Copyright 2010 Brookeline Publishing House Inc. and MapleLine Magazine
This article was published on pages 19-20 in the print edition of MapleLine Magazine (Summer 2010 issue / May-July 2010).