1st Edition

Environmental Site Plans and Development Review

By Robert Sanford Copyright 2018
    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    The most effective way to participate in land stewardship and environmental management is to get involved in the review of proposed developments. In smaller communities, this review is primarily done by a planning board or commission made up of volunteer members, guided by professionals in certain aspects such as traffic, historic preservation, civil engineering, water supply, and wastewater disposal. In larger communities, professional planning staff with the assistance of municipal engineers conducts the review, which will then be presented to the planning commission. In either case, everyone—officials, volunteers, reviewers, consultants, neighbors, and the public in general—needs to know what is being proposed. The site plan itself is the primary tool for understanding the proposal.

    Environmental review is not an easy task, even for consultants and professional planners. There is a need for a general guide that presents the design, infrastructure, and environmental issues to address, what a reviewer needs to know about these issues, and how to interpret them. The book points the reader to accessible, low-cost resources to aid in the review process. In these times of climate change, rising populations, energy challenges, and economic turmoil, there is a real need for development to occur in as efficient and environmentally-responsible a manner as possible. Citizen review is a critical step in the approval, alteration, or denial of site plans for land subdivision and new development. Hence, informed participants in the review processes are more important than ever.

    This book is designed to assist professional archaeologists, environmental consultants, and others interested in construction, development and other physical land alteration that must go before some sort of review board. The book is also suitable for college undergraduates and graduate students in fields that bring them into environmental development of sites. And it is useful for neighbors and other members of the public who want to understand proposed land development in their neighborhood.

    Table of Contents

    Introduction

     

    PART ONE: An Overview of the Subdivision and Land Development Process

    Chapter One: The Review of Subdivision and Land Development Plans: Why and

    How

    Chapter Two: Selection of the Development Site

    Chapter Three: The Content of the Site Plan

     

    PART TWO: Elements in the Review of Site Plans and Development Proposals

    Chapter Four: Air Quality

    Chapter Five: Water Resources

    Chapter Six: Water Supply

    Chapter Seven: Soils, Soil Erosion, and Topography

    Chapter: Eight: Septic Systems

    Chapter Nine: Traffic

    Chapter Ten: Energy

    Chapter Eleven: Public Services

    Chapter Twelve: Aesthetics

    Chapter Thirteen: Noise Impacts

    Chapter Fourteen: Historical and Archaeological Resources

    Chapter Fifteen: Plants and Wildlife

    Chapter Sixteen: Agriculture and Forestry

    Chapter Seventeen: Coastal Resources

     

    PART THREE: Summary: The Sustainability Imperative

    Chapter Eighteen: Successful Site Design and Site Plan and Development Review

     

    Glossary

    Index

    Biography

    Robert M. Sanford is Professor of Environmental Science & Policy and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science & Policy at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, Maine. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from State University of New York College at Potsdam and a Master of Science and PhD in Environmental Science & Planning from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry at Syracuse. He is the author of Reading Rural Landscapes, and the co-author of Cultural Resources Archaeology, Practicing Archaeology and other books.