• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Conservation design principles aren't mandatory, but developers are still using them

ELKHORN — Although they're not required to in most Walworth County municipalities, more and more developers are implementing the principles of conservation development design.

"They might not be using the formal title of 'conservation development,' but even in tradition subdivision design we're seeing more attention being paid to the natural resource base and better design to preserve that," said senior planner Neal Frauenfelder of the Walworth County Land Use and Resource Management Department.

He said the mindset change dates to April 2001, the last update of the county's land use plan. A primary recommendation of the plan was to pursue the use of conservation development design to preserve open space and retain the rural character of the county. The state Smart Growth law also recommends the use of conservation development design, he said.

The county sponsored a workshop for officials, developers and residents in November 2001 to discuss conservation development design.

"We looked at better ways to develop land starting with the developer looking at the resource base on the property and working with it rather than against it," Frauenfelder said.

He said the nearly 100 workshop participants indicated strong support for conservation development design.

The county hired expert Randall Arendt to review and recommend changes to its zoning and subdivision ordinances to include the use of conservation development design.

Seven more community workshops were held starting in March 2003 to review the proposed changes, and in June 2004, the Walworth County Board approved the amended ordinances.

The ordinances:

-- Establish a step-by-step design and review process that from the start brings together the developer and municipal and county officials.

-- Establish a prioritized list of natural resources to be preserved and set long-term maintenance requirements.

-- Make conservation development design voluntary rather than mandatory.

Frauenfelder said just one town—the town of La Grange—in October 2004 made conservation development design mandatory for proposed subdivisions, and two subdivisions—Farmington Estates on Highway 20 and Lawton Estates at Highway 12 and County H—have utilized the design practice.

Mark Bromley, a town of La Grange supervisor and member of the Walworth County Smart Growth Technical Advisory Committee, said conservation development makes sense for the mostly rural township.

"This is an agricultural community in which we have significant lake development but no urban center … and for that reason, we're not inclined to accommodate dense development," he said. "The wisdom of making (it) mandatory really depends on the local situation, particularly with respect to how much infrastructure is available for development."