Natural Resource Protection

Municipalities can choose to protect important wildlife, water resources, scenic views, steep slopes and unique habitats by adopting ordinances, site plan reviews, subdivision regulations, overlay zones, and/or design standards to address land use in or near these resources. A community may choose to regulate each resource separately (as in a steep slope ordinance and a wetland ordinance) or it may choose to implement regulations to help protect a variety of natural resources. Examples of resources that are often regulated by local governments include: wetlands, stream corridors, trees, soils, floodplains, ridgelines, aquifers, wellheads, watersheds, steep slopes, scenic viewsheds, and important plant and animal habitats.

One example of using common land use tools to protect natural resources is to require developers to establish minimum building set backs and create or maintain buffers from critical areas, such as stream corridors, shorelines, and wetlands. (A buffer is typically a vegetated strip or berm that helps to absorb excess stormwater, reduce the amount of pollutants entering creeks and streams, and mitigate aesthetic impacts of a project.)

Another example is to adopt design standards with water quality or other resource protection objectives, such as establishing parking design standards to reduce the amount of paving required by each development.