Technological Tools for Land Use Planning

PowerPoint presentation on the Resource Lands Assessment (RLA) currently being developed for Pennsylvania with assistance from the US EPA. This presentation briefly reviews the RLA developed for the Chesapeake Bay, and the process being used to develop a similar, but different RLA for the whole state.

GPS enables users to easily record the location of natural and man-made features on the land. It allows users to identify where a photo or video is taken, revisit previously recorded features, and more. (Print version of CT guide)

The paper describes the GIS techniques and methods used to help develop and design a growth management plan for Milford Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It analyzes Milford Township's existing zoning and land use plan and discusses a future projection buildout scenario, following existing plans and regulations. Then alternative development scenarios, along with 3D visualizations, are developed and compared. The paper summarizes the pros and cons of all these development scenarios.

This report is designed to aid municipalities and developers in effectively financing mixed-use development. Included are an overview of the benefits and challenges to implementing mixed-use development, best practices in financing (including specific financing mechanisms), different organizational structures for financing, and strategies for achieving success. Case studies of successful mixed-use projects in the Delaware Valley region are presented, as well as funding sources that exist in the region.

Maryland's Green Infrastructure Assessment is a tool developed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to help identify and rank areas of greatest statewide ecological importance as well as those at greatest risk of loss to development. The methods developed are being applied at the multi-state, state, regional and local government levels to guide conservation efforts.

The Tree Benefit Calculator allows users to estimate the annual economic and environmental value of individual street trees using inputs of a tree’s location, species and size. It is intended to be simple and accessible and should be considered a starting point for understanding trees’ value in the community, rather than a scientific accounting of precise values. This tool is based on i-Tree’s street tree assessment tool called STREETS, which can be seen at itreetools.org. For more detailed information on urban and community forest assessments, visit the i-Tree website.

Decision makers and residents of Calumet County, Wisconsin used Community Viz for a pilot project aimed at providing local decision-makers with tools and training needed to identify “important farms and farmlands where protection efforts are desirable and help attain community goals and objectives.

In an effort to update both its Regional Growth Management Plan and Regional Transportation Plan, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission implemented scenario build-outs throughout its entire service region, which includes 103 municipalities in the counties of Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry.

The concept behind ReVisionPA is simple: The more that people experience the role natural resource assets play in their community, the more in-tune they will be with opportunities to protect and enhance them. Since the best education begins with experience, ReVisionPA focuses on three approaches to help citizens and leaders become more experienced and informed decision-makers — visioning services, workshops, and programs. ReVision's web page includes a resource library that provides details about the practices and projects currently being undertaken by ReVisionPA.

Short presentation on CommunityViz Build-out Analysis

A conservation planning framework and software. It produces a hierarchical prioritization of the landscape based on the occurrence levels of biodiversity features in sites (cells) by iteratively removing the least valuable remaining cell while accounting for connectivity and generalized complementarity. Outputs can be imported into GIS software to create maps or for further analysis.