|
Community Guide to Development Impact Analysis by Mary Edwards |
||||||
| Introduction | Fiscal | Traffic | Socio-Economic | Environmental | Putting it Together | Cost of Community Services |
The first section of this chapter recommends ways to organize, integrate and under-stand the results of the development impact assessment. The second section discusses ways to use the results of the development impact assessment to facilitate planning and decision-making processes for the community.
At this point, your community’s development impact assessment probably includes a wealth of information about the fiscal, traffic, socio-economic, and environmental impacts associated with a particular proposed development. Depending on the type and extent of the proposed development, it may have been necessary to collect information on each of the four impact areas discussed in this guide. On the other hand, you may have determined early on in the process that the proposed development will result in impacts on certain resources (e.g., fiscal, environmental) and not others. At any rate, the next step in the development impact assessment process is to organize the data collected in such a way that it can be used to make informed decisions about whether to proceed with the proposed project.
While you may have a clear understanding of what the results of each impact component (i.e., fiscal, traffic, socio-economic, and environmental) mean, you may not be completely clear on how these results relate to one another. Since the goal of development impact assessment is to inform community decisions about the impacts of a particular development, it is important to organize and integrate the information so that the proposed development can be evaluated in the context of all potential impacts. This process allows the community to weigh the benefits and costs of a project, identify tradeoffs, and begin identifying alternatives and/or measures to mitigate the impacts of the project.
To begin making sense of the results of the development impact assessment, it may be useful to summarize the findings for each component of the assessment. Worksheet 6.1 provides a simple framework for putting all of the information together. Depending on the amount of information collected during the process, it may be appropriate to summarize the results of each part of the impact assessment on a separate sheet of paper or enter the information into a computer database. Another option for organizing data may be to develop a system for ranking or coding the information contained in each of the parts according to severity of the impacts or level of benefit expected from the proposed development. It is important to be cautious when using the latter method, however, as valuable detail about specific impacts may be lost during the ranking process. In addition, using a ranking sys-tem to score the fiscal, traffic, socio-economic, and environmental impacts associated with a proposed development may limit one’s ability to identify workable alternatives to the proposed project.
Once the data is organized and summarized, it is then possible to evaluate the proposed development by identifying areas of commonality and difference among the fiscal, traffic, social and environmental impacts.
While conducting the development impact assessment, you may identify issues that have a positive or negative impact on the community in terms of one or more resource areas. For example, the construction of a new manufacturing facility may result in a positive impact on both the fiscal balance sheet of the community (e.g., property taxes paid by the industry) and on the socio-economic needs of community members (e.g., new jobs). On the other hand, the new manufacturing facility may also result in an increase in traffic and environmental impacts (e.g., loss of open space) that may require reconsideration of where to locate the facility. Identifying common issues between the various types of impacts will help organize and integrate the information collected during the assessment process.
Just as it is important to identify areas of common benefit or cost to the community with regard to a particular project, it is also essential to evaluate the differences among impacts and determine how to address the differences which are most significant. For example, development of a single family residential complex may generate modest returns for a town once the fiscal impacts are calculated; yet, result in loss of prime agricultural land. Identifying such differences among the various impacts of a proposed development is the key to evaluating whether to proceed with a project and identifying potential alternatives to the proposed project which avoid or mitigate significant impacts.
Suggested steps for identifying areas of commonality and differences include:
RESULTS PROVIDE:
|
The results of the development impact assessment may be used in a variety of ways. Perhaps the results alone provide a valuable source of information about the types of development that are favored by community members or the capacity of the natural environment to accommodate increased growth. Even the development impact assessment process itself can be a valuable tool for raising community awareness of the need for growth management in the surrounding area. The process can also provide the impetus for a community to take action in setting goals and planning for its long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. While the development impact assessment process is designed to evaluate the fiscal, traffic, socio-economic and environmental impacts of a particular proposed development, each assessment that is completed can be used as an example for subsequent assessments. Much of the information gathered during an initial development impact assessment may also be used in later assessments, thus facilitating the planning process and making efficient use of potentially limited resources.
The integration of data from the different components of the development impact assessment provides a well-balanced understanding of the community’s make-up in terms of all its resources (i.e., social, economic and environmental). Collectively, these resources are important in guiding the community decision-making, goal-setting, and planning process towards producing sustainable growth strategies. Economic goals need to be compatible with environmental protection and social values and vice versa. The most profitable use of a certain parcel of land can be developed while still preserving environmental and social uses.
One of the most important uses of the results of the development impact assessment is for the identification and evaluation of alternatives should the proposed development result in significant impacts on the community. Once the data are com-piled and organized, local officials, planners and community members alike can evaluate the project in terms of the impacts it may have on the community’s environment, socio-economic construct, fiscal balance sheet and transportation network. Depending on the significance of the impact in each of these areas, community decision- makers can decide to move ahead with approval of the project, reject the proposal altogether, or modify plans for development in such a way that impacts can be mitigated. Worksheet 6.2 may be used to list alternatives or modifications to the proposed development. In filling out the worksheet, be sure to include all relevant details about the project that may require modifications to avoid significant impacts. In describing potential alternatives and modifications, it is important to focus on measures that will realistically mitigate the various impacts, including both simple modifications such as scaling down the size of the project and more substantial alternatives such as finding another location for the project.
Determining alternatives to the proposed development may often include identifying alternate sites for the proposed development. In fact, a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin, Department of Rural Sociology recently revealed that the highest concern for Wisconsin towns regarding land use development policies is the location of development in their towns. In addition, towns ranked the type and rate of development as the second and third highest priorities, respectively, in land use policies. An additional survey revealed that the type of development is the concern of highest priority among Wisconsin cities and villages. Budgetary impacts and the location of development were second and third highest priority concerns for city and village land use policies. Given these results, a development impact assessment can provide the information necessary for determining acceptable and appropriate locations for and types of development in Wisconsin communities. The development impact assessment provides the necessary foundation for determining whether an alternative location or type of development is preferable to the original proposal for a particular project.
Green, G.P, D. Diaz, D. Long, A. Dunn. 1998. Wisconsin Towns and The Management of Growth. University of Wisconsin, Department of Rural Sociology. September 1998.
Green, G.P, D. Diaz, D. Long, A. Dunn. 1998. Growth Management in Wisconsin Cities and Villages. University of Wisconsin, Department of Rural Sociology. October 1998.