Smart Growth

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Vision Long Island, a local planning group, has put forth a comprehensive set of smart growth recommendations:

Approve flexibility in housing design to allow for a greater range of housing types;
Approve inclusionary zoning ordinances;
Pass Energy Star legislation to facilitate green building residential projects;
Pass green building legislation targeted at commercial properties;
Reformat economic development programs to benefit downtowns and centers; and
Create a transit-oriented development.

Chesterfield, NJ: created a pilot program called Transfer of Development Credits (TDC); which allows landowners to transfer the development potential of their properties into areas the town slated for growth. The goal of this program is to create a private-market mechanism to accomplish farmland preservation, to complement the publicly funded farmland preservation program.

Clifton Park, NY: Since 2001, the town's planning efforts, which embrace many smart growth concepts, have resulted initiatives that are designed to maintain the quality and sense of place of Clifton Park as it continues to grow in the future. In October 2006, The New York Association of Realtors, Inc. gave the town an award of excellence for its smart growth plans. The initiatives included:

The permanent preservation of more than 850 acres of land;
The creation of 12 miles of walkable trails within the town;
A Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) covering 14,000 acres of land in the western section of town;
The creation of Western Clifton Park Design Guidelines as a tool for owners and developers;
Enactment of new zoning districts in the western section of Clifton Park; and
The hiring of an open space coordinator to help implement the town's program.

Bethlehem, NY: A moratorium on new residential construction has been adopted (applied to new projects of four or more units), while the town works on its master plan.

Albany, NY: The city is trying to lower the number of vacant buildings and revitalize low-income neighborhoods by offering financial incentives to homebuyers, encouraging city police to live in the neighborhoods and preserving historic structures.

Westchester Biotic Corridor: In April 2002, the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance reported that three towns in Westchester (North Salem, Lewisboro, and Pound Ridge) are home to a remarkable assemblage of flora and fauna - enough to be of importance on a regional scale. The Westchester Land Alliance worked with landowners in key areas on protecting land through conservation easements as well as provided educational information to all landowners on how to maintain their property to protect biodiversity.

PlaNYC 2030 will use upcoming rezonings to direct growth toward areas with strong transit access; adapt unused schools, hospitals, and other outdated municipal sites for productive use as new housing; and continue to develop programs to preserve affordable housing.

Brookhaven, NY: In 2004, the Town of Brookhaven extended the Middle Country Road Moratorium for another six months to enable the town to conduct a master plan within the Middle Country Road corridor in the hamlets of Coram and Middle Island.