Minnesota GreenStep Cities Stormwater Assessment guidance and supporting information
The Minnesota GreenStep Cities Stormwater Assessment, formerly called the Blue Star Assessment, ................
Contents
Section One - Planning and Preservation
This section includes four sections that focus on ...........
Section One - Part A: Water Friendly Development Patterns
Part A of the assessment includes two sections that address sprawl-limiting strategies and strategies for redevelopment, including Brownfield redevelopment.
Sprawl-limiting strategies
Does your community comprehensive plan allow the following sprawl-limiting strategies? (Select all strategies that apply)
- Mixed-use development (1 pt)
- Compact development (greater than 3 units/acre) (1 pt)
- Transfer of development rights (1 pt)
- Other applicable (1 pt)
- No / I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
Wikipedia defines urban sprawl as "the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent communities". "Low-density" is an arbitrary term typically defined in local ordinances. Housing densities lower than 1 home per acre are often considered to be low density.
Urban sprawl has many negative environmental impacts, including habitat loss and fragmentation, increased water use, and increased energy consumption. The relationship between urban sprawl and stormwater has not been extensively studied. Sprawl may reduce imperviousness on a per acre basis, but increases overall impervious acreage. High density, mixed-use development, allows for more efficient stormwater management than low density development.
- Mixed-use development: neighborhoods or buildings that include multiple uses, such as residences, shops, restaurants, and businesses. Mixed use development provides more efficient service delivery and results in reduced resource consumption.
- Compact development (greater than 3 units/acre): compact development provides for more efficient delivery of services and resources, resulting in less consumption
- Transfer of development rights: transfer of development rights (TDR), sometimes known as transfer of development credits (TDC), is a market-based tool that allows communities to channel development toward designated growth areas and away from natural areas, drinking water sources and farmland (Smart Growth America).
- Redevelopment of underutilized previously developed sites: underutilized or unused sites (e.g. Brownfields) represent an opportunity to implement mixed use, compact development (discussed above).
Further reading
- The Environmental Impacts of Urban Sprawl
- Environmental Impacts of Urban Growth
- Urban Sprawl
- Benefits of Mixed Use Development
- Compact Development is a Greener Way for American Cities to Grow
- Brownfield Redevelopment as a Strategy for Preventing Urban Sprawl
Redevelopment and Brownfields
Does your community have any of the following incentives specifically targeted to ‘brownfield’ development and redevelopment sites? (Select all that apply)
- Density bonus (1 pt)
- Funding for remediation (1 pt)
- Streamlined permitting (1 pt)
- Reduced impact fees (1 pt)
- Tax increment financing (1 pt)
- No (0 pts)
Green Infrastructure
In your stormwater ordinance is there a definition of green infrastructure -- better management of stormwater while aiming to achieve other environmental, public health, social, and economic benefits? (Select one)
- Yes (1 pt)
- No (0 pts)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
Climate Adaptation
Does your community have a climate adaptation plan in place to address potential impacts of climate change on community water resource management? (Select one)
- Yes (1 pt)
- No (0 pts)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
Section One - Part B: Natural Resource Preservation & Management
This section ....
High quality natural resource areas
Does your community comprehensive plan include an inventory of high quality natural resource areas and are land-use decisions guided by the inventory in order to protect these areas from development? (Select one)
- Yes, inventory used to guide protection (4 pts)
- Yes, inventoried (1 pt)
- No (0 pts)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
Filling in floodplain areas
Does your community allow filling for development within the floodplain and if so, are restrictions imposed excluding storage of hazardous materials and requiring compensatory storage for fill? (Select one)
- No fill within FEMA and locally defined floodplain allowed (3 pts)
- No fill within FEMA floodplain allowed (2 pts)
- Fill allowed with the above restrictions (1 pts)
- Fill allowed without restrictions (-1 pt)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
Sensitive wetlands
Does your community protect high quality or sensitive wetlands through a Resource Management Plan or Wetland Management Plan? (Select one)
- Yes, plan exceeds state standards (2 pts)
- Yes, plan meets state standards (1 pts)
- No (0 pts)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
- Not applicable in my community (N/A)
Buffers
Do your buffer standards include any floodplain, steep slope, vegetation or resource quality considerations (select all that apply)
- Additional buffer width to encompass 100-year floodplain (1 pt)
- Additional buffer width in areas with slopes 9% or greater (1 pt)
- Buffer language clearly specifies vegetated cover requirements (1 pt)
- Expanded stream buffer requirements for sensitive resources, such as trout streams and/or ORVWs (1 pt)
Steep slopes
Does your community have land use protections and/or development restrictions that preserve slopes 18% or greater in a stable, undisturbed vegetated state? (Select one)
- Yes (2 pts)
- No (0 pts)
- I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
- Not applicable in my community (0 pts)
Urban forests
Does your community encourage the establishment and sustainability of urban forests through the following strategies: (select all strategies that apply, then check appropriate score box below)
- Insect & disease control, including ash preservation
- Increased care during establishment
- Increased indigenous diversity
- Tree protection and replacement ordinance
- Design, construction, and maintenance standards for urban forests
- Shade tree program or Tree City USA
- At least 2 of the above strategies: (1 pt)
- At least 3 of the above strategies: (2 pts)
- At least 4 of the above strategies: (3 pts)