The Minnesota GreenStep Cities Stormwater Assessment, formerly called the Blue Star Assessment, ................

Section One - Planning and Preservation

This section includes four sections that focus on ...........

Section One - Part A: Water Friendly Development Patterns

image of ford plant
Images of original St. Paul Ford Plant (left) and proposed development of the Ford Plant site (right). The proposed development includes redevelopment of a Brownfield site, incorporating mixed use, high density development. Image on right courtesy City of St. Paul.

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

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?

  • Yes, a Natural Resource Inventory or Natural Resource Assessment is incorporated into the subdivision or development process (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)
  • No (0 pts)
  • I don’t know / not specified (0 pts)
  • Not applicable in my community (N/A)

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 (N/A)

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
  • Street reconstruction (including road diet lane conversions) that increases width of boulevard tree right-of-way
  • Standards that address soil compaction during and after development/redevelopment of private land, and of public land like street boulevards?
  • Stable funding for shade tree program, goals for increasing canopy coverage, or Tree City USA
  • At least 5 of the above strategies including soil compaction standards: (8 pts)
  • At least 4 of the above strategies including tree program/goals/Tree City: (5 pts)
  • At least 4 of the above strategies: (3 pts)
  • At least 3 of the above strategies: (2 pts)
  • At least 2 of the above strategies: (1 pt)
  • None (0 pts)