The document discusses barriers to implementing sustainable development practices like low impact development (LID). It notes that while LID can improve water quality and quantity by changing how and where development occurs, some barriers include the perception that LID is more expensive or difficult than conventional development, lack of understanding of water issues, and inconsistent policies between jurisdictions. The document argues for changing perceptions around water to view it as a resource rather than waste and adopting an integrated watershed approach.

1. LID and Policy:
Sustainable
Development Practices
What is Stopping Us?
Jon Barsanti Jr.

2. Developers
Policy Makers
Who Designers
Decision Makers
(Municipal/County)

3. Competitive Advantage
(Others are not Doing it)
It is good for the
economy, Others are
good for the
community,
and good for the
Why Doing It; Can
do It Better
environment
Others are doing it and if
I/We don’t adopt/adapt I/We
will lose out to other
communities/developers

4. Don’t want to learn new way
of doing business
Want to do it;
Have designer to
do it;
Have planners on
Why Want to do it;
Don’t have a
board; designer to
Meeting resistance
from elected
Not show how
officials
Want to do it;
Have a designer who knows how to do it;
Having a difficult time getting approved

5. All Development Occurs in a
Watershed
Need to change
thinking from
Water as Waste to LID All Land Uses
Have a Water
Profile
Water as Resource
Water Quality and Water
Quantity will improve

6. All Development Occurs
in a Watershed
Three Parts of a Watershed
Watershed Critical Areas
Watershed Protected Areas
Remainder of the Watershed
Barriers:
• “Highest and Best Use of the Land;”
• One person’s/community’s out-flow is another’s
intake

7. All Development Occurs
in a Watershed
Wetlands are nature’s filtration
system
Wetlands manage volume and
sediment load
Wetlands are key to wildlife
habitat preservation
Barrier: Wetland is undevelopable; Can fill and replace,
although manufactured is not as good as natural

8. All Development Occurs
in a Watershed
Stream Buffers protect
encroachment on ecosystem by
development
Stream Buffers Protect
development from
encroachment by ecosystem
(e.g. floods.)
Barriers: Inconsistent setbacks between communities; Vertical versus
Horizontal Setbacks

9. All Development Occurs in a
Watershed
Need to change
thinking from
Water as Waste to LID All Land Uses
Have a Water
Profile
Water as Resource
Water Quality and Water
Quantity will improve

10. All Land Uses have a
Water Profile
Volume of water flow
Nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus,
Suspended Solids)
Temperature of water flowing off the land
Toxins (Oil, antifreeze, other chemicals)
Bacteria (Pet Waste, etc.)
From Kimberly Brewer’s Presentation to the TJCOG Smart Growth Committee
ftp://ftp.tjcog.org/pub/tjcog/regplan/smrtgrow/devwq.pdf

11. All Land Uses have a
Water Profile
Sources Land-Use Contribution Contribution
to N Load to P Load
Residential (SF) 14%
29% 12%
Residential (MF) 1%
Agriculture 20% 36% 51%
Forest 56% 19% 15%
Commercial/ 3% 9% 6%
Industrial
Other 6% 7% 16%
Data from A Nutrient Credit Trading Framework for the Jordan Lake Watershed: Using Market-Based Mechanisms to Make Watershed Restoration
More Cost-Effective
http://www.cfra-nc.org/documents/FinalReport-FullReport_000.pdf

12. All BMPs have a
Volume/Pollutant Profile
Volume of water flow
Suspended Solids
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
STORMWATER FLOW AND QUALITY, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NON-PROPRIETARY STORMWATER TREATMENT MEASURES — A REVIEW
AND GAP ANALYSIS (2004) Monash University (Australia) http://www.catchment.crc.org.au/pdfs/technical200408.pdf

13. All Land Uses have a
Water Profile
Barriers: It takes time and money to
measure predevelopment conditions and
post-development conditions
STORMWATER FLOW AND QUALITY, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NON-PROPRIETARY STORMWATER TREATMENT MEASURES — A REVIEW
AND GAP ANALYSIS (2004) Monash University (Australia) http://www.catchment.crc.org.au/pdfs/technical200408.pdf

14. All Development Occurs in a
Watershed
Need to change
thinking from
Water as Waste to LID All Land Uses
Have a Water
Profile
Water as Resource
Water Quality and Water
Quantity will improve

15. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
How we develop
Where we develop
(and where we do not)
What we do with the Run-off
(Pipe or Percolate)

16. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/water_resource.htm http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/water_density.htm

17. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
• Impacts on Land Start At the
Grading Stage
• Fertilizers can have an impact
on water quality, even in LID
Neighborhoods
• Volume and Peak Flows were
kept at predevelopment levels.
• Need to Control Compaction,
Minimize Soil Disturbance, and
have on-site supervision.
http://www.jordancove.uconn.edu/jordan_cove/publications/final_report.pdf

18. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
Development Impacts Water Quality
• Alters Stormwater and Wastewater Flows
• Negatively Impacts water-related
ecosystems
• Impacts water Quality through
• Creation of Impervious Surfaces
• Spatial Position of Development
relative to natural features
• Introduction of Contaminants
• Impacts Wastewater through consumption
of water and the Stormwater it generates
http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=112936

19. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
National Association of Home-Builders has
a large amount of information regarding
costs and benefits of Low Impact
Development
Perceived Barrier: It costs more and
does not provide a benefit to the builder
Actual Barrier: Educating the entire
community to the value versus costs of
LID (Lower Stormwater Costs, more land
can be developed; cost savings to the
community, etc.)
http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=112936

20. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
… (In) the vast majority of cases,
significant savings were realized due to:
• reduced costs for site grading and
preparation,
• stormwater infrastructure, site paving, and
landscaping.
• Total capital cost savings ranged from 15
to 80 percent when LID methods were
used...
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/costs07/documents/reducingstormwatercosts.pdf

21. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/costs07/documents/reducingstormwatercosts.pdf

22. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/costs07/documents/reducingstormwatercosts.pdf

23. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
• Site Design was 103 Lots on 24 Acres
• Conventional Site Design required 270,000 Cu Ft of
Stormwater Facilities
• LID Required 55,000 cu ft of stormwater facilities
• 62% of land was saved as open space
• Cost Savings of 20% to the Developer
• 10% More units were able to be built than
conventional design would have allowed.
Managing stormwater in Pierce County: Kensington Estates case study sheds light on low impact development
http://www.djc.com/news/en/11135654.html

24. LID Can Improve Water
Quality & Water Quantity
Type of Residential Disturbed Open Space Conserved Space
Development Space
Low Density Could be entire Yes – may be No
(e.g. 1 unit/2a) site yard
Cluster Could Be entire Fragmented No
site
Open Space 50% or less 50% or More Open Space can
be undevelopable
Conservation Less than 50% More than 50% Undevelopable
area excluded
Barrier(s): How each is defined varies by community/county

25. All Development Occurs in a
Watershed
Need to change
thinking from
Water as Waste to LID All Land Uses
Have a Water
Profile
Water as Resource
Water Quality and Water
Quantity will improve

26. Need to Change thinking from
stormwater as waste to
stormwater as resource.
Barrier: Need
to change the
way we think
about water
http://waterparadigm.org/indexen.php?web=./home/homeen.html http://www.onthecommons.org/media/pdf/original/OurWaterC
omonsOctober2008English.pdf

27. Need to Change thinking from
stormwater as waste to
stormwater as resource.
Barrier: We cannot
solve our problems
at the same level of
thinking that
created them
We need a new
way of looking at
our water quality
and water quantity
problems
http://www.clemson.edu/restoration/events/past_events/sc_water_re http://www.coe.neu.edu/environment/DOCUM
sources/t4_proceedings_presentations/t4_zip/zimmer.pdf ENTS/Wingspread%20Final%20Report.pdf

28. Need to Change thinking from
stormwater as waste to
stormwater as resource.
“An urban area is an ecological system
wherein humans, habitat,
transportation and water infrastructure,
and terrestrial and aquatic flora and
fauna exist in symbiosis and
interdependence. Urban fresh waters
are the lifeline for ecological and
economical sustainability, yet the fresh
water resources are being impaired to
a point that the integrity of urban
waters has been damaged by excessive
development and overuse….”
http://www.coe.neu.edu/environment/DOCUM
ENTS/Wingspread%20Final%20Report.pdf

29. Need to Change thinking from
stormwater as waste to
stormwater as resource.
The concept of the Cities of the Future,
the fifth paradigm of urbanization… is a
paradigm of integration
• Future, and existing, urban
developments will accommodate
landscape, drainage, transportation
and habitat infrastructure systems
• Cities will be resilient to extreme
hydrological events and pollution
• There will be adequate amounts of
clean water for sustaining healthy
human, terrestrial and aquatic lives
• There will be an optimal balance
between recreation, navigation and
other economic uses of water.
http://www.coe.neu.edu/environment/DOCUM
ENTS/Wingspread%20Final%20Report.pdf

30. Barriers to Implementing
LID Across the Region
• All Development Impacts Water Quality (Discharge,
Consumption, Compaction of Soil) (Includes 10%
Impervious Surface and above – as well as 10%
Compacted Surfaces and above.
• Highest Use of the land versus the Best Use of the land
• Need to Change the way we think (Paradigm Shift)
• Water is Water
• Wetlands and streams are undervalued
• One Community’s Outflow is another Community’s
Intake

31. Barriers to Implementing
LID Across the Region
•
“Everybody
knows….” it
costs more.
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2908

32. Barriers to Implementing
LID Across the Region
•
Sometimes,
its is not
about the
costs (price,)
rather it is
really playing
up the
benefits
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2908

33. Barriers to Implementing
LID Across the Region
Cost premiums
ranging from ZERO%
to 6.27%
Energy Savings from
23% to 50%
Water Savings from
Zero to 78%
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2908

34. Case Studies: Residential
Development
Two Case Studies to highlight
• Asheville and Wilmington
• Asheville: Worked with Fire
Department
• Wilmington – Built before codes
‘allowed’ LID
• Wilmington – Could not make it
work on original site; bought
more land and improved water
quality from adjoining site., in
addition to own site
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/agecon/WECO/lid/documents/NC_LID_Guidebook.pdf

35. Barriers to Implementing
LID Across the Region
• Need to look at Decentralized solution for a decentralized
problem
• Our ordinances hold us back (e.g. State law now requires
communities to allow the use of cisterns and to not prohibit
their use; Definitions of Conservation Subdivisions; Transfer
of Development Rights)
• “Everybody knows….”

37. Conclusion
We have a new resource
We can ‘sing from the same
songbook.’
We can customize our solutions
to meet the requirements of our
communities and our region.
We can have a Win-Win-Win for
the consumer, the developer,
and the community.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/agecon/WECO/lid/documents/NC_LID_Guidebook.pdf