Density

A ratio of population, residential units, bedroom count, or floor area of development to a unit of land area, such as a square mile or acre. Density is a primary planning tool for the analysis of comparative areas and for determining desired population levels. Calculation of population density is also a necessity when planning public infrastructure, such as water supply and sewage systems, transportation facilities, schools, libraries parks and fire stations.

Determination of desirable density levels is based on local public policy and varies from municipality to municipality. Zoning ordinances generally establish maximum residential densities ¨ i.e., numbers of residences per acre ¨ as a key element of the area and bulk schedule. Maximum bedroom count per acre is also used by some communities, particularly when regulating the density of multi-family developments.

Density Transfer

The transfer of unused development potential, either internally within a development or externally from one site to another. An example of internal density transfer is cluster development, where total average density remains unchanged but in which portions of the site are developed more intensively while other areas remain undeveloped. In transfer of development rights, unused allowable density, such as may be found on the site of a historic building or on a property committed to long-term agricultural use, may be sold or transferred elsewhere.

Design Review

The mandatory submission of a site or building design for review by a design review body constituted to comment or make recommendations on the design or to grant approval. Design review is intended to protect areas from new construction, building alterations or site design that could be incompatible with or adversely affect the existing quality or character of an area. Entire municipalities may be subject to design review for certain types of development, or review requirements may apply only to specified areas, such as historic districts or community "gateways". Large private developments, such as planned developments, institutions and light industrial parks, may also impose their own design standards to complement municipal regulations.

Development Rights

The rights to develop property, which the owner of the fee simple interest in real estate may transfer to another. Development rights In some cases, development rights are acquired by a municipality in order to preserved open space for visual, wildlife or agricultural purposes, as a somewhat less expensive alternative to acquisition of a fee simple interest.

Environmental Assessment

A review process required, pursuant to regulations established to implement provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, for proposed federal, federally funded, or federally licensed or sponsored projects or actions. The purpose of an environmental assessment is to determine whether an action or project is environmentally significant and whether an environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared.

A federal agency may allow an applicant to prepare an environmental assessment buy must independently evaluate the information submitted and take responsibility for the scope and content of the assessment. An environmental assessment must discuss the need for the action or project, alternatives to the action or project, and probable environmental impacts. It must also include a listing of those agencies and individuals that were consulted in the course of preparing the assessment. If the potential effects are determined to be significant, an EIS is required. If the potential impacts are not considered to be significant, a finding of no significant adverse environmental impact is made. If an agency will be preparing an EIS, it need not first prepare an environmental assessment.

Based on the NEPA model, similar environmental review processes have been promulgated by a number of states and localities, including adoption of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in 1975.

SEQRA and its implementing regulations, as set forth at Title 6 Part 617 NYCRR, establishes procedures that both local and State government must follow to review the environmental impacts of any project before permitting, approving or funding the project. The SEQRA process requires the identification of mitigation measures to either lessen, or wholly avoid, any impacts deemed adverse to the environment and enables the government body or agency to require, as a condition of approval, that these mitigation measures be implemented.

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

A detailed written document that provides an analysis of the possible impacts that a proposed project or action might have on the environment.

Environmentally-Sensitive Lands

Those areas in which disturbance of characteristic features or functions can result in serious environmental, economic or safety consequences for a community. The effects of disturbing many hillsides, aquifers, streams and wetlands can range from safety hazards, such as flooding or landslides, to poor water quality and the shortage of other valuable natural resources. Economic consequences include the cost of providing additional public facilities, such as flood-prevention devices or new water sources, and the loss of value in real estate, such as in slippage-prone areas.

The regulation of environmentally-sensitive areas can be accomplished through land use controls, such as zoning ordinances, which enumerate districts subject to special land use regulations, or through special ordinances that are supplementary to zoning or subdivision regulations. Examples of these types of controls are the wetlands ordinance, tree preservation ordinance, hillside protection ordinance, erosion and sedimentation control ordinance, water recharge ordinance or critical environmental areas review legislation.

An increasing trend is toward the use of performance controls, now frequently seen in building codes or industrial zoning, as a supplement to the specification standards usually encountered in zoning. While a specification standard will permit or prohibit specific uses or applications, a performance control will require that a specific result be attained, encouraging flexibility and experimentation. An example of a performance approach would be a requirement that surface runoff from a development site not exceed the rate that existed before development. Communities sometimes permit either a land use or a density of development not specified in the zoning ordinance if certain performance standards can be met. Performance controls also encourage a comprehensive approach to protecting environmentally-sensitive land by separating the environmental concerns from the types of uses permitted by zoning districts.

Exaction

A fee or contribution of cash or property required of a developer as a condition of receiving development approval. Most often associated with subdivision regulations, an exaction may take many forms, including required parkland donation, payment of a fee in lieu of parkland donation or financing of improvements to existing public roads that are not located within the subdivision. Another type of exaction is the development impact fee, in which developers are required to pay a tax or user fee to cover the costs of municipal services to the new development.

Factors affecting the legality of exactions include the extent to which the exaction is required because of demand generated by the new development, the nature of state enabling legislation, the language of the subdivision regulation or zoning ordinance through which the exaction is imposed and the existence of municipal policies and plans that support the need for the exaction.