Agenda - 01-16-1997 - 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 i MEMORANDUM Orange County Planning & Inspections Department 306F Revere Road Hillsborough,North Carolina 27278 Telephone: (919)732-8181 FAX: (919)644-3002 To: John Link, County Manager From: Marvin Collins, Planning Director Date: January 10, 1997 Subject: Development Impact Assessment Model Copies: At the Commissioners December 7, 1996 Goal Setting Retreat, Commissioner Gordon inquired about the status of work on a Board goal - the impacts of growth and development. The Board was informed that staff had obtained a copy of a Development Impact Assessment Handbook, including a spreadsheet model to conduct such analyses. The Handbook was prepared for the Urban Land Institute by Dr. Robert Burchell, Dr. David Listokin, and William Dolphin of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. Drs. Burchell and Listokin are recognized for their expertise in the field of impact assessment,and the Handbook was of interest to staff because it provided an opportunity to assess a variety of effects,not just fiscal impacts. The goal statement on the impacts of growth and development called for a report on the assessment methodology to be made to the Board of Commissioners in January, 1997. A Work Session has been scheduled for January 16, and this memorandum is provided for distribution to the Board. It presents an overview of the methodology as well as an illustration of its application to a sample development. Development Impact Assessment Development impact assessment is the process of estimating and reporting the effects of residential and nonresidential construction on a local community, school district, and/or county. The effects may take several forms: physical, market, environment, social, economic, fiscal, and traffic. Increasingly, development impact assessment is changing from an optional to a required element as part of land use review processes around the country. It is most often applied to large rather than small-scale growth,to multi-family, nonresidential or planned residential projects rather than to traditional single-family subdivisions, or to proposals for development in environmentally sensitive areas. The most typical case also involves development impact analysis in a prescriptive mode, e.g., what is going to happen over the short to mid-term on a communitywide basis. Finally, development impact assessment almost always culminates in both an oral and graphic presentation that involves a series of experts who summarize the studies they have undertaken.