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Industn is new using ant IcaSt-cos, principle In the hacinc
<br /> More an irhe
<br /> Northwest as a tact\ of imestsn:In conservation instead of new ,j �s
<br /> plant capacity•. Because comervation an free up suppiy by iowcring Rutgers Study --
<br /> -•nand,it can be an roualiy cast-effective wav of generating,"new' of the
<br /> �r.or what energy emciency guru Amon•Lovins calls
<br /> New Jersey
<br /> ra�vams." ;�-
<br /> in the Northwest.utilities are now permitted to include the cost State Plan
<br /> of providing conservation tools(low-energy bulbs,insulation) to
<br /> consumers in their rate bases,much as the cost of new power plants Two years after the adoption of New Jersey's Interim State �.-
<br /> have been included.The result is a new source of funding for Development and Redevelooment Plan.Rutgers Universin•
<br /> investment in enerR,erncient tnfrasrrucrure. has assessed the plan and concluded that it will bring benefits to
<br /> Can the same concept be applied to create more efficient, New Jersn•and its citizens that traditional development will not.
<br /> compact,and conservation-minded development patterns?Henry The aim of the plan is to encourage development in existing urban
<br /> Richmond,executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon.and and rural centers and to discourage low-densin=sprawl.The
<br /> founder of the National Growth Management Leadership Project, findings of the assessment are important to all states and local
<br /> thinks it might. governments that are rethinking current development patterns
<br /> As the recent Rutgers stud} in New Jersey indicates,the cost of and finding it difficult to finance infrastructure needed to serve
<br /> building in more compact development panerns is much lower new development.
<br /> than the current"business as usual"approach of allowing inefficient The plan assessment w•as done with a series of models that
<br /> sprawl.Can we allocate those cost savings from fewer miles of roads simulate zrowth in the state under traditional (TREND)and
<br /> and water and sewer lines(let's all them"negamiles")to the rate planned(IPLAN)development.According to the executive -'gy
<br /> bases of various public service providers(school,road,and sewer summary of the impact assessment,the 1989 State Planning Act
<br /> districts)and use that money as a w•av to fund new investments in "requires an assessment be undertaken of the economic be
<br /> transit,housing,and efficient development parrerns? environmental,infrastructure,community lift,and
<br /> Obviousiv,electric utilities and public service districts differ in intergovernmental coordination implications of the plan."
<br /> terms of profit and nonprofit status,size,and scale,and these The following is a summary of the findings in four of these areas:
<br /> differences would need to be accounted for in designing a lent-con
<br /> development system.Yet Richmond believes the principle may be Economic Assessment
<br /> worth further investigation: It was recognized that national and multistate regional forces
<br /> "The idea of least-cost planning has been a tremendous positive shape New Jersey s economic growth,not state and local forces.
<br /> step for the utiliry industry.It only makes sense that we should now ^Therefore both growth alternatives accommodate 520,000 new
<br /> ine how the principle could be applied to planning for land residents.408.000 new households,and 654.000 new iobs,over
<br /> and new development." the 20-year study period from 1990 to 2010.Although the same
<br /> number of new permanent jobs and construaion jobs are expected
<br /> under both scenarios,major urban centers will benefit more(in
<br /> terms of jobs created)from IPLAN than will suburban and rural
<br /> American Farmland Trust. Demit)•Re/aud Pub&Costs. areas.under IPLAN,suburban and rural areas will gain fewer
<br /> Washington,D.C., 1986. permanent jobs,and also will have a smaller reduction in
<br /> unemployment. _
<br /> Downing,Paul B.and Richard D.Gusrely."The Public Service By containing population and jobs in already developed
<br /> Costs ofAlrernative Development Patterns:A Review of the areas and by creating or expanding centers in newly developing °-
<br /> Evidence." in Local Service Pricing PoLcies and Their FjTrcr on Urban areas,IPLAN offers an annual$112 million fiscal advantage to
<br /> Spatial Structure.Vancouver.Univcrsiry of British Columbia Press, municipalities.This advantage reflects the ability to draw on usable
<br /> 1977. excess operating capacity in already developed areas.Public school
<br /> DuPage County Regional Planning Commission.Inrpaers of districts are projeaed to realize a 5286 million annual financial
<br /> DeveLrpment ore DuAage County Prope ny Taxes.Wheaton,111. 1991. advantage under IPLAN.
<br /> Frank,James 1L T/sr Costs ofAlrmuttiue Developme?n Panmu: Environmental Assessment
<br /> A Review of the Literature.Washington.D.C.:Urban Land Development under TREND will require 292,000 acres for new
<br /> Institute. 1989. development,but IPLAN would consume only about 165,000 acres
<br /> to accommodate the same number of households and jobs.TREND
<br /> lsard.Walter and Robert E.Coughlin.Municipal Costs and �demands 28 percent more farmland and 67 percent more of
<br /> 1957.urs Rtiulri,rg from Growth. VGrclleslcy,Mass.:Chandler-Davis, other vacant lands for the same level of development.Under IPLAN. �
<br /> 19x7' no prime agricultural land would be lost.One drawback of!PLAN is
<br /> Real Estate Research Corporation, The Costs ofSprau=1.•Ucuiltd Con the potential for loss in landowners'equiry of 5350 million in"lost
<br /> Analwis.Washington.D.C.:U.S.Government Printing Office, development value."resulting from development being steered from
<br /> 1974, prime agricultural areas.Development under IPLAN is projected to t
<br /> consume 80 percent fewer acres of sensitive lands—forests.steep
<br /> " nc,P.A. 77x Srrsrrnrrr.Siu,,rrrd Costs nf'Ilrbarr Sctticrrurus• slopes.and w•atcrshcds—than would"1`IiI:Nt).
<br /> ibridgc, England:Gamhridge Univcrsin Press, 1971. V'ater pollutants from stormwater runoff will be decreased L%
<br /> than Land Institute. F_ffrru ofC.rrge Lot.Si:r on Residential 4,500 tons under 1PIAN compared with-I'RE'•\D.The Butlers
<br /> Development.Technical Bulletin No.32. Washington, D.C.. 1958. assessment acknowledged that tighter emission controls avill reduce -5"
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