Areas of Practice Flashcards
fiscal impact analysis
used to estimate the costs and revenues of a proposed development on a local government
average per capita method
divides the total local budget by the existing population in the city to determine the average per capita cost
adjusted per capita method
uses the figure from the average per capita method and ADJUSTS based on expectations of the new development
disaggregated per capita method
estimates the costs and revenues based on major land uses.
ex: the cost of servicing a shopping center versus an apartment complex
dynamic method
applies statistical analysis to time-series data from a jurisdiction. This method determines, for example, how much sales tax revenue is generated per capita from a grocery store and applies this to the new development.
Tribal Planning
engages tribal government leaders, residents, and businesses in preparing plans and administering planning processes in support of the tribal community
When did platting first appear?
1660
subdivision
is the division of land into two or more parcels, sites, or lots, for the purpose of transfer of ownership, development, or other forms of valuable interest.
plat
is a map of a tract or a parcel of land
replat
allows for lots to be subdivided further or added back together
amending plat
corrects errors or adds additional information to the plat
vacating plat
allows for a plat to be terminated prior to the selling of any lots
preliminary plat
is a to-scale mechanical drawing with precise topography and prescribed intervals showing the calculated location of all lots, streets, drainage patterns, facilities, and proposed dedications.
Final Plat
A final plat is the approved preliminary plat with all bearing, monuments, curves, and notations, together with all dedications, easement, and approvals.
performance bonds
A performance bond is an agreement between the property owner and the community to ensure that the final plat is built as shown on the drawings within a certain time period
Dedications
are gifts of land for public purposes, such as roads, parks, and utilities
Impact fees
are typically charged for off-site infrastructure that is needed to provide service to a development, such as a water or a sewer main.
subdivision bonuses
A subdivision bonus is the extension of development benefits beyond those normally offered in exchange for enhancements such as affordable housing, cluster housing, and open space preservation.
Euclidean Zoning
Euclidean zoning is named after the City of Euclid, Ohio. It places the most protective restrictions on residential land uses, less on commercial uses, and virtually none on industrial uses. This concept places the most restrictive zoning category, single-family residential, at the top of the pyramid.
Cumulative Zoning
Cumulative zoning is less protective of various land uses than Euclidean zoning. Single-family residential districts are the most exclusive. However, in cumulative zoning, each successive zoning district allows all the uses from the previous zones:
Modified Cumulative Zoning
districts are typically cumulative by type of land use. For example, a multi-family district would allow both single-family homes and multi-family housing. However, the industrial district would not allow residential uses.
accessory use
is one that is incidental to the main use of a property. It is typically located on the same lot as the main use and smaller in size than the main use
overlay zoning
is a set of additional restrictions that are placed over the top of an existing zone. Two common overlays are for airports and historic preservation
variance
is a change in the terms of the zoning regulations due to economic or physical hardship.
What level does corridor transportation planning typically occur at?
regional level
Most corridor transportation planning is conducted by
the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
The National Corridor Planning and Development Program is a grant program funded as
SAFETA-LU
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
National Corridor Planning and Development Program and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program
These programs provide funding for planning, project development, construction and operation of projects that serve border regions near mexico and canada
The National Scenic Byways Program is a…?
US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Program developed in 1992.
AADT
is the amount of traffic on a roadway in a 24 hour period, averaged over a year
Peak Hour Volume
equals the hourly traffic during the peak period
Seasonal Hour Volume
is the peak hour volume during different seasons;
Design Hour Volume (DHV)
is the capacity of the roadway to handle traffic.
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
is a measure of vehicular mobility obtained from travel inventories. Vehicle miles of travel is a function of many factors, including topography, population density, travel distances between home and other daily destinations (such as work, shopping, and recreation), and the availability of mass transit.
Public Roads Administration (PRA)
was responsible for implementing the highway system, and in 1947 designated 60,640 km of interstate highways
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962
The Act required, as a condition attached to federal transportation financial assistance, that transportation projects in urbanized areas of 50,000 or more in population be based on a continuing, comprehensive, urban transportation planning process undertaken cooperatively by the states and local governments — the birth of the so-called 3C, “continuing, comprehensive and cooperative planning process.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)
are created to meet federal requirements for urban transportation planning.
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
represents the transportation improvement priorities of the region and is required by federal law.
Adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO)
allows local governments to deny or delay new developments if the existing government services (water and sewer, roads, schools, fire, and police) cannot support it.
Concurrency
is the practice of requiring that infrastructure be in place and available at a specified level of service prior to allowing new development to occur.
Daylighting
is the practice of placing windows, or other transparent media, and reflective surfaces so that natural light provides effective internal illumination during the day.
Blue infrastructure
refers to water-based infrastructure. This can include stormwater management, such waterway in texasas bioretention systems, swales, reservoirs, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and other waterways
Green infrastructure
At the city
and regional scales, it has been defined as a multifunctional openspace network. At the local and site scales, it has been defined as a
stormwater management approach that mimics natural hydrologic
processes
Hazard mitigation
any action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards
adaptation
is the adjustment of human and natural systems in response to actual or expected effects of climate change.
Major Disaster
is defined as any “natural catastrophe”
Response/Recovery
is the response after an event to return to or restore to the previous condition and in many cases to produce a better state.
Emergency
any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the president, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and protect property and public health and safety, or lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.
Safe Growth
is a term for building environments that are safe for current and future generations, protecting buildings, infrastructure and the natural environment from damage
Resilience
refers to the ability of a community to return to its original form after it has been changed. Often resiliency is used to refer to a community’s ability to recover from a natural hazard, economic shock, or other major events.
Substantial Damage
means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost restoring the structure to its before damage condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value or replacement cost of the structure before the damage occurred.
Substantial Improvement
is any reconstruction, rehabilitation addition, or other improvements of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.
Federal Disaster Relief Act
authorized the president to provide supplementary federal assistance when a governor requested help
When was FEMA created?
1979
When was the National Flood Insurance Act signed?
1968
When was the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act signed?
1988
What was the purpose of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
The Act gives FEMA the responsibility for coordinating government-wide relief efforts. The Federal Response Plan includes contributions from 28 federal agencies and non-governmental organizations, such as the American Red Cross.
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000
Amended the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assitance Act. requires local governments to prepare and adopt hazard mitigation plans. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 focuses on prevention.
What did the 1994 amendment to the National Flood Insurance Program do?
It codified the community rating system (an incentive program that encourages communities to exceed the minimum federal requirements for development within floodplains)
When was the first earth day?
April 22, 1970
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Created in 1927 to create the colorado river aqueduct
Rachel Carson
The author of silent spring. Carson examined the dangers of chemical pesticides
Effluent Standards
are set restrictions on the discharge of pollutants into the environment. Effluent guidelines reduce the discharge of pollutants that have serious environmental impacts
Point Source Pollution
is discharged directly from a specific site, such as a sewage treatment plant or an industrial pipe.
Non-point Source Pollution
is contaminated runoff from many sources
Potable Water
Water that is safe to drink
Aquifer
is one or more strata of rock or sediment that is saturated and sufficiently permeable to yield economically significant quantities of water to wells or springs.
Estuary
is an area where freshwater meets saltwater
Lagoon
is a shallow body of water that is located alongside a coast.
Marsh
is a type of freshwater, brackish water or saltwater wetland found along rivers, ponds, lakes, and coasts. It does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by herbaceous vegetation.
When was the Clean Water Act passed?
1972
What is the purpose of the clean water act?
The Act requires anyone wanting to discharge pollutants into a body of water to obtain a permit. It also regulates the amount of water that can be discharged and the types of pollutants that can be released.
When was the EPA created?
December 2, 1970
When was the Clean Air Act passed?
1970
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)
relates to air quality and requires that a project will not increase emissions above a specified PSD increment.
Ambient Air Quality Standards
are the maximum air contaminant concentrations allowed in the ambient air.
When was the National Environmental Policy Act signed?
1969
The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
Oldest environmental law in the US. prohibited the construction of any bridge, dam, dike, or causeway over any navigable waterway in the U.S. without Congressional approval.
The Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
allowed the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in cooperation with other governmental entities, to prepare a comprehensive program for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. The Act allowed the Federal Works Administrator to assist government agencies in constructing treatment plants that could help to prevent discharges of inadequately treated sewage and other wastes into interstate waters or tributaries.
The Water Quality Act of 1965
established the Water Pollution Control Administration within the Department of the Interior. This was the first time water quality was treated as an environmental concern rather than a public health concern.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972
amended the Water Pollutant Act of 1948. The amendments broadened the government’s authority over water pollution and restructured the authority for water pollution under the Environmental Protection Agency. The Act changed the enforcement from water quality standards to regulate the number of pollutants being discharged from particular point sources.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973
provides protection of animal and plant species that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designates as threatened or endangered. This act was later amended in 1988.
Renewable energy
cannot be exhausted and is constantly renewed. This includes sunlight, geothermal heat, wind, tides, water, and various forms of biomass.
Biomass energy
uses organic material which is burned to create energy. Biomass is renewable organic matter such as wood or ethanol (derived almost exclusively from corn).
Hydroelectric power
is typically associated with large dams. It uses falling water to produce power, which is moved through a turbine, causing it to spin. The spinning turbine is coupled with a generator, which produces energy.
Solar Energy
can be used to heat homes through solar panels. Solar power uses photovoltaic panels to convert sunlight directly into electricity. The panels can be added together to create large systems.
Passive Solar Design
mitigates the building’s energy needs. The goal of passive design is to maximize the amount of direct sunlight available to each building - for example, orienting streets and front lot lines along the east-west axis. In colder climates, windows facing south can capture solar energy for daytime heating
Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems
use photovoltaic cell technology to capture radiant energy from the sun and create electricity. Photovoltaic cells are placed on panels that are then placed on rooftops or mounted on the ground. Cells can operate at the residential to the utility scale.
Enterprise zones
are geographic areas in which companies can qualify for a variety of subsidies. The original intent of most EZ programs was to encourage businesses to stay, locate, or expand in depressed areas and thereby help to revitalize them.
Context-Sensitive Design (CSD)
refers to roadway standards and development practices that are flexible and sensitive to community values
A Form-based code
is a type of zoning code that regulates development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks
The Transect
Is a conceptual device for orienting development on a rural to urban continuum.
Tactical Urbanism
refers to low-cost temporary changes to the urban environment that are intended to demonstrate the potential impacts that change can have. For example, adding a temporary bicycle lane, street furniture, or turning empty storefronts into pop-up shops
What is the first major housing code in the US?
Tenement House Act of 1879. This law required that windows open to outside air, which resulted in the dumbbell tenement housing type with open air shafts
Who wrote how the other half lives?
Jacob riis.
Tenement House Law of 1901
outlawed dumbbell tenements. The new housing code was vigorously enforced by the City. The City required inspection and permits for construction and alterations. It also required wide light and air areas between buildings, as well as toilets and running water in each apartment unit.
Neighborhood Unit Concept
Published by Clarence Perry. The Neighborhood Unit Concept defines a neighborhood based on a five-minute walking radius, with a school at its center. Each neighborhood is approximately 160 acres.
Public Works Administration (PWA)
created in 1934 following the Great Depression, provided 85 percent of the cost of public housing projects. This was the first federally supported public housing program.
National Housing Act
Passed in 1934. It established the Federal Housing Administration with the purpose of insuring home mortgages.
U.S. Housing Act
provided $500 million in home loans for the development of low-cost housing. This Act tied slum clearance to public housing. In addition, Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 authorized project-based rental assistance where the owner reserves some or all of the units in a building for low-income tenants
GI Bill
Passed in 1944. guaranteed home loans to veterans. The result was the rapid development of suburbs.
Housing Act of 1949
was the first comprehensive housing legislation passed in the U.S. The Act called for the construction of 800,000 new housing units and emphasized slum clearance.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Formed in 1965. was formed through the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. The act also put into place rent subsidies for the poor, home loans at reduced interest rates, and subsidies for public housing projects.
Fair Housing Act (FHA)
This was an expansion of previous acts to prohibit discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and since 1974, sex.
Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)
This grant program provides flexibility for communities to use federal funds for the improvement of blighted areas.. Created section8 housing.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
requires financial institutions to report mortgage data to the public. HMDA grew out of concern over credit shortages in some neighborhoods.
First National Park
Yellowstone
National Park Service
Created in 1916
