Cluster development

[rhansen]

What are some of the negative issues associated with cluster developments in a suburb .

[luckless pedestrian]

...up here in exurban Maine in a tourist town, realtors give me crap about my PUD because they say there is no market for clustered design, that people that move from suburban USA to Maine do not want to live next to their neighbors, they want the 2 acre lot - they may just be blowing smoke but we'll see, I guess...

[rhansen]

Thanks. Very relevant point for rural maine. The town i speak of is a bout 25,000 people so, i THINK there is a market here for such a design.

Btw, great game today. Pats destroyed those jets!

[Downtown]

In many municipalities, cluster is more easily achieved in location with municipal water and sewer. But then, I guess it depends on how "dense" your zoning is. If you have a 5 acre res. zone, then you could reduce the lot size by 80% and still fit your well and septic.

We just passed a law requiring mandatory conservation subdivsion design - remove constrained lands (steep slopes, protected watercourses and federally and state protected wetlands), get your density yield, reserve 40% of your "developable" space, and put your yield on the remaining 60%.

The big issue for us will be who maintains that "open space" - in many instances it will be an HOA. But I think we'd rather see it generally go to a land conservancy. Sorting out those issues has the potential to be problematic.

[cch]

We are trying to promote cluster developments, with our comp planning we are working on right now. Biggest opposition we are running into is the idea that people don't want shared open space, they want their own private open space on their giant 2-5 acre lots. Cause we all know, shared open space is where all the "undesirables" hang out .

[Senior Jefe]

I have reviewed cluster developments in both suburban and rural areas. In both cases its difficult to for small HOAs to properly manage common open space; stuff like pay the fees, control the weeds, mow the grass, pick up trash, irrigate when needed. In more rural areas people want the larger properties with the private space and not common open space. Also, at least in the west where there are few trees to hide the houses, rural cluster developments can look like leap-frog suburban development and can change the character of the area.

[Dan]

What? Not about economic or community development, you say? Off to yjr Land Use, Zoning and Development Control subforum.

.