WCEL > Issues > Urban Growth and Development > Smart Bylaws Guide > Part 6 > Use Site Resources Wisely

Smart Bylaws Guide – Use Site Resources Wisely

Each community, neighbourhood, and site is unique, both ecologically and in the built form. Municipalities are using more sophisticated planning processes to tailor development standards to site-specific conditions. This helps to preserve this diversity that maintains a healthy environment and ultimately increases property values.  Treating each site uniquely increases the attractiveness of developments by providing natural amenities on sites and nearby.  It also decreases long-term operating costs for owners and municipalities by allowing the green infrastructure to handle natural processes such as rainwater.  Studies in the U.S. and Canada have demonstrated that developments that are proximate to and containing intact natural amenities attract at least a 15 percent premium in value over similar developments that have not maintained trees and a healthy environment.

Incorporating the green infrastructure into development and protecting the environment are equally important at the site and at the regional scale.  Local governments have significant powers to shape how development occurs to ensure that ecosystems continue to function and that municipalities can take advantage of the services that ecosystems provide (see A Case for Smart Growth for more information).

Environmental protection and using site resources wisely begins with OCP policies and designations that are implemented through specific bylaws and development permit requirements. When municipal policies and guidelines set out substantive requirements, developers and staff are better able to tailor new developments to site-specific conditions.

Tools to protect the environment include:

• Unique or spot zoning and subdivision requirements that include clustering development;
• Development permit areas for the protection of the environment;
• Density bonus schemes;
• Erosion and sediment control, including soil removal bylaws;
• Conservation covenants;
• Standards for site coverage and impermeability;
• Tree protection bylaws;
• Watercourse protection regulations; and
• Comprehensive environmental bylaws.

For More Information

General

British Columbia Guide to Watershed Law and Planning - The information on this comprehensive website assists the public in understanding laws and planning processes that may have a bearing on watershed management.

Stewardship Bylaws: A Guide for Local Government – This guide explains the range of environmental protection tools available to local governments and describes a policy and bylaw development process.  Most of the document details sample stewardship bylaws and policies.

Environmental Objectives, Best Management Practices and Requirements for Land Development  - This document was developed by the Vancouver Island Region of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (MELP) to assist municipalities, regional districts, Islands Trust and Ministry of Transportation and Highways (MOTH) planning, development and approval staff in the environmental review of land development proposals.

Site Design Manual - James Taylor Chair in Landscapes and Livable Environments, UBC.

Aquatic & Riparian Habitat, Groundwater

The Stewardship Series:

• Land Development Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Habitat
• Access Near Aquatic Areas: A Guide to Sensitive Planning, Design and Management
• Stream Stewardship: A Guide for Planners and Developers
• Shoreline Structures Environmental Design: A Guide for Structures Along Estuaries and Large Rivers
• Coastal Shore Stewardship: A Guide for Planners, Builders and Developers

• The Streamkeepers Handbook: A Practical Guide to Stream and Wetland Care

• Watershed Stewardship: A Guide for Agriculture

Other Habitat

B.C. Grasslands Stewardship Guide: A Guide for Ranchers and Recreation Users