PHRC’s Subdivision and
Land Development
Guidelines
PA Stormwater Symposium
November 18, 2013
Presented by Chris Hine
Housing and Land Development Specialist, PHRC
Dr. Katie Blansett
Associate Director, PHRC
Pennsylvania Housing Research Center
www.engr.psu.edu/phrc
Agenda
● PHRC – who are we, what we do
● Project background & development
● How can this document be used?
● Example using specific design guidelines
Pennsylvania Housing Research Center
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Penn State University
www.engr.psu.edu/phrc
PHRC Mission
● Serve the housing industry and the residents
of PA by improving the quality and affordability
of housing
● Conduct applied research
● Provide technology transfer, training and
education
PHRC Land Development Projects
Project Goal
● To develop residential design
guidelines for Pennsylvania
that meet today’s need for
affordable and sustainable
communities
Environment
Society
Economy
Project Objectives
● Develop design guidance that:
 Embrace low impact, sustainable development concepts
 Reducing the use of impervious surfaces
 Provide recommended guidelines that can be easily understood and
implemented by local municipalities
 Improve opportunities for bicycle and pedestrian movement within
subdivisions for health and safety
 Ease of mobility for all, not just vehicles
 Current studies show 40% of Americans surveyed (1,224) say neighborhoods not
walkable. (no sidewalks, vehicle speed & cell phones)
 Minimize infrastructure costs
 Initial cost and operation/maintenance costs
 Do the wide, “grand” streets unnecessarily impact the economics of the project?
 Based on the best science and engineering knowledge
National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog (NRDC)
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/40_percent_of_americans_believ.html
How the Guidelines Were
Determined
● Review of existing ordinances
 Realized many ordinances were outdated
 There are no requirements for what needs to be included in
an ordinance
● Review of current research and literature
 AASHTO Green Book
 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
● PHRC & Hamer Center staff wrote the content of the
guideline
● Each booklet reviewed, discussed and revised by
oversight committee comprised of stakeholders
One Size Fits All
● Not a prescribed code
● Local government and a “model” ordinance,
one-size-fits-all approach does not work well
● Flexibility & options built in
 Applicable to a spectrum of
development types &
densities
 Rural vs. Suburban
 Large lots vs. small lots
Document Format
Not a “Model Ordinance”
Commentary
Recommended
Guidelines
Commentary
Project Need
● Unclear regulations
 Municipal Planning Code
● Inconsistent ordinances
 Stormwater and SALDO
Current Need
● Conflicting regulations
 New State-level stormwater regulations
 Drive site design decisions
 Act 167 and other model SW ordinances
● But what about the rest of the Site and Land Development
Ordinances (SALDOs)?
 Model SW ordinances incompatible with many existing SALDOs
● Model ordinances for other areas of the country may not be
appropriate in PA
 Political resistance to model ordinances
Flexible options rather than a model ordinance
Current Need
● State level regulations pushing Low
Impact Development (LID) approach
 Narrower streets
 Reduce impervious surfaces
 Green infrastructure
● Older regulations are frequently an
obstruction to LID
 “wider is safer”
 The stormwater goal, just get the water
away from the structures
Emergency management also obstruction to LID
Content
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Site Design Considerations (Booklet 1)
Streets (Booklet 2)
Pedestrian & Bicycle Circulation (Booklet 3)
Parking (Booklet 4)
Stormwater Management & Conveyance
Facilities (Booklet 5)
6. Wastewater Facilities (Booklet 6)
7. Potable Water Supply (Booklet 7)
8. Other Utilities (Booklet 8)
Let’s take a quick look
● Streets & Parking
 Control vehicle speed by design
 Maintain minimum street widths
• Wider streets do not necessarily mean safer streets
 Add parking to one side
Controlling the Controllable
● Stormwater Management
 Narrower Streets
 Reduce amount of impervious surface
 Decrease amount of run-off generated
 Uncurbed streets
 Reduce the need for stormwater drains
 Allows for incorporation of green infrastructure
• Vegetation decreases run-off volume & rate along with
improving water quality in some cases
Controlling the Controllable
● Street design that supports green infrastructure
 Grade for shoulders with vegetation flanking the street
and not curbs
 Will current municipalities allow roads without curbs
and gutters?
Controlling the Controllable
Tie it all together
● Control vehicle speed by design
Tie it all together
● Control vehicle speed by design
It’s a system, not individual
components
Take away
● Use as a guideline for municipalities to update
their ordinance
● Use to embrace low-impact, sustainable
development methodologies
● Use as a supporting document to request a
waiver when current ordinances present
obstacles for sustainable or green designs
Subdivision and Land
Development Guidelines
for Pennsylvania
A copy of the document is available for download on our website:
www.engr.psu.edu/phrc/
The document can be found under the tab “Publications”
Chris Hine
chine@engr.psu.edu
814-863-2366
Pennsylvania Housing Research Center
www.engr.psu.edu/phrc