Fact Sheet: Roadways and Parking Lot Design
One of the simplest ways to cut down on stormwater runoff is to reduce the amount of impervious cover associated with roadways and parking lots. Careful design is the key […]
Continue reading...Fact Sheet: Green Roofs
A green roof is a low-maintenance vegetated roof system that stores rainwater in a lightweight engineered soil medium, where the water is taken up by plants and transpired into the […]
Continue reading...Fact Sheet: Grass Filter Strips
Grass filter strips are low-angle vegetated slopes designed to treat sheet flow runoff from adjacent impervious areas. Filter strips (also known as vegetated filter strips and grassed filters) function by […]
Continue reading...LID Principles and Techniques
Principles of LID Work with the landscape. Identify environmentally sensitive areas and important local features, then outline a development envelope that protects those areas. Maintain slopes and flow paths; minimize […]
Continue reading...Putting Low Impact Development to Work
Research low impact principles and techniques. Detailed design manuals for LID techniques and applications are available from public and nonprofit sources. Many organizations publish case studies of low impact projects, with […]
Continue reading...Creating a “Park Once” District
Less Driving, More Walking Even in places where most people drive to their destinations, the most successful downtowns will feature sidewalks full of pedestrians, walking between the barber and the […]
Continue reading...Parking, Development Costs, and Affordability
What’s the Problem? Building parking spaces adds to the cost of any development. With the cost of constructing parking running from roughly $1,500-$2,000 per space for surface parking in suburban […]
Continue reading...Local Examples: Waiving Parking Requirements
Local Example – Ipswich, MA: Waiving Parking Requirements for Some Uses Downtown Town of Ipswich Zoning Bylaw, VII. OFF-STREET PARKING AND LOADING REGULATIONS I. Municipal Parking Lot Exemption Business uses […]
Continue reading...Examples of Recent Local Parking Studies
Three local examples are provided. The Belmont, Mass. and Lexington, Mass. parking study examples are studies that target commercial areas and focus exclusively on parking issues. The Norwood, Mass. example provides a plan that developed a […]
Continue reading...Regulating the Duration of On-Street and Public Parking
Time Limits and Time Period Regulations In a downtown, mixed use or business district, or other busy area, there are likely to be many different users competing for the same […]
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