Better site design is an approach to development that utilizes a set of design principles that protect natural areas, reduce impervious surfaces, and better integrate stormwater treatment in new development and redevelopment. This project, coordinated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Hudson River Estuary Program in cooperation with the New York State Water Resources Institute, researches available tools for better site design, integrates them with New York land-use laws, and works with municipalities to adopt local code changes. The project also works to educate the development community to promote development designs that incorporate better site design techniques.

Development often occurs on a piecemeal basis, with little consideration for the benefits that floodplains, wetlands, permeable soils, and wildlife habitat provide to a community. By delineating and protecting natural areas and wildlife habitat, communities and development projects are enhanced and stormwater management costs are reduced. By managing water on-site with attractive practices, groundwater aquifers are replenished, flooding is reduced, and pollutants in stormwater are treated before entering local waterways, providing long-term benefits to communities.

The Hudson River Estuary Program is providing outreach, funding and technical assistance to promote better site design. A Hudson River Estuary Program grant to the Dutchess County Environmental Management Council in 2003 supported a pilot project in the towns of Clinton and Wappinger to take better site design tools from the Center for Watershed Protection in Maryland and tailor them to New York. The Hudson River Estuary Program supported the project beyond the grant period by providing technical assistance for better site design roundtables, a consensus process where agreement on local code change recommendations was achieved and published in, “Town of Clinton: Recommended Model Development Principles for Protection of Natural Resources” and “Town of Wappinger: Recommended Model Development Principles for Conservation of Natural Resources”. In 2008, supported by a new funding category in the Hudson River Estuary Annual Grants Program, 13 more municipalities will be involved in local code review and better site design roundtables. In addition, in 2006 and 2007, estuary program staff provided 30 outreach presentations on better site design to more than 800 people at regional, county, and local workshops and meetings.

Through our efforts combined with local partners, the Town of Wappinger became the first municipality in New York to adopt, by unanimous vote, 22 out of 36 local code changes that were recommended by the local better site design roundtable. The successful process and actual local law language will provide a model to other municipalities in New York State that are interested in making institutional changes to their municipal codes and local board procedures to protect natural areas, reduce impervious surfaces, and better integrate stormwater treatment in local development projects.