Land Use Laws and the Landscape: A Proposal for Public Horticulture Involvement
Date
1986-06
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Landscape design standards appear regularly in community land-use
regulations. Problems are often inherent in these regulations and in the
landscapes they produce. This study identifies some of these problems, and the
issues that they raise, proposing a role for public horticulture professionals in
helping communities to address them.
The procedure for investigation involved case studies of three
southeastern Pennsylvania communities. Local land-use regulations, legal
framework and processes, were examined as well as non-residential landscapes
resulting from the regulatory language.
The case studies revealed a number of problems with the landscape
regulations. Objectives for landscape specifications were found to be
frequently invalid or unclear, regulatory language often failed to address
objectives when they were stated, design standards were overly restrictive at
times, plant lists often contained questionable recommendations, and
horticultural expertise was not evident in most cases.
Each of the problem areas raised its own subset of issues that warrant
careful consideration by each community, and action by public horticulture
organizations. Programming ideas are offered; background information is
based on the experience of organizations currently active in land-use policy
activities on a local level.
Assistance is needed in addressing the problems of landscape regulation,
and public horticulture organizations have much to contribute toward the
attainment of workable solutions.
Description
Keywords
Planning, Environmental management, Land use, Laws, Regulations