Comprehensive Master Plan - City of Alvin

Appendix A, Land Use Supplementthat residential development locating next to commercial or industrial usesis responsible for the buffer.• Resource protection standards allow protection of natural resources toavoid property damage from flooding as well as to protect wildlifehabitats. Natural resources also enhance a City’s character. Subdivisionregulations can establish standards for the protection of resources. Thefirst point in adopting these regulations is to carefully define the resourceto lessen the potential for argument about when the regulations apply.Preliminary plats and land developments are then required to map theresources on the site. Lastly, resource protection standards set a level ofprotection in terms of the percentage of the resource area that must be leftin open space, which is referred to as an open space ratio (OSR). An OSRis the area of the resource to be preserved, divided by the total area of theresource. For the most sensitive resources, the OSR would be 1.00indicating 100 percent of the resource should be preserved. Theregulations are written to allow higher density on the remaining portionsof the site thereby equitably compensating the landowner for the loss ofdevelopable acreage.This approach is precise and leaves no room for individual views aswould a more generic design or policy goal such as “protect naturalresources on the site.” Every member of the public, public officials, anddevelopers have different concepts of what that statement means.Experience with environmental impact studies has shown that generalstandards do not consistently protect resources. Instead, they typicallyresult in a negotiation process in which different views are presented andelected officials are required to make a decision. This occurs on a case‐bycasebasis on every plat or land development and is a very costly processfor both the city and developer.Illustrated in Table 1, Resource Protection Standards, is a set of resourceprotection standards. In this illustration, the floodplain is divided into theregulatory floodway and the actual 100‐year floodplain. The floodway isthe area where velocities of flow can cause structural damage and whereobstructions lead to rapid backups of water. If there are large areas ofwoodland, forest, or groves of trees, the preservation of trees is good forwildlife, an amenity for the community, and improves the microclimate.Preserving large trees enhances property values, so this is an area thatAlvin could look to in order to create an enhanced community image.Drainageway soils are those deposited by water and where water tablesPage A-10