Hydrologic and economic impacts of alternative residential land development methods

This research analyzed the hydrologic and economic impacts of four alternative site planning and storm-water management designs in a hypothetical residential development in the Gainesville, Florida area.; The four development options analyzed were as follows: (1) Traditional development with full-size lots and conventional storm-water management. (2) Cluster development with reduced lots for upland preservation and conventional storm-water management. (3) "Partial" Low Impact Development (LID) that implemented the LID storm-water management system on the full-size lot plan. (4) "Full" LID that implemented the LID storm-water management system on the cluster development plan.; LID is an emerging method of site planning and storm-water management that has been presented by Prince Georges County, Maryland. This approach to land development combines a distributed, infiltration-based storm-water management system and reduced area of disturbance. Limits on disturbance were implemented through the use of the cluster development site plan.; A hydrologic analysis was conducted. The 2- and 25-year regulatory design storms and a continuous simulation were modeled. The results were compared to the existing conditions and each other. The results showed that the distributed, infiltration-based storm-water management system provided a watershed response closer to the natural, existing response, particularly if combined with a site plan that limited disturbance.; The economic effects of the four alternatives were analyzed by estimating selected construction costs and the impact of lot size, open space proximity and type on the sale price of vacant lots. The hedonic price technique was used to analyze the impact on sale price. The economic analysis showed that reducing lot size would adversely impact the profit from development. This impact could be mitigated somewhat by maximizing open space frontage. Construction costs for the LID designs were lower than the designs using conventional storm-water management. The combined effect of construction cost savings and sales receipts indicated that the ratio of profit to cost was highest for the LID stormwater management system combined with limiting disturbance.