Low Impact Development Low Impact Development (LID) is the integration of green infrastructure and conservation of on-site natural features to mitigate stormwater runoff and protect water quality. Green infrastructure is an attractive and sustainable alternative to traditional concrete (or “gray”) infrastructure that substitutes paved and hard surfaces with vegetated or permeable areas. It has numerous environmental benefits on top of stormwater management, including reducing urban heat islands, improving air quality, and promoting economic vitality through attractive urban settings. Examples include incorporating pearmeable surfaces, xeriscaping, grassed swales, rain gardens, bioretention strips, and green roofs into parking lot, streetscape, and building designs. Native and locally adapted vegetation should be encouraged to support LID, pollinators, and wildlife habitats.
Key Recommendations | Encourage private developers to
| Support the use of attractive, safe, and sustainable street furniture and infrastructure, such as solar streetlights, and LED traffic lights. | Expand the electric vehicle (EV) charging network by requiring the installation of charging stations, or the infrastructure needed to accommodate future charging stations, in all new parking lots, especially parking lots of multifamily and large scale developments, and increasing supply of public charging stations. | Promote adaptive reuse over redevelopment for structures that are structurally sound, feature desirable built form, and/or are historically significant. This includes creating an online inventory of buildings available for adaptive reuse. | Investigate developing a solar energy ordinance and enrolling in the SolSmart program, a national designation program funded by the US Department of Energy charged with making solar power faster, easier, and more affordable. | Explore ways to incentivize renewable energy and passive solar design in the Town’s development standards. SolSmart’s Solar Energy Toolkit can be used as resource for better promoting solar panels within the code. | Continue partnership with Raleigh to encourage homeowners to incorporate practices for water conservation.
incorporate green building, LID, and green infrastructure practices in future developments. | Incorporate green infrastructure into public streetscapes, prioritizing pedestrian-oriented areas like Downtown, TOD, and Neighborhood Commercial areas. | Continue to incorporate sustainable design best practices into Town-owned infrastructure and community facilities, striving to incorporate LEED practices into future facilities. | Use the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Revising Local Codes to Facilitate Low Impact Development” guide to help identify regulations within the UDO that discourage LID practices. | Evaluate potential rainwater collection programs and composting programs. | Explore an incentive program to encourage development to provide stormwater when lots are exempt from stormwater requirements. | Update the Manual of Specifications, Standards, and Design ( MSSD) to reference green infrastructure design. | Explore decommissioned rights-of-way as potential stormwater routes.
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TOWN OF WAKE FOREST | COMMUNITY PLAN
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