Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning FROM THE PUBLISHER
William Honachefsky's Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning will dramatically change the way municipalities plan their land use. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience, he presents a powerful combination of strategies that: restore the municipal master plan as the dominant planning document, incorporate scientific and ecological research studies from the last three decades, apply the Geographic Information System to problem solving and layout of the master plan, and designate the protection of the community's ecological infrastructure as the premier priority.. "Honachefsky provides easily understood, nuts-and-bolts solutions that can be implemented immediately. Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning makes a compelling case for sound land use policies and should be in the hands of anyone concerned with reducing urban sprawl.
FROM THE CRITICS
This book is a thorough and practical presentation of two fundamental planning principles: (1) incorporating the science of ecology into land planning fulfills its real purpose of protecting "the long-term interests and future well-being of the community"; and (2) zoning should be one tool used in implementing a sound municipal master plan and not the other way around. A must-read for land planners and citizen planning board members.
William B. Honachefsky - American Museum of Natural History
Clearly, the nation is poised on the threshold of a land planning renaissance that could significantly alter the way in which Americans in general and local governments in particular conduct the business of land use planning. This reformation should include a much greater emphasis on environmental and ecological protection, thanks to the public's indignation over the landscape evolving from the present system of land use and the concerted effort by state and federal environmental regulators to recruit and incorporate local governments into their environmental protection agendas. The motto of this reformation is simply this: "The quality of our lives is dependent upon the quality of our environment, which is dependent upon the quality of our land use." Despite all the compelling evidence and cogent arguments, both recent and historic, favoring the implementation of a more ecologically sensitive approach to land use planning, municipal planners remain frustratingly wary. It is apparent that it will take considerably more encouragement and education to win over their hearts and minds completely. This presentation is a commencement of that effort.
ESRI Magazine
Honachefsky provides nuts and bolts solutions for controlling urban sprawl, emphasizing the integration of federal, state, and local land use plans. It discusses ecological resources and provides practical solutions that municipal planners can implement immediately. It discusses the most recent scientific data, how to extract what is important, and how to apply it to the local land planning process. The author includes the application of GIS to problem solving, and he generated all the GIS-derived color maps in the book using ArcInfo and ArcView.
ECOIq Magazine
His book incorporates the latest research, GIS mapping techniques, and a host of unique ecological indicators into a new approach to land use planning. The goal is to broaden the process beyond the considerations normally involved in zoning. It provides easily understood, nuts and bolts solutions for controlling urban sprawl, emphasizing the integration of federal, state, and local policies and plans.
Tidepool Books
Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning -- a new book with some very new ideas about incorporating the values and services of our ecological infrastructure into our development and land use decision making. Ignore the academic title, and you'll find a useful, well written and well illustrated book packed with the latest thinking on land use management, written in non-condescending but easy to understand terms and punctuated with anecdotes from the author's 30 year career as an environmental scientist, investigator and professional planner.Read all 6 "From The Critics" >
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