The Effects of Open Space on Residential Property Values

Many communities on the urban fringe are implementing a range of policies to preserve farmland and open space, cluster residential development, and guide development to areas with existing infrastructure. These efforts are an attempt to control overall growth and the concomitant loss in open space and also to counter a trend toward the so-called large lot development that often takes place in these areas. Planners have argued that policies to manage density are the most important local policy focus for urban areas in the coming years.It is possible that large lot development and sprawl are themselves the result of government policy. Most local governments use zoning to establish minimum acreage requirements for each residential dwelling unit; in ex-urban localities, these limits are often quite high. Developers might build a subdivision with average lot sizes greater than the minimum but they cannot by law go below it. Some researchers have argued, however, that the spatial patterns of development are simply the natural result of household preferences and market forces.In this paper, we address the question of whether zoning limits are the primary cause of lowdensity, sprawling development or whether market forces tend to dictate this outcome. If zoning limits account for low-density development in at least some cases, how would development patterns be different if there had been no such rules? We begin by constructing a simple model of the developer decision about the density of new development. The subdivision is the unit of observation, and developers must weigh both demand and cost considerations in choosing density, in addition to complying with zoning restrictions that vary across parcels. We apply the model using parcel-level data from a region where zoning rules vary but are exogenous to the period under study. Calvert County, Maryland, near Washington, DC, is an historically rural county that has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The county has a transferable development rights (TDRs) program that has led to a great deal of variability in the intensity of development across properties. We are able to not only examine the extent to which zoning has contributed to large lot development but also to determine the economic forces that underlie density decisions. Finally, we are able to forecast how density would have been different in the absence of zoning rules by estimating a Tobit equation that is censored for the observations constrained by zoning.

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“…We account for this in our empirical analysis. 17 See Irwin (2002) for a general discussion of the issue.…”

Section: Ols Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zoning, TDRs and the density of development

McConnell

Walls

Kopits

2006

Journal of Urban Economics

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“…For example, Kline (2006) found that the likelihood of passing referenda related to the protection of undeveloped land increases as the per capita amount of undeveloped area decreases. Scarcity of undeveloped land also may lead to greater values on the amenities received from rural lands, particularly non-market goods and services that are associated with living in proximity to rural lands (e.g., Irwin, 2002;Thorsnes, 2002;White and Leefers, 2007). In response to declines in the amount of open space and rural land, local and regional planning entities may initiate efforts that focus on conserving open space.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Development Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state, regional, and national levels

White¹,

Morzillo²,

Alig³

2009

Landscape and Urban Planning

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a b s t r a c tThe developed land area of the US increased by 14.2 million hectares between 1982 and 2003. Along with a projected US population increase to more than 360 million individuals by 2030 is an expected continuation of expanding rural land development. Related to population growth, rural land development and the associated loss of rural open space are expected to have a number of social, economic, and ecological implications. To gain greater insight into land development patterns, we used US Census Bureau and National Resources Inventory data to quantify per-housing-unit rates of land development during recent decades and to model future land development to 2030 for states and regions in the US. Based on these data, 0.50 ha of additional land were developed for each additional housing unit in the US. The numbers of hectares of newly developed land per additional housing unit were greatest in the South Central and Great Plains regions and least in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain regions of the country. Combining population projections and trends in people per housing unit with development indices, we projected that developed area in the US will increase by 22 million hectares between 2003 and 2030, with the greatest absolute increases projected to occur in the Southeast and South Central regions of the US. We used sensitivity analysis to examine the impacts of changes in population migration patterns and per housing unit development patterns on increases in projected developed area.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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“…In a residential context, open space may also provide privacy, pleasing views, or simply the absence of negative externalities associated with development (Irwin 2002). In a competitive housing market prospective homebuyers will bid up the prices of homes near open space in order to gain these benefits, and the externalities generated by proximity to open space will be capitalized into residential property values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%