Conservation Subdivisions in Conway

New home communities are popping up all over the city of Conway.  Many of these new subdivisions are being proposed as “Conservation Subdivisions”.

In order to guide development in accordance with existing and future needs, while promoting the public health, safety, morals, convenience, order, appearance, and prosperity of the community, the City of Conway has in place a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).  The City of Conway UDO includes a Conservation Subdivision Ordinance that provides flexibility in ensuring the preservation of open space within new residential developments.  The conservation subdivision design preserves open space while maintaining the prorated density of residential units for the overall site area.  Natural density is achieved by allowing smaller individual owned residential lots in neighborhoods that include or are adjacent to aesthetically and ecologically important areas. The goal of the design process is to identify and set aside conservation areas prior to the delineation of transportation and residential pod layouts. Open space areas include wetlands, stream buffer zones, woodlands, farmlands, playing fields, and meadows, depending on the resources of the land.

In the City of Conway, any proposed land development and/or subdivision of land exceeding 50 acres, needs to submit plans for Conservation Subdivision to determine if Conservation Subdivision is appropriate given the geographic, topographic and ecological confines and characteristics of the property.

The maximum number of lots in a Conservation Subdivision shall be determined by the Yield Plan method (base density allowed in the underlying zone minus areas protected through sensitive area designation in a subdivision plan). The maximum number of lots is based on a conventional subdivision design plan, prepared by the developer and/or property owner, in which the tract of land is subdivided in a manner intended to yield the highest number of by-right lots possible. The plan does not have to meet formal requirements for a site design plan, but the design must be capable of being constructed given site features and all applicable design standards.

There are several dimensional requirements for a Conservation Subdivision, but perhaps the most notable is that the minimum Open Space required is 30% of the net buildable area.  In other words, a minimum of 30% of the net buildable area of the property needs to be left undeveloped and needs to be used for both conservation of the natural environment and human recreation.  Activities within the Open Space are then restricted in perpetuity through the use of the Open Space Management Plan and an instrument of permanent protection.

Summarizing, a Conservation Subdivision is required to dedicate a significant amount of the subdivision to open space, and to achieve this objective, often times lot sizes are minimized to maximize the number of homes available to be developed on the remaining buildable area.

City of Conway UDO

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