To the editor:

I am responding to the article from last week regarding developer and builder comments about the proposed changes to Langley’s development code, specifically subdivision regulations. The article essentially concludes that these new changes will increaSe the cost of housing, as stated by the developers and builders who responded to the request for comment.

This tone represents historic attitudes among some builders and particularly builder associations regarding any changes to established subdivision regulations. This attitude is understandable because they operate their businesses based on conventions, repeating standard building types and residential subdivision layouts to increase profits.

There is nothing wrong with this capitalism. The problem with this attitude is that it lacks support and up to date information regarding current trends in subdivision planning, design and engineering. The city of Langley does not, to the best of my knowledge, have a moratorium on development—simply subdivision development. Why? Hopefully to conserve and protect what we all consider our island quality of life and reduce costs in development and save our waters.

Established subdivision regulations in most communities including Langley and Island County are destructive to the landscape and expensive for both the community and the developer, passed on to the consumer. Why?

• First, minimum lot sizes, 7200 square feet per lot or six units per acre for example, require the removal of many trees and the flattening and excavation of the landscape in order to accommodate the house, driveways, driveway aprons, surface water drainage etc., replacing the natural landscape with unwanted exotic plants, trees and accompanying fertilizers and pesticides

• Second, waste water from buildings, impervious surfaces etc. is collected and channeled into sewer lines that pump the water to the community treatment plant, requiring significant investments in infrastructure (underground vaults and pipes) for developers, again passed on to consumers.

• Thirdly, the community has to process this waste water, clean the water, then pump it into the salt water of Puget Sound, paying dearly for water that can no longer be used.

New subdivision regulations being implemented throughout the United States and Canada are changing the nature of land utilization and waste water treatment whereby the developer and the community can benefit in significant cost savings, although I doubt that many of those savings are filtered down to the housing consumer. What are these changes?

• Compact development schemes, often referred to as Conservation Subdivision Regulation or zoning, uses conventional housing types in more clustered, compact arrangements that reduce roads, driveways, driveway aprons, and increase open space and natural features within the development. Conservation zoning eliminates minimum lot sizes and mandates more contiguous open space using (and I emphasize this fact) conventional building types now used by developers and builders.

New waste water infrastructure eliminates much of the costly collection of waste water on and off site by decentralized dissemination of waste water. How?

• Replacing waste water piping with drywell facilities under local streets that are curb-less, sloping to once side with grates and channel water runoff into these drywells where water is slowly filtered into the ground and back into the aquifer—not the saltwater through a costly treatment plant.

• Using pervious surface driveway and driveway aprons to absorb not channel water in the same fashion.

• Using on-site water retention areas/artificial wetlands where feasible to collect and filter water back into the ground without costly piping.

• Reduce infrastructure costs by developing individual houses closer together yet insuring privacy and access to increased open space

• And more.

And this open space does NOT become public parks space with unlimited public access; and becomes a part of a larger open space system that protects the natural landscape, habitats, and the natural bio-functions of that landscape (like water recharge and discharge into creeks).

Many developers and builders see the advantage of these new trends in new subdivision regulations because they save money. I speak from personal experience in working with these developers over the last five years in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.

Snohomish County went to a small lot development code but did not require the conservation of significant open space in conjunction with those lots and suffered large builder houses on very small lots with tiny “parks.” That is not the intent of conservation zoning. The intent is simple: conserve significant open space (as natural system, as agriculture (vineyards perhaps), as park space, etc.), design compact housing placement with less service road and driveway surfaces, use conventional building types that are acceptable to the market and financial sectors (both detached and attached), and save significant funds for the developer and the community (and hopefully the consumer) through the significant reduction of infrastructure and its costs.

The open houses now scheduled for public information by the City of Langley are important for citizen and developer/builder alike as an introduction to these new innovative and cost-effective changes. I urge everyone to attend.

I have been working on various site design typology changes for years through the university and in practice with interested developers. These changes are not outlandish nor are they more expensive, quite the contrary in most cases. The time is opportune for us all to sit around the table and work together at providing quality housing and conserve our unique and wonderful island landscape.

Ron Kasprisin

Langley