With ordinances and city management plans, you can set standards that will guide growth and development so natural resources are protected and used to your community’s advantage.
Examples:
Tree Ordinance – St. Peters, MO
The City of St. Peters implemented municipal tree and landscape ordinances to regulate tree topping and to protect trees during land clearing and landscaping on development sites. Developers must follow guidelines and are fined when trees die due to grading or construction.
Stream Set-back Ordinance – Kansas City, MO
Kansas City passed an ordinance in 2008 to require a buffer zone around streams. This zone will protect the public and infrastructure from flooding due to runoff while also guarding against the damaging effects development can have on streams, water quality, and the surrounding habitat.
Viewshed Management Plan – Branson, MO
To protect Branson’s hillsides from development that might cause aesthetic or ecological damage, the city developed Community Plan 2030: Visual Assessment Survey of Hillsides. The plan lays out a strategy to “preserve the area’s natural beauty by enhancing, protecting and preserving Branson’s sensitive lands, including steep slopes, waterways, floodplains, and biodiversity corridors.”
You can find more details and examples in Conservation Planning Tools for Missouri Communities, beginning on page 35.