Chapter 3.1
Development Patterns and Infill

• ALL
• Remove Code Barriers
• Create Incentives
• Fill Regulatory Gaps

Urban Service Areas

INTRODUCTION

An Urban Service Area (USA) is a defined area in which a municipality provides access to public services, such as water, sewer, and transit.[1] These areas are typically established in a local government’s comprehensive plan and implemented in the zoning or other land use codes. Ordinances enforcing USA’s effectively create a legal boundary, outside of which the local government is not obligated to provide public services and may refuse to do so. Developers are still permitted to construct beyond the boundary, but may be required to create their own connections to utilities and may also be refused the right to access those utilities. These ordinances should be structured in a way that allow the local government to expand or contract the USA to allow for more development or to restrain urban sprawl upon specified findings. In addition to establishing the boundary of a USA, these ordinances often set forth which services are restricted by the USA. Most commonly, this includes water, sewer, electrical, and transit services. Some municipalities also restrict the jurisdiction of the municipal police force to the boundary of the USA. These ordinances may set forth the entities responsible for reviewing the USA, procedures for modifying the USA, and sunset provisions on the applicability of the USA.

EFFECTS

An USA is a practical way of reducing urban sprawl and consequently increasing density by disincentivizing development outside of the USA. Urban sprawl is the process of a local government expanding into previously undeveloped land.[2] One of several issues associated with sprawl is the increased cost of public services in low-density areas.[3] Providing public services such as water, sanitation, and transit services to larger areas tends to be more expensive for the municipality and tends to pull resources from the urban core or previously developed areas.[4] Less dense areas also have higher transportation costs and a higher average of vehicle miles traveled.[5] This has a direct economic cost and increases the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the cars and trucks dedicated to transportation.[6]

Urban sprawl also consumes areas of greenspace (land that is wholly or partially covered by vegetation) that were formally outside of the municipal area.[7] Greenspace is valuable for both recreational uses and ecology. Greenspace acts as a carbon sink, trapping carbon dioxide before it enters the atmosphere, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect and associated climate changing impacts.[8] In addition, greenspace allows biodiversity to flourish and ecosystems to function more robustly. These ecosystems provide many critical services, such as the purification of air and water and soil retention.[9] USA’s create an incentive for new developments to utilize unused area within the boundary, which cuts down on costs for the local government, and helps mitigate climate change.[10]

EXAMPLES

Baltimore County, MD

Baltimore County maintains an Urban Rural Demarcation Line (URDL).[11] This line marks the area in which public services are provided.[12] Although the ordinance does not prohibit construction, it limits public services and thus affects the practicality and expense of building beyond the URDL. Further, the zoning regulations restrict certain businesses and other uses to areas only within the URDL, limiting the type and level of activity in areas beyond the URDL.[13]  The County further restricts growth within the URDL to specific growth areas to promote sustainable development.[14] For example, if a developer is intending to build a high-density apartment complex, they will be restricted from building outside the URDL, and even within the URDL the planning commission will likely encourage the developer to build in specific areas that have been specifically noted for additional growth.

To view the provision see Baltimore Cty., MD, Zoning Regulations §§ 101.1, 260.1, 430.3 (1979) (current through 2018).

To view the County Plan see Baltimore Cty., MD, Master Plan 2020, at 2 (2010).

Hillsborough County, FL

Hillsborough County adopted a USA in 1993 with the goal of 80% of growth occurring inside the USA boundary.[15] The current version can be found in the county’s comprehensive plan.[16] As is typical of a USA, developers may still build outside of the boundary, although public services may not be readily available, if at all.[17] However, developments outside of the USA boundary can still apply for connection to public utilities.[18]

In the case of water treatment facilities, for example, the county uses a two-part test to determine if the county will create infrastructure to connect to new developments.[19] First, the County Administrator must determine if the existing infrastructure has sufficient capacity to allow a new connection to the proposed development.[20] For this part, the County considers an engineering analysis of whether the existing public facilities can handle the extra burden created by the new development.[21] Second, the County Administrator must determine whether it would be feasible to connect public services to the new development.[22] This inquiry is largely a question of how far the development is from existing public utilities.[23] The farther away, the more costly such connection would be for the County, and thus the less likely that the connection would be deemed feasible. In this way, the two-part test deters developers from considering projects that are far from existing services and denser areas. Notably, developments within the USA boundary are deemed to satisfy this test without an inquiry into capacity or feasibility.[24] Thus, Hillsborough County has created some hurdles for developments outside the USA, while creating a strong incentive to develop inside the USA.

To view the county plan, see Hillsborough Cty., FL, Future of Hillsborough Comprehensive Plan for the Unincorporated Hillsborough County Florida – Future Land Use (2008).

To view the provisions, see Hillsborough Cty., FL, Code of Ordinances Part B § 102-67 to 102-68 (2000).

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

Morgan Hill, CA, Code of Ordinances § 18.78.070 (2016) (requires that all development take place within the Urban Service Area unless approval is granted for expanding the Urban Service Area).

Indian River County, FL, Code of Ordinances §§ 918.04, 918.05 (2012) (establishes that centralized water and sewer services will not be provided outside the Urban Service Area unless special exceptions apply).

Gilroy, CA, Gilroy City Code § 30.50.60 (d) (2015) (prevents new residential developments that are not in or immediately contiguous to the Urban Service Area).

Juneau, AK, Comprehensive Plan § 2.2-2.3 (2003) (sets out an urban service area that is later used in portions of the municipal code); see also Juneau, AK, Code of Ordinances 49.60.240 (1987).