Behan Planning And Design

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Green infrastructure as an environmental planning concept was coined in Florida in 1994 in a report to the governor on land conservation. Behan Planning and Design has long recognized this concept as representing the interconnected ecosystem of forests, rivers, farms, parks, wetlands, naturalized stormwater management facilities and other natural and naturalized man-made features that provide our communities with clean air, water and food. These natural systems sustain our environmental health, economy and quality of life. Just as we need to maintain the built infrastructure of our roads, utilities and buildings to sustain the economic activity—our green infrastructure must also be protected and maintained to keep a balanced system to sustain our health and well-being.

Green infrastructure planning and design is conducted at many scales—from regional watershed management or conservation plans; to highway corridor enhancement designs and city green streets to the design of naturalized stormwater management systems, rain gardens, and urban plantings.

The term “Greenprint” was coined by Behan Planning and Design in 1994 in association with the Greenprint for Pittsford’s Future. Pittsford’s Greenprint became widely acclaimed as a model in how communities can comprehensively approach natural resources conservation. Behan Planning and Design and the Town of Pittsford were recognized with the National Award for Planning for the Current Topic Award: Planning and the Conservation of Places for the Greenprint initiative. A Greenprint is a comprehensive resource conservation plan and community or region-wide design that systematically evaluates complex resource values and includes a specific priority ranking for resources and properties to conserve and projects to advance that are coupled with a financing program and a robust community outreach and involvement process. In the Pittsford example, the town has successfully accomplished the entire Greenprint plan including protecting seven large family farms with conservation easements through a town and grant-funded purchase of development rights program coupled with private sector developer partnerships that set aside Greenprint-designated corridors and areas for conservation set-asides as part of the land development process. Since Pittsford’s Greenprint, Greenprint programs have been established across the U.S. including the Commonwealth of Maryland’s Greenprint Program to Miama-Dade County Greenprint to the San Joiquin Valley Greenprint Program in California.