Hello All,
So my project spans several different parcels, although the project boundary does not necessarily run along their property lines. In determining if the site can be called an infill, I am wondering what the status of each of these parcels is.
For example, the project boundary runs along the border of a new street that was put in for the project. The street cuts through an existing parcel that is owned by the project owner but is not entirely bounded by the project boundary. Does the remaining portion of this parcel count as "bordering" my project? The rest of the parcel (a pretty small area) is undeveloped and will remain undeveloped for the immediate future, so I would like to be able to count the developed parcel just beyond it as bordering the project.
How much does LEED care about specific parcel borders? Am I better off classifying the project boundary as the borderlines of all occupied parcels?
Any help would be huge, Thanks
-Sam
Eliot Allen
LEED AP-ND, PrincipalCriterion Planners
LEEDuser Expert
303 thumbs up
January 11, 2012 - 10:51 pm
Sam, ND does care about boundary placement. Its definition of project boundary requires placement on platted property lines, except on publicly-owned campuses where a sphere-of-influence can be used. Therefore, whether "the remaining portion" of a parcel counts as bordering your project is moot because the project boundary must either completely include or exclude all of that parcel. However, in determining whether you can reach infill site status, keep in mind that subsection (b) of the infill site definition allows you to "borrow" a neighboring parcel when making the 75% previously developed perimeter check, i.e. the project site, in combination with bordering parcels, forms an aggregate parcel whose boundary is 75% bounded by parcels meeting previous development requirements. What’s noteworthy is the definition doesn’t require that the "borrowed" bordering parcels be previously developed. So you can borrow a neighboring undeveloped parcel in order to jump over it to a developed parcel that lies on the other side of the neighbor. This is illustrated in Figure 3(b) of the ND Reference Guide.
Eliot