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Back to the Future: The Rural Hamlet

Feb 12, 2010

It’s a dilemma faced by rural communities throughout the United States, especially when those rural areas are threatened by sprawling suburbs: How do you juggle what seem to be competing goals?

Communities want to retain their rural character, both as productive agricultural land and as scenic landscape. Farmers need access to at least some of the cash they’d get for developing their land. And counties and municipalities want to minimize cost-per-household expenses of extending services deep into the countryside.

One answer might be to reintroduce the traditional rural hamlet.

Fitchburg’s recently adopted Comprehensive Plan provides for approaches that allow farmers to sell or transfer some of their development rights into rural clusters, which would minimize infrastructure costs, preserve coherent agricultural tracts, and provide some revenue for farmers. So during the weeklong Fitchburg charrette, project team designers and planners were charged with proposing ways in which the cluster idea might be applied.

Fitchburg planner Jason Schmidt, who works with many of the farmers in the area, was invited to appear on WMTV’s Friday midday news show to explain how the charrette was addressing the cluster idea.

The first sketch of a cluster provides a solution for grouping 10 to 18 structures on a 30-acre parcel on an existing road. Because it’s on a road, the grouping allows for lower costs-per-unit for infrastructure. It’s a viable alternative to dotting the homes and the roads to serve them; yet, with “back yards” that may stretch for hundreds of acres, the clusters retain rural character.

An example of rural clustering with individual septic fields.

An example of rural clustering with individual septic fields.

           

In fact, such hamlets, including ones that grew beyond this range, were common in farming country before the era of automobile dominance. They offered community and convenience close to working land. The “bones” of such places remain in crossroads settings throughout rural Wisconsin.

So maybe one solution to the challenges of the 21st century is the application of tried-and-true traditions of an earlier era.

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  • Our Task: To Code for Growth
    In Line with our Values

    We need rules that ensure our future growth is as inspired as the goals we've set out.

    That’s the simplest way to explain our ambitions to augment Fitchburg’s current zoning code to bring it in line with the City’s new Comprehensive Plan. That 2009 Plan is based on core principles of Smart Growth and on long-term sustainability on three levels – economic, environmental, and social. And the fact is, says Fitchburg Mayor Jay Allen, “our current zoning code does not adequately accommodate the values we want to shape our future.”

    Old-style zoning, created in an era when the object was to protect neighborhoods from dangerous industrial practices, focused on segregating building uses – offices, retail and residences – to keep people safe from noxious industry. But with the rise of the automobile, this seemingly practical approach began to super-size, devouring land out of proportion to our rate of population growth and creating ever-greater separation between the things we do and need.

    That’s taken its toll on our environment, our budget, our free time and our ability to be a real community. But now we have the chance to do something about it.

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    Over the coming months, we’ll be exploring a new approach to zoning – one that focuses more on how buildings are arranged and less on how they’re used – to broaden our existing code to better foster the kind of growth envisioned in our Comprehensive Plan. We’ll look at setbacks and building frontages, the widths of streets and sidewalks, the interplay between private space and public space and the appropriate mixes of use in selected spots – all with an eye towards neighborhoods where residents can, if they choose, accomplish many daily tasks on foot.

    Through all of it, we’ll be customizing the code addition to the things we value. So the process will involve a lot of discussion about achieving the right look and feel in the right place.

    That means the process is committed to the same sort of public involvement as the process that created the Comprehensive Plan. At the heart of this effort is a public “charrette,” a multi-day collaborative workshop in which everyone is invited to join with a team of expert consultants to establish key components of any new zoning designation.

    That workshop will take place February 8-12. “All issues,” says the mayor, “are on the table, and anyone who wishes to participate in the process will have that opportunity. Together, we’ll look at ideas, ask questions, develop answers, come up with options, and choose the best direction. By the final night we will have a consensus on the first draft of this new addition to our code.”

    It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says the mayor, “to create the tools we need to handle new growth without over-extending City services.”

    Check this site often to keep up with the process. Not only will you find an ongoing overview of where we are, you’ll also have opportunity to weigh in on the different issues being discussed.