Economic Impacts of Alternative Approaches to Storm-Water Management and Land Development

This paper explores how estimated construction costs and projected revenue from sales could influence the decision to maintain open spaces in predevelopment condition and to implement a decentralized swale-based storm-water management system characteristic of low impact development. Four development alternatives were explored for a hypothetical residential subdivision. Hedonic price analysis was used to develop a price equation for the Gainesville, Fla. residential market. The hedonic analysis indicated that reduction in lot size to preserve open-space and conversion from a curb and gutter storm-water drainage system to a swale-based system would both result in a lower sale price per lot. Estimated construction costs indicated that this same combination of site planning and storm-water system design would result in the lowest per lot construction cost. The ratio of revenue (sale price) to construction cost showed that a development incorporating lot size reductions for open-space preservation and a swale-based storm-water management system was the preferred option over the first half of the study period, but was not in the second half.