"Growing Greener in the Blackstone Watershed"

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The OSRD process consists of four steps.
(As Stated in the received literature)
1) Identify areas for open space preservation based on environmental and social priorities
2) Site the houses to maximize the number of lots with great views of the protected open space
3) Design roads to minimize their length, width and cost
4) Draw the lot lines where they logically fall, once the best locations for open space, houses and roads are identified

A question was asked about the difference between a "Cluster Development" and an OSRD. This was a good question. They look similar. I thought about it afterwards and decided the main difference is in the order (and thus the priorities) of the process steps. Here are my views of the different development options:
- A Conventional development basically takes a cookie cutter to the land, and house sites are put in wherever they fit and meet wetlands and local regulations.
- A Cluster development follows along a similar approach as a conventional, but first sets aside the required open space and then applies the cookie cutter. The determination of where the open space is situated is probably based on it's proximity to other open space, and could be the most difficult to develop portion, and so would be more costly.
- An OSRD places the environmental and social values first. This is the first step - its importance is the utmost. What does this land have to offer? What are its most significant resources that are worth preserving? It's more than looking at a plot plan with delineated wetlands and laying down house lot lines on 2 acre chunks. It's walking the property and visualizing how houses can harmonize with their surroundings. It's about preserving views, stonewalls, forests, fields and distinctive trees, not only in the open space, but in the developed area, as well, when possible. It's about preserving New England's community character. When this important step is done - then the other steps can be started. I would suggest that a cluster design with this process ordering would look similar to an OSRD - but most clusters probably ignore this first step.

Some other information that intrigued me was the use of a package treatment plant on the showcased OSRD development. It was housed in a barn-like structure, so as not to detract from the surroundings. Shepard explained that a minimum of 25 homes was needed to make it work (cost wise or functional?), and that if they didn't have it, many of the homes would require "raised" systems. The homeowners association shared the maintenance costs. He estimated the installation cost at ~$13,000 x 45 lots. Shepard worked hard to convince the planning board, but says he had them espousing the benefits to other developers after they understood it.

A web site with more OSRD info (bylaws...):
www.state.ma.us/czm