Land Development and the Availability of Public Facilities

Land development is not accomplished in a vacuum. Besides the construction of the structure itself, developers must account for the service of public facilities to the occupants of the structure. For example, roadways and water and sewer systems are critical to a new development and the lack of such services may result in a denial of the development project.

Access to the development is of utmost importance. Appropriate avenues for ingress and egress must be established. Additionally, the roadways must be able to accommodate the potential increase in traffic flow as a result of the development. Finally, the location and access accommodations must result in a reasonable commute time to the town center or a principal employment base in the community. Excessive commutes will negatively impact the development not only in the planning and permitting stage but also in the realm of consumer sales in the development.

The local government is generally charged with the responsibility of providing water and sewer services to its residents. However, it may declare a halt to development when it lacks the capacity to do so. Because such a moratorium can critically hamper a development project, developers have been increasingly expected to contribute to the creation of the necessary infrastructure for the proposed development project.