Our county’s water table is rising and our flood risks are increasing. Cluster development is a best practice recognized by the American Association of State Floodplain Managers in their No Adverse Impact (NAI) guidance:
This document uses clustering as a best practice. In the middle of page 82: "the message to developers is that they can make money by using NAI approaches" like clustering. Ex: lower construction costs and maintenance costs, homebuyers will be willing to pay more money for these communities.
Cluster developments are a win-win approach to allowing development in the coastal zone. Lastly, flood risks are increasing. Local observations validated by NOAA point to a higher incidence of high tide flooding in Lewes (from an average of 4 days of high tide flooding in 2000 to 9 flood days in 2019. The # is projected to increase to 15-30 days by 2030).
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/HighTideFlooding_AnnualOutlook.html
Subdivision Design and Flood Hazard Areas - American Planning Association
https://www.planning.org/nationalcenters/hazards/subdivisiondesign/
One of the chief Planning and Design principles for building in flood prone areas in its report (https://www.planning.org/publications/report/9112664/
“Protect open space and incorporate green infrastructure into development patterns” (page 33-34 of the report).
In their Executive Summary they describe General Principles such as “Maintaining natural and beneficial functions of the floodplain. Adopting a No Adverse Impact approach to floodplain management. Avoiding new development in the floodplain whenever possible. .. Consider future conditions of the floodplain, including development impacts and climate change.” (page 5-6)