MIDDLETOWN – With increasing pressures for commercial, industrial and residential development claiming broad swaths of Aquidneck Island's open space, Town Councilors in Middletown are moving toward replacing their conventional subdivision zoning process with one that emphasizes so-called conservation development.

According to language adopted by board members, conventional development patters are "in direct confrontation with the Town's concern for the general safety, health and welfare of its inhabitants and the preservation of its natural resources."

In an effort to address these concerns by providing reasonable safeguards against inappropriate and potentially injurious development, councilors endorsed the creation of a Conservation Development provision, a site planning technique which bases the layout of building lots on the natural characteristics of the land and reduces lot sizes so that the remaining land can be used for recreation, common open space, or preservation.

Planning Board members voted to approve the proposed amendments to the town's zoning ordinance at their March 12 meeting.

"In recent years, patterns of both residential and commercial development have been inconsistent with historical rural development patterns," Town Planner Ronald Walanski wrote to councilors in a letter dated March 28.

"This type of development does not take into consideration individual characteristics of land including environmental, cultural, and historical resources."

Conservation development, conversely, would.

Conservation development provides for the preservation of open space while allowing for development that is designed to protect the natural, historical and scenic values of the property.

According to DEM, typically 50 to 70 percent of land, without development constraints, is permanently set aside with conservation development versus 25 to 30 percent with traditional cluster development.

Under the Middletown plan, a minimum of 45 percent open space would be required for any new development in R-60 zoned areas, 40 percent in R-40 areas, and 35 percent open space would be required in business districts. The plan also stipulates that once a development is proposed, a ten-step planning process would commence that would require a public informational hearing and provide for public input before a final plan is approved.

"I think it's a really good concept," Council President Paul M. Rodrigues said. "Ten, 15, 20 years down the road, it sets you apart from other towns."

While a smaller portion of total acreage could be developed, the development potential would remain the same; conservation development plans generally allow for the same number of units as would be permissible under conventional development. Lot sizes, however, would be reduced.

For example, according to Middletown's current zoning ordinance, residential lots that fall under the R-60 designation are limited to 60,000 sq.ft. Under the CSD zoning, R-60 lot sizes would be reduced to 30,000 sq.ft. for sites without access to public water and sewer lines, and 20,000 sq.ft. for lots with public water and sewer access.

While leaving less land for homeowners to call their own, Mr. Walanksi, said that officials from DEM have determined that values of properties built to CSD standards increase at a greater rate than conventional subdivisions.

The ordinance amendment, which was in its first public reading, will be posted on the agenda for a second reading at the council's next regularly scheduled meeting on May 19.