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Land Use Planning for Public Health: The Role of Local Boards of Health in Community Design and Development N A L B O H 1840 East Gypsy Lane Road Bowling Green, OH 43402 Phone: (419) 353-7714; Fax: (419) 352-6278 Email: [email protected]; Website: www.nalboh.org Back Side of Cover (Blank) Land Use Planning for Public Health: The Role of Local Boards of Health in Community Design and Development Authors: Atlanta Regional Health Forum (ARHF) Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Editors: L. Fleming Fallon, Jr., MD, DrPH Director - NW Ohio Consortium for Public Health Professor of Public Health - Bowling Green State University Jeffrey Neistadt, MS, RS National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) ©2006 National Association of Local Boards of Health 1840 East Gypsy Lane Road Bowling Green, Ohio 43402 www.nalboh.org Additional NALBOH Materials Videotapes/Digital Media ? Assurance, Policy Development, and Assessment: The Role of the Local Board of Health ? The Changing Roles of Local Boards of Health: From Service Provision to Assurance Dr. Susan Scrimshaw, 3rd Annual Ned E. Baker Lecturer ? Communicating Under Fire: Focus on Public Health Situations Dr. Vincent Covello, 4th Annual Ned E. Baker Lecturer ? Local Responsibilities Related to National Environmental Health Priorities Dr. Richard Jackson, 5th Annual Ned E. Baker Lecturer ? Multiple Partnerships: Endless Opportunities Dr. William Keck, 1st Annual Ned E. Baker Lecturer ? The Role of Local Boards of Health in Promoting Food Safety ? Working with Local Elected Officials to Improve Public Health Dr. Vaughn Mamlin Upshaw, 6th Annual Ned E. Baker Lecturer Print Publications ? Clean Indoor Air Action Plans ? Emergency Preparedness Including Bioterrorism: An All Hazards Approach for Local Boards of Health ? Legal Authority for Tobacco Control in the United States ? Local Board of Health Environmental Health Primer ? National Public Health Performance Standards Governance Instrument ? Public Health Over Time ? The Role of Local Boards of Health in Community Food Safety Online Resources ? NALBOH Website: <www.nalboh.org> National Association of Local Boards of Health 1840 East Gypsy Lane Road Bowling Green, Ohio 43402 Phone: (419) 353-7714; Fax: (419) 352-6278 Email: [email protected]; Website: www.nalboh.org Reproduction or any use of the content in this document must be requested in writing to the NALBOH office. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 9 The Public Health Origins of Planning and Zoning....................................................................... 9 Health Issues Arising from the Built Environment...................................................................... 10 Physical Inactivity.................................................................................................................... 11 Air Quality............................................................................................................................... 11 Water Quality........................................................................................................................... 11 Traffic Safety........................................................................................................................... 12 Loss of Farmland and Local Food Production......................................................................... 12 Residential Segregation............................................................................................................ 12 FACTORS AFFECTING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT............................................................. 12 THE GOVERNMENT ROLE ......................................................................................................... 12 Zoning and Planning.................................................................................................................... 13 Transportations Systems .............................................................................................................. 13 "Loops and Lollipops" vs. the Grid ............................................................................................. 15 Investments and Subsidies ........................................................................................................... 16 Urban Design ............................................................................................................................... 16 INVESTMENT AND PRIVATE SECTOR ROLE......................................................................... 17 Ten Principles for Healthier Planning and Development ............................................................ 17 Walkable Communities and Active Living.................................................................................. 19 Create Complete Streets for All Users..................................................................................... 20 Calm Traffic............................................................................................................................. 20 Create Safe Routes to School................................................................................................... 20 Build Transit Oriented Development ....................................................................................... 20 Retrofit Smaller Communities ................................................................................................. 20 Revitalize Walkable Communities........................................................................................... 21 Educate and Encourage ............................................................................................................ 21 Plan for a Stronger Local Food System................................................................................... 21 HEALTH AND COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING........................................................................ 21 Health Impact Assessments ......................................................................................................... 24 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................ 25 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................. 26 This page intentionally left blank FOREWORD The National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) is pleased to provide Land Use Planning for Public Health: The Role of Local Boards of Health in Community Design and Development. This guide is designed for local board of health members and others interested in ensuring that their community’s land use planning decisions do not compromise the public’s health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) encouraged this project and provided technical oversight and financial support. The Atlanta Regional Health Forum (ARHF) (www.arhf.net) and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) (www.atlantaregional.com) collaborated with NALBOH on the creation of this guide. One of the current collaborative projects linking ARHF and ARC is integrating Health Impact Assessments (HIA) into regional planning processes. Although HIAs are widely used in Europe, they are rarely utilized in this country. We hope that this guide will be an introduction to this valuable tool. Boards of health are responsible for fulfilling three public health core functions - assessment, policy development, and assurance. For a health agency, this includes overseeing and ensuring that there are sufficient resources, effective policies and procedures, partnerships with the public, and regular evaluation of an agency’s programs and services. This guide is designed to help local board of health members understand their role in land use planning. Local boards of health are responsible for assuring the provision of adequate public health services in their communities, including protecting constituents from the many health risks associated with municipal design and development. The mission of NALBOH is to strengthen local boards of health, enabling them to promote and protect the health of their communities, through education, technical assistance, and advocacy. NALBOH is extremely pleased to offer this guide. We trust the information provided will enable board of health members to become more actively involved in their community’s land use planning process. Special recognition and thanks also go to David Goldberg for his assistance in writing this guide along with Scott Ball, President of the Association for Community Design, who has done most of the preparation for ARHF, and to Dan Reuter, Chief of Land Use Planning for ARC. Semira Ajani, Community Development Fellow for ARHF, provided the initial research. Invaluable input also has been received from Dr. Howard Frumpkin, Dr. Joyce Essien, and Dr. Peggy Barlett of Emory University; Dr. Lawrence Frank and his research team; Dr. Andrew Dannenberg, Dr. Candace Rutt and Marilyn Metzler of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Healthy Places Research Group at the Georgia Institute of Technology coordinated by Dr. Catherine Ross, Director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development. This page intentionally left blank Land Use Planning for Public Health - 9 Public health officials need to view the built environment as having as much influence