University of Wisconsin - Extension

What are the environmental impacts of building a marina in Two Rivers? How much tax revenue would be created by constructing a new mall in Wausau? How would traffic be affected by building a 200-unit apartment complex in Monroe?

Before now, best guesses and speculation were used to answer these types of development questions. But with the help of new software created by two University of Wisconsin-Extension faculty, planners, local officials and others can assess the impacts of development.

"The software is a process to comprehensively evaluate the consequences of development on a community," explained Gareth Betts, UW-Extension Walworth County community resource development educator. "It provides extensive documentation of the anticipated economic, fiscal, environmental, social and traffic-related aspects and impacts of a proposed development."

The software makes use of existing information where possible to determine potential impacts of development. It also employs techniques to gather additional, new information when necessary.

"The idea behind the software is that is it 'user friendly' enough that local professionals should be able to conduct the analysis themselves," said Steve Deller, UW-Madison/Extension community development economist. "With some minimal training, they have the capability to do impact assessment in house."

"Impact assessment provides an opportunity for communities to gain advanced understanding of the potential impacts of a particular development," Deller added. "As a result of performing an assessment, communities can plan to efficiently meet new service demands and avoid potential environmental or social costs."

The impact assessment evaluates both positive and negative impacts of the proposed development for each of the five impact areas - economic, fiscal, environmental, social and traffic-related aspects of development. "The software places a high priority on community values and long-term goals when assessing impacts," Betts explained.

The software program considers the magnitude of the development proposal, time and resource constraints and then determines how detailed an impact analysis is required. For example, a small development may not need a social or traffic impact assessment.

"When conducting municipal and school district assessment, local officials can use their own budgetary data as they perform the calculations," Betts said. "This takes a lot of the guesswork out of the assessment process."

There may also be a cost-savings to a community. In the past, local officials relied on consultants to perform this type of assessment. In some cases, the cost could be as high as $30,000. "Now, however, much of the assessment can be conducted in a relatively short period of time and at considerable cost savings," Betts said.

"The process allows the community to weigh the full benefits and costs of a project, identify tradeoffs and begin identifying alternatives and measures to mitigate impacts of the project," added Deller.

It is anticipated that the software will be ready for sale in early 2002 and will retail for about $1,000.