Town of Flower Mound, Texas - Environmental Resources

2121 Cross Timbers Road
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
972.874.6000

For service requests or questions, email
townhall@flower-mound.com
or call 972.539.SERV. After hours, please call 972.539.0525.

Environmental Resources

Open Space

Enironmental Conservation Commission Vision

To explore, educate, and encourage creative techniques to preserve our community character by protecting open space, wildlife habitat, and the environment.
(adopted by the Open Space Board on 8/12/03)

What is Open Space?

Open space can consist of any land that is not used for development. Examples of these open, non-built areas are: Agricultural lands, pristine environmental areas, and public green spaces.

Why is Open Space important?

Open space provides several benefits to the Town of Flower Mound. Open space can help provide environmental protection whereby natural resources and wildlife that are important to the Town’s identity can be preserved. The character of the community is protected through preservation of open space by evaluating an area’s sense of place, scale, land uses, amount of urban development, and presence of unique environmental
elements. Economic benefits are gained by adding value to individual properties, developments and communities as a whole that are developed adjacent to open spaces. Finally, by preserving a community’s open space, future development practices can be guided in concert with environmental preservation agendas more
effectively.

Open Space and Flower Mound

The Town of Flower Mound has developed an Open Space Plan for the preservation and protection of its open, productive agricultural, natural, and scenic lands.

In addition to this, the Town has also established an Environmental Conservation Commission to oversee the Open Space Plan and its components, review and evaluate conservation development projects in relations to the Open Space Plan, facilitate grant and loan applications for open space funding programs and facilitate relations between landowners and land trusts. The Enivironmental Conservation Commission meets the first Tuesday of every month in Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. or as needed.

The Town encourages Conservation Development, and thus conservation of open space, through an incentive program.

The Town has also hosted open space symposia. The objectives of the open space symposia are to encourage open space conservation, natural resource conservation, and sustainable development.

The vision for the Flower Mound Community Plan, adopted by the Town Council on September 27, 1999, included as one of the key goals of the plan to “preserve the country atmosphere and natural environment that makes Flower Mound a unique and desirable community.” The Open Space Plan was designed to help the Town realize that vision, by defining open space that is important to Flower Mound, identifying methods by which it can be conserved, and setting forth an action plan for the Town to support the conservation of open space.

Environmental qualities that promote the country atmosphere and natural environment of Flower Mound consist of four major groups: Natural areas, The Ancient Cross Timbers Ecological Region, scenic resources, and agricultural lands.

Conservation Developments and Incentives

A Conservation Development is a subdivision in which a portion of the buildable land area is set aside as undivided, permanently conserved open space. The open space is permanently protected from future development by legally giving the development rights of the open space area to a qualified non-profit conservation organization through conveyance of a conservation easement. The landowner and qualified non-profit organization decide on the terms of the conservation easement and record this legal agreement at the county courthouse. The conservation easement is a legally binding instrument that “runs with the land” regardless of whom owns it in the future.

Various Incentives may be offered to potential developers of conservation developments. Incentives packages are prepared and approved on a case-by-case basis. The Town can make the subdivision and land development process less burdensome in terms of time and cost for conservation development projects. Incentives the Town may use to encourage qualified Conservation Developments include:

Example of Conservation Development in Flower Mound
(Click To Enlarge)

Adoption of rural development standards (relaxed standards for
roadways, sidewalks, street lighting, and drainage)
Alternatives for on-site disposal
Expedited development review
Rebate of agricultural rollback taxes
Reduced park land dedication requirements
Permit fee waivers

Who can Benefit from Open Space Conservation

	Rank of open space/parks/recreation among factors used by small businesses in choosing a new business location: One
	Estimated value of outdoor recreation to the U.S. economy in 1996: $40 billion
	Estimated cost to New York City to build a water filtration plant if current watershed lands are developed upstate: $6 billion to $8 billion
	Estimated value of all economic benefits (flood control, wildlife habitat, water filtering, recreation) generated by single acre of wetland: $150,000 to $200,000 Source: Lerner, Steve and Poole, William. "Economic Benefits of Open Space Index." The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space: How Land Conservation Helps Communities Grow Smart and Protect the Bottom Line. 1999: 48. The Trust for Public Land. 10 March 2004
	Estimated annual city-wide benefits of the existing urban forest in Garland, Texas, through mitigation of storm water runoff, air pollution, and energy costs - $5.3 million Source: "Local Ecosystem Analysis Garland, TX: Calculating the Value of Nature." April 2000. American Forests. 09 March 2004

Land Owners
Developers
Builders
Home Owners Associations
Schools
Civic and Youth Organizations
Land Trusts
Tax Attorneys
Real Estate Professionals
Bankers
Utility Companies
Others to be identified

Articles & Presentations

Town of Flower Mound’s Open Space Vision Presentation by the Environmental Conservation Commission (Power Point)
Urbanization and the Wildlife Response by John M. Davis, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Tree Farm Information and Presentation
The Conservation Design Portfolio A brief primer and case studies of conservation design in Minnesota developed by the Minnesota Land Trust and the University of Minnesota.
Conservation Easements: A Guide for Texas Landowners, a publication of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Open Space: Protecting Open Space: Tools and Techniques for Texans, a publication of the National Park Service.

Resources on Open Space

Land Trusts

Connemara* - http://www.connemaraconservancy.org/
American Farmland Trust - http://www.farmland.org/
Texas Land Trust Council (TLTC) - http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/conserve/tltc/
Land Trust Alliance (LTA) - http://www.lta.org/
*Land trusts operating in the Flower Mound area.

Conservation Organizations

Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW)
Texas Audubon Society (TAS)
US Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Texas Forest Service (TFS)
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Corp of Engineers
USEPA
Smart Growth Online
Smart Communities Network
Green Communities
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Master Naturalist Program
Elm Fork Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists
Texas Cooperative Extension
Embrace Open Space - http://www.embraceopenspace.org
Conservation Fund - http://www.conservationfund.org
Sustainable Communities Network - http://www.sustainable.org/
Trust for Public Land - http://www.tpl.org/
Natural Resources Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/cities/
Environmental Law Institute (ELI) - http://www.eli.org/
The Nature Conservancy of Texas (TNCT) - http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/texas/
National Wildlife Federation, Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program - http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/
Equestrian Land Conservation Resource - http://www.elcr.org/
Ducks Unlimited, Texas Chapter - http://www.texasducks.org/
LBJ Wildflower Research Center - http://www.wildflower.org/
Native Plant Society of Texas - http://www.npsot.org/

Hard Copy Information Resources

Find these books at your local library:

Arendt, Randall. Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide to Creating
Open Space Networks. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1996.

Gustanski, Julie, et al. Protecting the Land: Conservation Easements Past, Present, and
Future. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2000.

Small, Stephen. Preserving Family Lands: Essential Tax Strategies for the Landowner.
Boston: Landowner Planning Center, 1993.

Small, Stephen. Preserving Family Lands, Book II: More Planning Strategies for the
Future. Boston: Landowner Planning Center, 1997.

Small, Stephen. Preserving Family Lands, Book III. Boston: Landowner Planning Center, 2003.

Small, Stephen. The Federal Tax Law of Conservation Easements. Land Trust Alliance, 1990.