University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Landscape Architecture Franklin-Simpson County Rural Landscape Visual Quality: Management Guidelines Visual Quality Preservation and Management Strategies Avoid areas of ecological sensitivity and outstanding landscape areas. Roadways that follow the contours of the land and respond to natural features can enhance a development while preserving visual quality and rural character Scale and intensity of development should be consistent with the land’s capacity to absorb the intrusion without losing its rural character. Maintain vernacular building styles to preserve coherence and harmony in the surrounding landscape. Village-style, or Hamlet, developments can be used to preserve rural character while reducing the loss of agricultural lands. B.40-Acre Parcel With Five-Acre Conventional Lots C.40-Acre Parcel With Five-Acre 60,000 sq. ft. Lots Wetland Open Greenspace Woods Meadow Rendered sketches of various approaches to Rural Roads and the Rural Character in Franklin-Simpson County. Roads Follow Contours Rural Farms A.Current Development Trend. The aerial above indicates the current trend in development of one-acre lots. This destroys the visual quality and rural character of the landscape. B. 40-acre parcel of land with 5-acre conventional lots. This demonstrates the possible trend of development in areas of Simpson County to preserve more land and maintain visual quality. C. 40-acre parcel of land with smaller lots (60,000 sq. ft.) in a cluster development. With this, more land is preserved while mitigating traffic and lessening the impact of residential development. Visual quality, rural character and agricultural lands are preserved with this method. Source: Adapted from Preserving Endangered Rural Character Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Thomas K. Kindschi, ASLA, and Charles W. Causier, AICP Development Examples Rural Development Methods A.Current Development Trend: One-Acre Conventional Lots What is Rural Character … Having natural elements but a predominance of human induced patterns and processes. Arriaza, M., J. F. Canas-Ortega, J. A. Canas-Madueno & P. Ruiz-Aviles. (2004) Assessing the visual quality of rural landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning. 69: pp Such patterns and processes include: Human processes: the result of human activities. Natural processes: dominated or modified by cultural processes and patterns such as crop farms, horse farms, shelterbelts (e. g. wind breaks) and forest blocks. Koontz, Thomas M. (2003) The farmer, the planner, and the local citizen in the dell: how collaborative groups plan for farmland preservation. Landscape and Urban Planning. 66: pp. 19 – 34. Agricultural processes: underpin the rural landscape of Franklin-Simpson County. Residential development has the potential to interrupt these rural processes introducing conflicts between rural activities and rural lifestyles. Farmland Preservation Woodland Preservation Adapted from Rural by Design by Randall Arendt Source: Google Earth The rural character and visual quality of Simpson County is of great significance the county’s identity. Preservation of these treasures should be of utmost concern in all phases of future development.