Educate the public about the hazards of living on a barrier island. The town's Emergency Manager recommends this proposal because informed citizens are better prepared in emergencies and are more willing to support mitigation programs. Cost: 0/6
Spend extra money on educational materials and activities to increase the program's effectiveness. (+2/+0)
Immediately ends the current round of play. You will not vote on any more proposals and will begin the next scenario. Half of your current budget (rounded down) will be carried over to the next round. Cost: 0
Widen and improve the highway, easing traffic and making travel to nearby urban areas easier. Popular with vacation residents and other visitors. Increases the town's popularity and reduces congestion during evacuation. Cost: 6/1
Build a bridge in addition to the other highway improvements. The bridge replaces the ferry service that is currently used to cross the channel to the north, dramatically improving access to the mainland. (+4/+0)
Acquire undeveloped land and preserve it in its current state. Favored by environmentalists. Open space benefits the local ecology and changes the spatial distribution of future growth. Cost: 3/1
This option determines which type of land will be considered for open space acquisition. Not all land in the target areas will become open space, and some open space may be found outside the target areas.
Instead of purchasing it outright, land can be acquired by Transfer of Development Rights. TDR separates the right to develop land from the particular parcel of land itself. The open space land is zoned unbuildable, but the owner is permitted to transfer or sell the unused development density to another location. Areas where building is allowed will have denser development as a result. (-2/+1)
Local government can require landowners to sell land or transfer development rights if it is in the public interest that the land remain undeveloped. A mandatory open space purchase allows the acquisition of the most important land parcels, but faces more public opposition than a voluntary program. Acquiring land that is available on the open market, while more popular, may lead to fragmentation of open space and the development of adjacent parcels, making it less effective as a preservation technique than requiring the sale. (+0/+2)
Reduce hazard vulnerability of built structures in the city by retrofitting grandfathered buildings to meet modern building codes. The emergency manager favors this proposal, as do the permanent residents and businessmen who would benefit from it. (Vacation residents generally live in newer homes and are unaffected.) Cost: 2/2
These options provide extra hazard redution to particular categories of building. (+1/+1)
This option determines which type of hazard is mitigated against. Storm surge and flooding hazards affect low-lying and shore areas, while wind hazard affects the whole island.
An education and community resource program, in conjunction with regulatory streamlining of the permitting process, will help many landowners to retrofit their buildings. A low-income grant program, while costly, will help make retrofitting an option for those who would otherwise be unable to afford the modifications. (+2/+0)
Revise and update the municipal codes related to water and sewer provisioning. Reforming the local utility will provide better and more reliable service with fewer breakdowns and outages. Cost: 0/2
Improve and modernize the town's water supply and sewage handling station, increasing the capacity and reliability of these services. (+3/+0)
Limit the number of permits issued for septic tanks. The island's ecology can only handle a finite number of septic tanks; restricting their number protects the environment and keeps this inherent carrying capacity from being exceeded. (+0/+2)
This option determines how extensively the city will provide water and sewer services. New development requires adequate services to be viable.
Prevent electrical power outages due to fallen trees and decrease the hazard from wind-borne debris by trimming overgrown, dead, and damaged trees in and around the city. This is a sound hazard-prevention practice, required by law in many places. Cost: 1/1
Redevelop the old industrial waterfront near the city's center into an attractive commercial district. Businesses of all types favor this proposal. Cost: 6/3
Spend extra money to build public facilities that will draw tourists, like piers, marinas, and pedestrian malls. (+2/+0)
Redevelopment is normally encouraged by providing loans and grants to local businesses that fit the city's development plan. To reduce the cost of redevelopment, tax breaks and loosened zoning requirements can provide greater development flexibility for interested businesses. (-2/+0)
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