Planning Strategies
Minimum Disturbance/Minimum Maintenance
Minimum Disturbance/Minimum Maintenance (MD/MM) - also called site fingerprinting or site footprinting - is an approach to site design in which the clearing of vegetation and the disturbance of soil are carefully limited to a prescribed distance from proposed structures and other improvements. MD/MM is especially appropriate for those sites with existing tree cover, although the vegetation to be conserved may include any type of natural vegetative cover.

Wesley Horner, Principal Planner at Cahill Associates, coined the planning concept known as Minimum Disturbance/Minimum Maintenance (MD/MM). Use of this planning approach helps to minimize the generation of stormwater runoff from any proposed building program and effectively reduces the use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that result in water quality problems, and maintains existing natural vegetation.

Retaining the natural vegetation and avoiding replacement with an artificial landscape also means reduction of significant loads of chemicals that typically accompany highly maintained landscapes. Protection and conservation of expanded zones of natural vegetation provides an excellent cost effective opportunity for infiltration and comprehensive stormwater management for runoff which cannot be avoided, obviously very close to the source or point of generation.

During construction, MD/MM achieves a significant reduction in total site disturbance, thereby minimizing sedimentation and erosion control problems. During the long-term operation of the site, far less of the site has been disturbed and compacted, avoiding the increased runoff resulting from disturbance.

For more information on MD/MM projects, contact Cahill Associates.
Examples

In MD/MM planning, the development footprint is minimized, while existing vegetation is retained.

Even commercial designs can utilize MD/MM planning.