Legal Definitions - leapfrog development

Leapfrog development describes a situation where a new construction project or land improvement is built in an area that is not directly adjacent to existing public services. Instead, essential infrastructure like water pipes, sewer lines, roads, or electricity grids must be extended over undeveloped land—which might eventually be built upon itself—to reach the new, more distant development site. This creates a gap of undeveloped land between the existing infrastructure and the new development.

• Example 1: Residential Subdivision

  A real estate developer plans a large new housing subdivision, "Sunrise Meadows," located five miles beyond the current edge of a growing city. The city's existing water and sewer lines, as well as its paved municipal roads, currently terminate at the last established neighborhood. To serve Sunrise Meadows, the city must extend its water and sewer infrastructure and build new paved roads five miles through undeveloped farmland and wooded areas that are not currently slated for immediate construction, directly to the new subdivision.

  This illustrates leapfrog development because the new residential project requires public facilities (water, sewer, roads) to be extended from their current endpoint, across a significant stretch of undeveloped land, to reach the new development site, effectively "leaping over" the intervening parcels.

• Example 2: Commercial Business Park

  A major corporation decides to build a new corporate campus and business park on a 200-acre parcel situated on the far side of a large, privately owned nature preserve. This preserve separates the parcel from the nearest existing commercial district, where all necessary utilities (high-speed internet, natural gas, high-capacity electricity) are readily available. To connect the new campus, utility companies must run new lines and the county must construct an access road *through* or along the boundary of the nature preserve, bypassing the undeveloped land, to reach the new business park.

  This is an example of leapfrog development because the new commercial improvement (corporate campus) necessitates the extension of public facilities (utilities, road access) from their current stopping point, across a substantial undeveloped area (the nature preserve), to reach the distant development.

• Example 3: Industrial Facility in a Rural Area

  A company plans to construct a new food processing plant in a rural county, several miles past the last small town's municipal boundaries. The nearest high-capacity electrical grid connection, a robust natural gas pipeline, and a state-maintained paved highway all end at the edge of that town. To power the plant, provide heating, and allow for efficient truck access, the utility companies must install new high-voltage power lines and a natural gas pipeline, and the county must pave a new road for three miles *across* agricultural fields and undeveloped private land, directly to the plant site, bypassing any immediate development along that route.

  This exemplifies leapfrog development because the industrial improvement (processing plant) requires the extension of critical public infrastructure (high-capacity electricity, natural gas, paved road) from its existing termination point, through undeveloped rural land, to reach the new, more remote facility.