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A few years ago,I attended an APA Mobile Workshop that visited an award-winning transit-oriented Guest development in a commuter rail suburb of a major Midwestern city.As has been the case with almost every such development I've visited,when 1 asked about the zoning codes governing this Commentary: new development I was told that everything that I was admiring had been developed as"Planned Unit Developments",i.e.,as negotiated exceptions to the prevailing zoning codes.In the midst of all of this excellent"smart growth"development,one vacant lot stood out like a sore thumb.When I What is it asked the Planning Director why that plot had not been developed like the others his response was, with Planners "That guy brought me three plans and I rejected them all!"I had to stifle the urge to respond with: and Planned "Why don't you just tell him what you will approve?" Unit Develop-, More recently,I contacted planners in two cities that are noted for their work on Crime Prevention i�" through Environmental Design and asked if they could point me to the CPTED provisions in their ments? zoning codes. In both cases,the response was the same: "We haven't codified our CPTED policies; we prefer to negotiate with developers to incorporate CPTED elements into their designs." Why can't good design principles be codified into municipal zoning ordinances? It's as if the entire planning profession has adopted the attitude that"I don't know how to define good development, but I know it when I see it!" by Steve Elkins. City Councilmember There are a number of problems with this approach.First,from the perspective of an elected official, and former Planning there are no guarantees that the planner's vision will be consistent with the community's vision. By Commissioner in the time a proposed development reaches the Planning Commission or the City Council,the param- Bloomington, MN eters of the PUD have been painstakingly negotiated between Planning Staff and the developer without ever having been vetted by the community. At that point,community representatives can give the proposal thumbs up or thumbs down,and that's about it. Second,the degree of alignment between the development proposal that's brought forth and the community's goals and values is too dependent on the skills and values of the particular planner negotiating the provisions of the PUD. Most of the good smart growth development that I've seen around the country has been driven by a handful of visionary planners who knew what they were doing. They possessed the communication skills needed to sell their vision to their community and the perseverance needed to see their vision executed through to completion. What happens when that visionary moves on? Unless the visionary's insights are codified,there is no assurance that his successors will remain true to the original vision. Moreover,not every community can have an"all star"planner to guide its vision. Without"role model"zoning ordinances to serve as road maps,most municipal smart growth initiatives will fall far short of their potential. Most importantly,zoning ordinances are a city's primary means of communicating its design and development standards to the development community. When an outmoded zoning ordinance advertises performance standards that are not in keeping with the community's current development vision the ambiguity increases the development community's"Entitlement Risk","the risk associ- ated with securing approvals,zoning and permits critical for the project to be built and occupied". The increased risk discourages the development community from pursuing any type of development CONTINUES ON PAGE 6 Planning • Civil En ineerin Bonestroo •Natural and Water g g L Rosene Resources Management Land Surveying • S S O C I AT E S 0 Planning Anderlik& Landscape Architecture • Associates •Park and Recreation Environmental • Planning and Design Engineers&Architects •Geographic Information 7200 Hemlock Lane 20 E Thompson Ave. St.Paul:651-636-4600 Systems(GIS) Minneapolis,MN 55369 St.Paul,MN 55118 St.Cloud;320-251-4553 •Transportation Planning Tel. 763.424.5505 Tel. 651.457.3645 Rochester:5074$2.2100 . •Comprehensive Willmar:320-214-9557 Infrastructure Planning websita wwwdoucksmd tout alma IwmcC'loucloo.ci com and Design www.bonestrop.aom LL.. r.,'. ,e',L,,y., .:.. • nil iii �� n�,'�� i tisflsOH ',.oia as x1 „ „ ... ��4. p lannm ; .. ,., �.• ,AT minnesota Septem•er 20