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30 Aesthetics, Community Character, and the Law corporation of design features that mitigate congestion and traffic-related impacts,such as sidewalks and landscaping. (See Fleming(1994)for an ex- cellent visual essay on franchise design alternatives.) Opportunities for design review are increasing as corporate franchises move into new areas,such as downtowns,to take advantage of marketing opportunities away from their traditional strongholds, the suburban neighborhoods and interstate highways.Adjusting to these new locations often means tailoring their facilities in sensitive ways, perhaps by adding underground parking or reconfiguring floor plans to fit narrow historic buildings. The major food-service corporations (e.g., McDonald's, Burger King) have shown a willingness to adapt to unusual spaces if it makes The major food-service good economic sense: Being a good neighbor can promote a healthy cor- corporations(e.g.,McDonald's, porate image,which translates into increased sales. Burger King)have shown a Many communities are enjoying significant progress in their efforts to willingness to adapt to unusual increase the quality of franchise design. The design guidelines for Albe- spaces if it makes good marle County,Virginia,for example, feature a McDonald's restaurant as a economic sense:Being a good model to be emulated, "an example of architecture compatible with his- neighbor can promote a torically significant local buildings" (Albermarle County Department of healthy corporate image,which Zoning). translates into increased sales. If necessary,however,local officials are going to court to enforce their design review programs, as was illustrated in a 1991 case from Holden, Massachusetts.14 In that case, a local government refused a request from the Mobil Corporation to install a large, 19-foot canopy, similar to those the company installs on most of its stations,on a gas station in a historic district. A Massachusetts Superior Court upheld the denial, agreeing that the canopy would be incompatible with the surrounding architec- ture. In its opinion, the court underscored the importance of the local preservation commission's role in preserving the local architectural and cultural heritage. Communities attempting to regulate the design of corporate fran- chises should be clear in their guidelines about the exact type of design they want. Extensive illustrations and definitions should be used to ex- plain difficult concepts like"community character" to franchise owners and their architects. Local planners should be ready and willing to ne- Neotraditional neighborhoods gotiate on design issues. They should educate he s lues as to the feasibleeco- attempt to recapture the sense nomic needs of a franchise so they can suggestY al- of community found in ternatives to standard design templates. They should be able to cite successful neighborhoods that examples from similar communities showing how changes mandated have endured for half a century by design review required minimal investment (as a percentage of total or more by replicating the project cost) and were recouped many times over in good will andcus 5t_ design elements of those tomer loyalty.Finally,communities should be firm and strong-willed in neighborhoods and by enforcing their design review programs, if necessary defending their -, fostering pedestrian-friendly systems in court. As Ed McMahon,director of the Conservation Fund's environments that discourage American Greenways Program, has noted, "If you accept the lowest reliance on the automobile. common denominator in development, you'll get it every time. If you insist on something better, you'll get that almost every time" (Clark 1 1996). New applications for neotraditional design standards. Neotraditional development, also known as New Urbanist development or traditional neighborhood development (TND), has enjoyed such booming growth and populanty over the last few years that, today, most every planner it familiar with its basic tenets.Neotraditional neighborhoods attempt to re- capture the sense of community found in successful neighborhoods tha have endured for half a century or more by replicating the design element: of those neighborhoods and by fostering pedestrian-friendly environ ments that discourage reliance on the automobile.