2. PCSR 09-13-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . r~.:mn-Based Zoning Page :2 ot L \\0 Inventory the existing conditions of the place: It is important to have a deep understanding of the existing conditions of the place, such as the street types, and biock and building types, to understand appropriate form and massing of buildings. G Identify a set of organizing principles for the spatial structure: This can be based on concepts such as: \\0 The neighborhood, district, and corridor; . III The Transect, which defines intensity of activity based on the transect zone that applies III Street~system-based regulatory plan . Special purpose zones ... Define urban design standards: for example, establishing commercial street design guidelines, with the goal of "sbaping the public space of the street." 1& Define architectural standards: for example, building types and frontage types tI Illustrate the standards, to make it easier for those who will be implementing the code. Bill Dennis of Moule & Polyzoides discussed how New Urbanism is essentially the way we used to develop towns, but conventional zoning has precluded that. He made the point that all development plans should -check to see how it works for a child, because "a neighborhood is a child's world." Geoffrey Ferrell of Geoffrey Ferrell Associates illustrated how the zoning and land- use maps do not translate into what form appears on the ground. In addition, design guidelines do not always capture the vitality of the community that they are trying to achieve. His observation is that the there are three elements to defining a place: form, use/density, and management. In many communities, use/density is the primary emphasis when defining a place, followed by management, with form treated very lightly. The form-based code approach looks to .focus the most emphasis on form, followed by management, with use/density having the lightest emphasis. This does not mean that use and density are not impottant; rather, they are not the driving factors in defining a place. His primary advice was to keep the code simple - the downfall of many zoning ordinances has been their attempt to be overtly inclusive of all possible uses. However, form-based codes do address use types that are appropriate to a district; tables describing the uses associated with an area are often included in the code. ,~)Copyrigl1t 2004 APA All Rights Reserved http://www.planning.org/conferencecoverage/2004/tuesday/formbased.htm 1/3/2005