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imerf can Planning Assncia cion 11
<br />$200 million, mixed-use development in Con-
<br />tra Costa County, California. For two de-
<br />cades, neighborhood opposition had stalled
<br />the proposed public-private venture on a 20-
<br />acre site adjacent to the Pleasant Hill station
<br />on the Bay Area Fapid Transit line. The plan
<br />this project was developed by Lennertz
<br />yle Sc Associates of Portland, Oregon.
<br />The code, and the elaborate public involve-
<br />ment that led up to it, created a level of trust
<br />that led to approval of the project in Decem-
<br />ber 2001. The project is now moving forward
<br />under the direction of architect Dan Parolek,
<br />of Opticos Design in Berkeley, California.
<br />Stephen Lawton, the community develop-
<br />ment director of Hercules, another Contra
<br />Costa County cominuniry, credits the stream-
<br />lined nature ofform-based coding with help-
<br />ing the city to deal with a backlog of develop-
<br />mentproposals. Dover Kohl Fx Partners' Central
<br />Hercules plan is shaping several new mixed-
<br />use neighborhoods on a patcharork of
<br />Brownfield sites.
<br />Says Lawton: "The clarity of the form-
<br />based code made it easy for citizens to under-
<br />stand the development proposals and ro ac-
<br />cept die intensity ofgrowth needed to achieve
<br />financial stability. This was something we'd
<br />never have been able to achieve with comren-
<br />tional zoning."
<br />To date, most form-based codes ]lave been
<br />d individually in response to the needs
<br />_]ecific community or site. Now comes a
<br />new genet-ation of standardized form-based
<br />codes, which are derived from the SmartCode,
<br />a template developed by DPZ and licensed by
<br />the Municipal Code Corporation in Talla-
<br />hassee, Florida.
<br />The SmartCode template defines a series of
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<br />dlfveloptnerzt define
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<br />rnonz "fr~czrscd nr.
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<br />ref~PVelupnrrtztpLzn ztz
<br />pzzn hec4zasP o f the
<br />oc•ncrozrs provision n f
<br />npert space.
<br />preconfigured (bur customizable) zones based
<br />on the "transect"-a framework for organiz-
<br />ing ametropolitan area into a series of zones,
<br />ranging from most natural to most urban.
<br />One of the first communities to take this
<br />new approach is Petaluma, California, ~crhich
<br />adopted a variation of the SmartCode in July
<br />2003. Laura Hall of Fisher 8C Hall Urban
<br />Design in Santa Fosa and Paul Crawford,
<br />FAICP, of Crawford Multari cSC Clark in San
<br />Luis Obispo tailored the document to the
<br />city's needs; it focuses on a 400-acre portion
<br />of the downtown.
<br />According to Hall, Petaluma adopted the
<br />code in just nine months, after aseven-year
<br />effort to complete and adopt a more conven-
<br />tional, use-based downto~rn plan and zoning
<br />ordinance. Over $100 million in develop-
<br />menrhas been approved since the code's adop-
<br />tion, she says.
<br />(allifur•rtirr cirri frrlni
<br />As more communities begin to incorporate
<br />New LJrbanist and smart growth principles
<br />into their planning strategies, the practice of
<br />form-based coding is likely to spread.
<br />How much that aril] happen depends on
<br />several factors: the availability of qualified
<br />consultants (just a handful of firms practice
<br />true form-based coding); the dissemination
<br />of knowledge about the technique (little has
<br />been written on the subject, and there are
<br />few places to learn about ir); and a continu-
<br />ing legal concern about overly prescriptive
<br />design guidelines that are often mistaken for
<br />form-based codes.
<br />The good news is that the state of Califor-
<br />nia recently included an endorsement offnrm-
<br />based CC,dln4 Ir1 iic oFnar,~ n~~n mnr~a~~nrc
<br />The document refers to the code as a "useful
<br />implementation measure for achieving cer-
<br />taingeneral plan goals, such as walkable neigh-
<br />borhoods and mixed-use and t]•ansit-oriented
<br />development."And dlis summer, Gov. Arnold
<br />Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1268,
<br />making California the first state to specifically
<br />enable the practice of form-based develop-
<br />ment regulation.
<br />The bill's language is brief and to the point:
<br />"The teat and diagrams in the land use ele-
<br />ment [of the general plan] that address the
<br />location and extent of land uses, and the
<br />zoning ordinances that implement these pro-
<br />visions, may also express community inten-
<br />tions regarding urban form and design. These
<br />expressions may differentiate 1eighborhoods,
<br />districts, and corridors, provide for a mixture
<br />of land uses and housing types within each,
<br />and provide specific measures for regulating
<br />relationships between buildings and outdoor
<br />public areas, including streets."
<br />As states such as Florida andArizona follow
<br />California's lead in mandating local planning
<br />through the use of a general plan, zonil~g
<br />consistent with the plan, and the use of spe-
<br />cific plans, one can hope that the practice of
<br />form-based coding and the enabling lavers that
<br />support it v,)i11 not be far behind.
<br />Peter Matz is a consultant nn New Urbanist imple-
<br />mentationand development, who is based in Alexan-
<br />dria, \/ir,inia. He reaches planning at Virginia Tech's
<br />Alexandria campus and is die author of T/~P Neu
<br />Clrhan:rrn: Tn7uard an ,97•c•lrztcctaire of Co)n)nuniry,
<br />puhlished by McGraw-Hill in 1993.
<br />For a list of resources concerning form-based cod-
<br />ing, go to APA's website: v,~wv,~.planning.org.
<br />
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