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Building Great Neighborhoods with Form-Based Codes
BUILDING GREAT NEIGHBORHOODS
An innovative, community-driven approach to revitalizing Cincinnati neighborhoods
Cincinnati will soon have a powerful new tool for revitalizing neighborhoods - an innovative alternative to conventional zoning called form-based codes.
A new recommended strategy for implementing form-base codes will be presented at a special Planning Commission meeting on April 30, 2010. The strategy will detail how to incorporate form-based codes into the current zoning code, and a process for creating and applying them in Cincinnait neighborhoods.
City Planning, in collaboration with other city departments and interested neighborhood leaders, has been working with Daniel Parolek of Opticos Design. Inc. for the past four months to develop the plan. Watch the presentation he made to the Form Based Code Steering Committee.
Download the February 1, 2010 and March 1, 2010 Opticos reports here.
Video: Form-Based Codes Panel March 7, 2009
Introduction to Form-Based Codes Working Group Meeting, March 7, 2009.
Please see YouTube for entire session (Linked search listing:"Roxanne Qualls Form-Based Codes"). The session features a panel discussion on "The Developer's Perspective on Form-Based Codes."
Direct link to above Panel video#1: www.youtube.com
The "DNA of livable communities"
Form-based codes have been described as the "DNA of livable communities" - creating healthy, vibrant neighborhoods and business districts that are walkable and bicycle- and transit-friendly. They achieve this result by reinventing conventional zoning in three important ways:
Form-based codes emphasize form over function. Form-based codes focus on the physical character of buildings, and the relationship of buildings to each other and to the street. By addressing the form, rather than the use, of buildings, form-based codes also address the long-neglected public realm of streets and sidewalks, the "public living rooms" of our neighborhoods. Many of our most admired neighborhoods could not even be built today under conventional land-use zoning, with its emphasis on segregating uses and accommodating cars instead of people.
Form-based codes are a way for neighborhoods to ensure that new development has a look and feel that is consistent with traditional neighborhood patterns - instead of the sprawl that has resulted from conventional zoning, with its emphasis on automobile access.
Form-based codes are community-built and driven. The community - residents, business owners, community institutions, developers, property owners, and real estate professionals - with professional assistance, creates a vision for the district and develops standards to bring that vision to life. The results are neighborhoods with vibrant business districts and the qualities that neighborhood residents value: a safe, attractive environment that accommodates pedestrians, transit and bicycles as well as cars; a range of housing types and businesses; and great public spaces - plazas, greens, parks and squares - that foster a sense of community.
The existing zoning code is replaced with a more streamlined process that reduces development time and increases flexibility. Form-based codes remove the risk for developers, residents and business owners because the standards don't require interpretation. They are visual, easy to use, and flexible, produce an expected result, and reduce the risk that an eyesore will be developed in the district. Developers benefit from the speedier approval process and knowing that their investment will be protected. The neighborhood benefits from increased vitality, foot traffic and livability in the district, resulting in increased property values.
Form-based codes have proven, successful results.Cities across the country, including Nashville, Louisville, Portland and others are using form-based codes to stimulate neighborhood investment. In Nashville, districts where form-based codes were implemented experienced a 75% growth in taxable value over five years, compared to overall growth of 28% throughout the county.
THE TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF FORM-BASED CODES
Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA Present and Future: The effect of new standards for the public realm and private building placement. An illustrated vision for private future development.
SOURCE: URBAN LAND, SEPTEMBER 2006 "PLACE MAKING WITH FORM-BASED CODES" BY MARY E. MADDEN AND BILL SPIKOWSKI; STEVE PRICE, URBANADVANTAGE
Nashville Adopts Form-Based Code for its Downtown
FORM-BASED CODES: RESOURCES
Form-Based Codes Institute http://www.formbasedcodes.org/index.html
Local Government Commission http://www.lgc.org/freepub/land_use/factsheets/form_based_codes.html
Smart Code http://www.smartcodecentral.com/smartfilesv9_2.html
The book: Form Based Codes, by Dan Parolek, Karen Parolek, and Stephanos Palazoides
Councilmember Qualls' office has copies of the SmartCode V.9. Please call 352-2560 to get a copy.
The Natural Resources Defense Council site has great images that show how neighborhoods can be transformed using form-based code principles: http://www.nrdc.org/smartGrowth/visions/
Project for Public Spaces: www.pps.org
Congress for the New Urbanism: www.cnu.org
Nashville documents: http://nashville.gov/mpc/public/pubprice.htm
Detailed Neighborhood Design Plan: http://nashville.gov/mpc/whatis/WhatIsDNDP.htm
Comprehensive Plan http://www.planofnashville.com/
Land Use Policy Manual http://nashville.gov/mpc/pdfs/main/LUPA_052704.pdf
The local chapter of the Urban Land Institute's form-based codes site is www.cincycharacter.com
A number of Cincinnati neighborhoods, including College Hill, Madisonville, Pleasant Ridge, Westwood, Avondale, Clifton, East Price Hill, Kennedy Heights, Northside, and Walnut Hills, have been working to lay the groundwork for implementing Form-based Code Overlay Districts in their neighborhoods. For more information on how your neighborhood can participate, contact:
Councilmember Roxanne Qualls
352-3604
roxanne.qualls@cincinnati-oh.gov
Questions and Answers about Form-based Codes
How will form-based codes affect the development process?
Form-based codes cut the development approval process down significantly and remove roadblocks to development because they remove vagueness, uncertainty and risk. They accomplish this by creating visual, easy-to-use standards that do not require interpretation, based on a vision developed by all stakeholders. It is up to community stakeholders to create standards that will encourage the type of development they want.
Once the standards are developed, developers can be confident that projects that fit within the standards will move forward quickly. Developers also know that their investment will be protected, because form-based codes remove the risk that an "eyesore" will be developed in the neighborhood or business district. The community knows what development will look like, and developers save time because they know what is expected.
Are there variances to form-based codes?
No. Form-based codes are typically much less rigid than conventional zoning codes. While they set the parameters for new developments, they also allow more flexibility than conventional zoning regulations. Because they are visual, and are tailored to neighborhoods or places, form-based codes avoid the "one size fits all" result of conventional zoning. If amendments need to be made to accommodate what the community wants, the community changes the entire set of standards, so individual variances are not needed.
How do form-based codes affect economic development and property values?
Form-based codes are being implemented in cities around the country because they are a powerful tool in spurring development. In Nashville, taxable value in districts where form-based codes were implemented grew 75 percent from 2003-2008, compared to overall growth of 28 percent throughout Davidson County, according to Rick Bernhardt, Nashville Metro Planning Department executive director.
How soon will form-based codes be implemented in Cincinnati?
Now that City Council had approved funding for the initial phase of form-based codes development, City Planning will hire a consultant team to perform a form-based codes study that includes review of existing City regulations, best practices, options for implementation, and development of a standard process to implement the preferred strategy, and development of a guidebook; next, the consultant will facilitate charrettes (the planning process to develop the standards) with four to six neighborhoods that are ready to move forward, and prepare design standards for each neighborhood. The charrettes should take place by the end of 2009.
Great Places Created with Form-Based Codes
Partial list of cities with Form-based Codes
Arlington, VA
Albuquerque, NM
Birmingham, AL
Nashville, TN
Knoxville, TN
St. Lucie, FL
Raleigh, NC
Peoria, IL
Syracuse, NY
Milwaukee, WI
Baton Rouge, LA
...and many others
Links to Google Maps showing SmartCodes locations:
- SmartCodes Adopted - green markers
- SmartCodes in Process - yellow markers
- Other Form-Based Codes - purple markers
Presentations on Form-Based Codes
Jennifer Carlat, Community Plans Manager of Metropolitan Nashville Planning Department: Building Support for Form-Based Comprehensive Plans
