Definition of MixedMixed-Use
MIXEDMIXED-USE
AND
FORMFORM-BASED ZONING
Connecticut Land Use Academy
Hot Topics in Land Use Conference
November 1, 2008
A combination of uses, usually residential,
commercial, and office, in one integrated
development. Zoning for the development
frequently occurs through plan development
districts, planned unit developments, or
special design districts.
Timothy Bates*
*Robert Sitkowski,
Sitkowski, Esq., assisted with preparation materials
Ninth Square, New Haven
Definition of FormForm-Based Zoning
According to the Form-Based Codes Institute:
A method of regulating development to achieve
a specific urban form. Form-based codes
create a predictable public realm by controlling
physical form primarily, with a lesser focus on
land use, through city or county regulations.
www.formbasedcodes.org
The Kentlands
Why should you care?
A. Housing demand
B. Demographics
C. Sprawl
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Traditional Zoning Forms:
Strip Commercial
• Site plans
• Subdivisions
• Both automobile-oriented
• Neither create a sense of community
SingleSingle-Family Subdivisions
Zoned separation of uses
• Embodied in the Zoning
Enabling Act (1922)
upheld in Euclid v.
Ambler Realty Company,
272 U. S. 365 (1926).
• Based on concern over
Nineteenth Century
mixture of industrial
plants and residences.
Zoned separation of uses
Subdivision Regulations
• Grew out of the
Garden City
movement inspired
by Ebenezer
Howard.
• Advocated
decentralized
communities with
green space.
2
Factors Accelerating Separation of
Buildings and Uses in the Twentieth
Century:
Subdivision regulations
•But grew into
isolated houses on
connector streets and
cul-de-sacs.
• The City Beautiful Movement and idealized
individual buildings
• The automobile and the loss of old transit systems
• The GI Bill of Rights with mortgage assistance
• The Interstate Highway Act
Knights of Columbus
The Rise of New Urbanism
• Inspired by a reaction against urban renewal:
Jane Jacobs
• Advanced by the Federal New Town Program:
Columbia & Reston
• Ultimately defined by the CNU: Seaside, Florida,
The Kentlands, Maryland
• Encouraged by the sustainability movement, i.e.,
compact design is green
Principles of New Urbanism
• The neighborhood has
a center and an edge.
Principles of New Urbanism
• A walkable
neighborhood is no
more than a quartermile (a 10-minute
walk) from center to
edge.
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Principles of New Urbanism
• The neighborhood has
a mix of uses and
housing types. It
creates a “live, work,
and play”
environment.
Principles of New Urbanism
• Public spaces and
buildings are given
priority locations.
So, What’
What’s the Problem?
• Town road standards
mandate wider, faster
roadways giving the
car priority over
pedestrians and other
forms of
transportation.
Principles of New Urbanism
• Buildings and streets
together create a sense
of space.
So, What’
What’s the Problem?
• Eliminating
separation of uses and
decreasing
separations between
buildings is illegal.
Under current zoning,
Mystic could not be
rebuilt.
So, What’
What’s the Problem?
• The only thing people like less than sprawl is
density.
• Financing and legally documenting the different
components are challenging tasks.
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Conventional v. FormForm-Based Approach
From Parolek, et al., Form Based Codes
(Wiley 2007)
•Use Segregation, Auto
Orientation
•Organized by Use
•Use is Primary
•Reactive to Individual
Development Proposals
•Generally Proscriptive
•Mixed-use, Walkable, Compact
•Organized by Spatial Hierarchy
•Physical Form is Primary
•Proactive Community Visioning
•Generally Prescriptive
•Creates Places
Components of a FormForm-Based Code
• Regulating Plan
• “Urban”/ Building
Form Standards
• Public Space Standards
• Administration
• Definitions
•Creates Buildings
Regular Plan / Conceptual Plan
Land Use Plan
ContextContext-Specific Components
• Block Standards
• Building Type Standards
• Landscape Standards
• Architectural Standards
• Not Exclusive to FBCs
– Signs
– Sustainability
Regulating Plan
Seaside Regulating Plan
Street TypeType-Based Regulating Plans
Hercules, CA
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FrontageFrontage-Based
Regulating Plans
Peoria, IL
The SmartCode
•
•
•
© Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, LLC.
•
Created by DPZ
Version 9.0 available from www.smartcodecentral.com
Works in Progress available from
www.smartcodecomplete.com/learn/links
Transect as Organizing Mechanism
TransectTransect-Based Regulating Plans
Montgomery, AL
Urban Standards
•
•
•
•
Height
Location
Elements
Uses
Public Space
Standards
Architectural
Standards
• Parks & Squares
• Exterior Building Walls
• Streets
• Roofs & Parapets
• Sidewalks
• Street Walls
• Parking
• Garden Walls
• Landscaping
• Windows and Doors
• Signage
• Lighting and
Mechanical Equipment
6
What’
What’s Happening Locally?
• Lowell, MA
• Simsbury (RFP)
• Hamden SmartCode
Groton’s MX
Zone
• Groton Plan of
Conservation and
Development calls for
mixed-use zones
Combining commercial and residential
zones does not work for MX
communities.
Other ways to skin a cat
• Separation problems between buildings
• Creation of overlay
zone
• Setback requirements
• Parking locations
• Unnecessary public opposition
• Comprehensive rewrite of regulations
• Development of
floating zone
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Pros and cons of floating zone
Standards in floating zone:
• The zoning commission
gains control and is
comfortable
• Commercial and
residential mix
• The development can be
customized to the area
• However, the developer
invests heavily in designs
prior to approval
Mix will depend on area and demand.
• Timing of residential
and commercial
developments
• Dimensional standards
Establishing the mix:
• Town will want
commercial
• Developer will want
residential
• Answer: Require a
market analysis as
part of the application
Retail will follow residential
Dimensional standards
• Flexible as possible
• Set by surrounding
neighborhood and
desired community
• Should be based on
neighborhood survey
• Consider phasing
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A master plan establishes the zone
change
Contents of the plan
• Proposed uses and sizes of
buildings
• Based on study of site
• includes map of project area
• Proposed roadways,
sidewalks and paths
• Identifies land uses
• Studies traffic impact
• Provides an environmental analysis
• Amount and location of
parking
• Establishes available utilities
• Recreation space
• Stormwater management
• Landscape concepts
The plan should be accompanied by a
design manual indicating:
The education process
• Dimensional requirements
• The planning staff
• Cross-sections of buildings and streets
• Road and sidewalk requirements
• The environmental
group
• Preliminary building elevations, including
architectural elements and floor plans
• Zoning commission
workshop
• Signage design
• Planning commission
• Landscaping for public spaces
Lessons learned
Lessons learned during hearing process
• A picture is worth a thousand words
• You will need some dimensional requirements,
particularly height, buffers, and yards.
• The commission will want to protect the
surrounding neighborhood.
9
The surprise constituency: the
politician
And how we escape by the skin of our teeth.
10