Form-based Codes: When and How They are Useful

VERMONT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE | 2014 | Form Based Codes | Steven Cecil AIA ASLA | 1

Form-Based Codes: When and How They are Useful

November 5, 2014Steven Cecil AIA ASLAThe Cecil Group

VERMONT DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE


Topic:Form-Based Codes: When and How they Are Useful

Shaping Communities: Design, Culture and Economics Form-Based Zoning 101

Comments and Questions: Tales from the Towns

Potential Benefits and DrawbacksCase StudiesObservations: Form-Based Zoning and Vermont

Discussion

Introduction


Speaker Steven Cecil AIA ASLA

Principal: The Cecil Group, BostonPractice Focus: Planning, urban design and

townscapes for new England communitiesDisciplines: Urban design, urban planning,

architecture, landscape architecture, environmental planningClients: Municipalities, public agencies and

development authorities, developers, institutions

Introduction


Speaker Steven Cecil AIA ASLA

Background and Form-Based Zoning:o Preparation of form-based zoning for municipalitieso Preparation and negotiation of design standards and form-based

regulations for private development entitieso Advisory services for communities: when to use or when not to use

form-based codes and other innovative toolso Publications, lectures and workshops on this topic

Introduction


The Form of Communities

The physical shape and appearance of communities is the resolution of shared and private interests that are the result of design, cultural and economic influences.

Shaping Communities: Design, Culture and Economics

The process of shaping communities in New England legally and pragmatically requires an active municipal government role today –and always has.


Forms to Think About: Prototypes

What shapes communities?What shapes our perceptions and interpretation of

these forms?




Lebanon (CT) and its Town Green




Concord (MA) and its village centers

o Centero Thoreau Depoto West Concord




Dover (NH) and its industrial heritage…a river runs through it




Sudbury and the Role of Roads:

o Post Roado Railo Auto Routes




Boston as a layered community



Challenges in Shaping Communities

Adapting to changeBalancing public interests and private choicesProviding effective frameworks for shared needs

(infrastructure, streets, roads, parcelization)Supporting the health, safety and welfare of

communities



The Origins and Evolution of Zoning

Early 20th centuryGovernment reform and

progressive movementsUrban planning as a

physical planning professionEuclidean zoning (that’s

Euclid, Ohio, not the mathematician…)

Form-Based Codes 101


The Origins and Evolution of Form-Based Codes

Reaction to development and infrastructure patterns that did not support, or actively harmed, communitiesReaction to modern movement in city planning and

architectural design (“post-modernism”)New urbanism movement


Assertion of urban design that is neither architecture nor civil engineering

Illustration from the Pleasant Hill BART Station Property Code



Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) Founded in 1993 and dedicated to promoting mixed-use

neighborhood development and healthier living conditions.Seaside Florida and Other Planned Development 1981 Seaside Development Code was the first modern

day application of FBC. Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) Late 1980’s, early 1990’s several cities and counties in

the southeast adopted FBC in the form of TND ordinances. The SmartCode Released in 2003 Model transect-based development code applied to all

scales of planning SmartCode Version 9.2 - Open source document available

today From “Greenfields” to Existing Built Environments Over the past 10 years, FBC has been applied city-wide as

well as to districts targeted for revitalization and redevelopment.

Example of an early application of Form-Based Zoning Principles:Mashpee Commons,Cavendish Partnership

The Origins and Evolution of Form-Based Codes


What is a “Form-Based Code”?

Reconfiguration of the rules for development with a focus on creating physically integrated and coordinated development patterns for large areas by…

o Shaping relationships among private redevelopment, public space and facilities, and infrastructure

o Creating texture in the physical fabric of communities by acknowledging the need for fine-grained relationships among uses, spaces and circulation

o Introducing urban design, architecture and landscape architecture into land use regulations to increase value

o Facilitating diverse and mixed uses



The Components of Form-Based Codes


Regulating Plan TransectsSitesBuildingsStreetsOther Elements

Regulating Plan, Manchester CT Form -Based Code





Transect Diagrams for New Development, The Cecil Group with Concord Square Associates





Site Type Diagrams, Draft Form-Based Zoning, Amherst, MA

The Cecil Group





Site Type Diagrams, Draft Form-Based Zoning, Amherst, MA

The Cecil Group





Street Type Standards, Manchester, CTForm Based Code,

The Cecil Group





Illustration from Tiverton, RIForm Based Code,

The Cecil Group and Union Studio


Methods for Creating Form-Based Codes


Evaluation (“Calibration”)Workshops (“Charrette”)Visual Preference Analysis (“VPS”)Design Standards (“FBC”)


Example: Visual Preference Survey


Visual Preference Survey Results, Manchester, CT

The Cecil Group


Evolution of Form-Based Codes

Form-Based Codes were initially created and used for greenfield development planning and approvals. They are now being adapted to existing communities

as “hybrid codes.”

Great Pond Development Concept PlanWindsor, CT

Winstanley Enterprises LLC


Form-Based Codes are being strongly promoted by smart growth and sustainability advocates, municipal planners and public officials, along with professionals who prepare them.


FBC can be thought of as a brand

Value system Brand promiseOrigin narrativeRituals LanguageDisciplesDemons

CNUCalibrationVPSTransectsFBCTNDBMP’sRegulating Plans…



Observations

Form-Based Codes are powerful tools. They are not right for every circumstance, but can be

very beneficial in particular cases. They need to be drafted and used with great care. The advocacy, formulation and adoption of these

codes has important political, legal and economic implications that need to be considered. Form-Based Codes are a trend, trendy and often linked

to other planning, design and community agendas.



Tales from the Towns

Are Form-Based Codes being promoted, planned and implemented in your community? How have you learned about this

type of zoning? What impact could they have in

your community?



Potential Benefits

More predictable review and approval process leading to development rights (“entitlements”)Comprehensive entitlement strategy for large and

complex projects, creating community support through a consensus-building processEnhanced value and quality assurance for new

development and renovations in an entire districtMethod to link public realm and private realm

investments

Potential Benefits and Drawbacks


Potential Pitfalls

Overly restrictive standards that block feasible redevelopment, resulting in no substantial reinvestmentCodifications of preferences that cannot be achieved,

including topics such as parking standards, building scale, infrastructure or public benefits Planning processes that misuse seductive visualization

and misrepresent the roles and responsibilities and outcomes, leading to unfounded public expectations Legal risks – including regulations that do not adhere

to legal standards



Automobiles and community design - antipathy for cars that does not take into account fundamental transportation and market conditions

Misalignment with Market Trends


Concept IllustrationWoodmont Commons, Londonderry NH

Duany Plater - Zyberk & Company


Building scales – Restrictions on building dimensions that are not consistent with feasible development



ExcerptForm-Based Code

Poughkeepsie, NY Waterfront


Mix of uses – Combinations of uses that are not consistent with market conditions, particularly in regards to the timing, amount and distribution of retail uses



Image from the Master Plan for Southfield (former South

Weymouth Naval Air Station, SMWM Prime Consultant


Building or site development costs – Design standards that cannot practically be accomplished


Draft Form-Based Code for the Tri-Town

Development Area, Massachusetts


Alignment with Market Trends

Current trends in retail development: place-makingValue derived from civic spaces and attractive streetsPreferences for sustainable practicesValue associated with pedestrian-oriented districtsPreferences for traditional village development


South Norwalk (CT) TOD Master PlanThe Cecil Group

Rendering by Beinfield Architecture, PC


Form-Based Code, Manchester, CT

o Focused on underutilized commercial land

o Accompanied acquisition of large areas by the municipality for a Request for Development Proposals

Case Studies

Illustrations from the Manchester Code, The Cecil Group


Village Center Zoning, Amherst, MA

o Initiative to create compact village centers as a future pattern of development

o Narrowly defeated at two town meetings; unfamiliar approach and fears of expanded student housing in multifamily developments raised by residents in nearby low density neighborhoods

o Implementation being advanced through proposed incremental changes rather than as a comprehensive zoning package

Case Studies

Illustrations, Draft Zoning for North Amherst and Atkins Corner, Amherst, Massachusetts, The Cecil Group


Tri-Town Form-Based Initiative, Massachusetts

Case Studies

o Coordinated planning for redevelopment of large land areas in three towns (Andover, Tewksbury, Wilmington) including planning for a new interstate interchange

o Preparation of coordinated proposals for form-based zones in all three towns

o Professional evaluation of potential economic and real estate impacts indicated that some form-based provisions would significantly impede feasible redevelopment

o Zoning proposals rejected at town meetings


Woodmont Commons, Londonderry, NH

Case Studies

o Professional advocacy of form-based zoning by the peer review professional team

o Preparation of detailed design guidelines by the proponent similar to form-based zoning as part of a master planned development provision in the existing zoning, leading to approval of the master plan

o Establishment of formulas and allocation of uses, density and subsequent project review and approval process Woodmont Common Master Plan Illustration

Woodmont Commons Planning TeamThe Cecil Group/Shook Kelley/Chellman


Woodmont Commons, Londonderry, NH

Case Studies

o Example of flexible application of standards: compliance alternative mechanism is built into the approved master plan that implements the zoning

o Compliance alternative – a project may be approved in regards to certain standards if both the proponent and the permit granting authority agree that the alternative approach meets a list of planning and design principles at least as well as the requirements that would otherwise apply to the project

o Avoids the need for zone changes or variances in many cases

Woodmont Common Master Plan IllustrationWoodmont Commons Planning Team

The Cecil Group/Shook Kelley/Chellman


Developer Opportunities

Identify and support concepts that are aligned with market conditionsUse form-based methods for large

projects as a type of master plan zoning to advance planning for projects and zoning simultaneouslyPromote useful flexibility through

compliance alternative mechanisms

Observations on Form-Based Codes and Vermont


Form-Based Codes: When and How They are Useful

November 5, 2014Steven Cecil AIA ASLAThe Cecil Group

VERMONT DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE

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