FORMBASED CODES

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FORM-BASED CODES AND DESIGN CONTROL FOR THE
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Milt Herd, AICP Herd Planning Design Leesburg,
VA mh_at_herdplanning.com [phone] Vlad
Gavrilovic, AICP Renaissance Planning
Group Charlottesville, VA vlad_at_citiesthatwork.com
[phone]
NEW KENT COUNTY PRESENTATION JANUARY 22, 2009
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WHY CONTROL DESIGN?
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ANYWHERE, USA
HERNDON, VA
You cant legislate good taste
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ANYWHERE, USA The Old Lincoln Highway Western
Pennsylvania
Is it just to make places look better?
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ANYWHERE, USA
PURCELLVILLE, VA
COMMERCIAL ZONING
ALSO COMMERCIAL ZONING
To protect property values investments in the
quality character of a place
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ANYWHERE, USA
PORT WARWICK, VA
RESIDENTIAL ZONING
ALSO RESIDENTIAL ZONING
To ensure predictability in decision making and
outcomes expectation that places will grow and
develop as intended
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ANYWHERE, USA
NEW TOWN, VA
MIXED USE ZONING
ALSO MIXED USE ZONING
To improve our quality of life create
harmonious beautiful built environment to
enrich the lives of its inhabitants
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...THEN
What have we lost?
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...THEN
ON-STREET PARKING
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...THEN
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
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...THEN
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
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...THEN
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
NARROW STREETS
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...THEN
DECORATIVE LIGHTING
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
NARROW STREETS
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...THEN
DECORATIVE LIGHTING
SHADE TREES
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
NARROW STREETS
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...THEN
DECORATIVE LIGHTING
SHADE TREES
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WALKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
NARROW STREETS
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...THEN
DECORATIVE LIGHTING
SHADE TREES
BUILDINGS CLOSE TO THE STREET
ON-STREET PARKING
WALKING
WIDE SIDEWALKS
NARROW STREETS
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...NOW
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A SCALE OF DESIGN REVIEW
OBJECTIVE - MEASURABLE - QUANTITATIVE
SUBJECTIVE - STYLISTIC - QUALITATIVE
SHADES OF GRAY
NO WIGGLE ROOM
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DESIGN GUIDELINES
OBJECTIVE - MEASURABLE - QUANTITATIVE
SUBJECTIVE - STYLISTIC - QUALITATIVE
NO WIGGLE ROOM
SHADES OF GRAY
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE MASSING ROOF FORMS
COMPATIBILITY WITH SURROUNDING CHARACTER
SETBACKS - HEIGHTS - USES - PARKING, BUFFER WIDTH
- QTY/TYPE OF PLANTINGS - SIZE OF SIGNS, ETC.
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DESIGN REVIEW PROCESSES
A SPECTRUM OF DESIGN REVIEW
LEGISLATIVE / QUASI-LEGISLATIVE REVIEW (BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS - DESIGN REVIEW BOARD)
MINISTERIAL REVIEW (STAFF)
OBJECTIVE - MEASURABLE - QUANTITATIVE
SUBJECTIVE - STYLISTIC - QUALITATIVE
NO WIGGLE ROOM
SHADES OF GRAY
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WAYS TO CONTROL DESIGN IN VIRGINIA
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DESIGN CONTROL TOOLKIT
HISTORIC DISTRICT/CORRIDOR REVIEW 15.2-2306A
ZONING ORDINANCE
HISTORIC DISTRICT
CORRIDOR
IDENTIFY DISTRICT/CORRIDOR
CONVENTIONAL ZONING
CORRIDOR OVERLAY
ESTABLISH A.R.B.
FORM BASED CODES
T.N.D. DISTRICT
DESIGN GUIDELINES
ESTABLISH PROCEDURES
ARCHITECURAL DESIGN
URBAN DESIGN
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WAYS TO CONTROL DESIGN
HISTORIC/CORRIDOR

• Must be tied to a historic district or a tourist
  corridor leading to a historic district
• Historic district may be local (not State or
  Federal)
• A.R.B. not strictly required, but intended

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WAYS TO CONTROL DESIGN
HISTORIC/CORRIDOR

• EXAMPLES
• Leesburg
• Portsmouth
• Charlottesville
• Lexington
• Suffolk
• Albemarle Co.

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WAYS TO CONTROL DESIGN
CONVENTIONAL ZONING

• Design controls through zoning standards (must be
  measurable - height, setback, etc.)
• Design control through Site Plan review (staff
  administered usually not architectural review)
• Separate district (TND or overlay)
• Still need to be measurable standards to be in
  the Zoning Ordinance

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WAYS TO CONTROL DESIGN
FORM BASED CODES

• Dozens of localities nationwide are implementing
  Form Based Codes

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FORM BASED CODES A New Trend in Design Control
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A Method of Implementing the Principles of New
Urbanism

• Walkable, human-scale streets, spatially-defined
  by building facades to create outdoor rooms
• Interconnected street network
• Mixed-uses in a fine-grain of buildings, uses,
  and streets
• Usable, spatially-defined public spaces
• Prominent civic buildings
• Parking on-street and behind buildings
• Multi-modal transportation and good congestion
• Focus on urban design rather than architectural
  design

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THE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM
EUCLIDEAN ZONING

• Focuses on separating and buffering land uses
• Mainly controls Use Density
• Secondary control of Management
• Control of Form is incidental
• Often implemented as a floating zone
• Many words few graphics

USE DENSITY
MANAGE-MENT
FORM
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The Results of Conventional Zoning
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THE EMERGING SYSTEM
FORM BASED CODES

• Primarily control Urban Design and Spatial Form
  of Public Spaces
• Less control of Use Density
• Implements public policies regarding Urban Design
• Not typically floating zones
• Many graphics fewer words

USE DENSITY
MANAGE-MENT
FORM
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The Results of TND and FBC
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SUMMARY OF PURPOSE Form-Based Codes aim to
ensure (not just allow) that new development
will be compatible in character and scale with
traditional development without (necessarily)
using Architectural Review procedures
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• GENERAL DIFFERENCES
• Conventional zoning districts contain no graphic
  depictions of standards
• Conventional zoning districts often function as a
  floating zone rather than a set of regulations
  that apply to an existing urban fabric
• When FBC is implemented as a Floating Zone, the
  developer/applicant actually creates FBC for his
  site, and a PUD serves as a regulatory
  framework for the actual site-specific FBC.

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FORM BASED CODES - BASIC COMPONENTS
PURPOSE INTENT
REGULATING PLAN
DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS (Building Envelopes and
Streetscapes)
ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS (optional)
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PURPOSE INTENT
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REGULATING PLAN
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DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
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ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS
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FORM BASED CODES SOME PROS CONS

• Provides more flexibility in land uses and
  density
• Focuses on creating what you want, rather than
  avoiding what you dont want
• Focuses on creating human- scale public spaces
• Can achieve high quality urban design without
  architectural review

• Fairly sophisticated tool needs time
  expertise to set up correctly
• Proper administration depends on staff training
• May be unfamiliar and complicated to the
  development community
• Works best for areas with an established urban
  pattern

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EXAMPLES
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Arlington, VA Columbia Pike Form-Based Code

• 5 Components
• Definitions
• Regulating Plans
• Building Envelope Standards
• Streetscape Standards
• Architectural Standards

Columbia Pike Partnership
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Arlington, VA - Columbia Pike Form-Based Code-
Regulating Plan

• Shows how each site relates to adjacent
  properties and streets
• Also provides a coding key for the building
  envelope standards

Arlington County
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Arlington, VA - Columbia Pike Form-Based Code-
Regulating Plan
Arlington County
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Columbia Pike Form-Based Code- Building Envelope
Standards

• Height
• Siting

Arlington County
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Columbia Pike Form-Based Code- Building Envelope
Standards

• Elements
• Uses

Arlington County
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MARSHALL F.B.C.
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Urban Design Plan
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MARSHALL F.B.C.
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FORM BASED CODE AS PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE
APPROACH ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA
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Detailed Area Plan
CROZET
Identified Growth Area
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CROZET
A very specific set of standards in the Plan
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Implementation Private Sector
1/3 of the Plan Area developed according to the
plan 4 years after adoption
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OLD TRAIL VILLAGE, CROZET
WAYLANDS GRANT, CROZET
BARGAMIN PARK, CROZET
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Implementation Public Sector
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COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, CROZET
CROZET Existing Developed Area
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CONCLUSIONS APPLICATION TO NEW KENT COUNTY, VA?
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• ISSUES
• Does this kind of tool make sense in New Kent
  County?
• What are key policy or regulatory
  issues/questions you have?
• How would you like to see future growth areas in
  the County develop how should they look and
  feel (form and character)?

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FORM-BASED CODES AND DESIGN CONTROL FOR THE
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Milt Herd, AICP Herd Planning Design Leesburg,
VA mh_at_herdplanning.com [phone] Vlad
Gavrilovic, AICP Renaissance Planning
Group Charlottesville, VA vlad_at_citiesthatwork.com
[phone]
NEW KENT COUNTY PRESENTATION JANUARY 22, 2009