PLAN 640 / URSC 489 LAW & LEGISLATION RELATED TO PLANNING
FORM BASED ZONING
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
DEFINITION What is a Form Based Code? “A form based code is a zoning code that is designed to regulate development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes create a predictable public realm primarily by controlling physical form, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regulations.� - Form Based Code Institute (FBCI)
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
HOW DID IT ORIGINATE? Problems with Euclidean Zoning • Primary regulates use. • Not user friendly/complex. • Not flexible. • Leads to mediocrity & conformity. • Minimum requirements instead of what is desired. • Isolates different uses. • Segregation of uses has also led to sprawling development patterns, mediocre buildings, and faceless places. • Limits creativity and adaptability, and prevents good Urban Design.
Figure : From this...
Figure : ...to this Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
FBC’s… Form-Based Codes (FBC’s) • •
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One of the most recent planning innovations. Elevates physical design in city planning, as opposed to the “use-based” restrictions of Euclidean zoning. Represent a fundamentally different way of regulating land-use, with a focus on physical form and a community’s design vision rather than simply buffering incompatible uses. DNA of livable communities – defining human scale. These codes are communitybuilt and driven. Developed with an end result in mind. Emphasizes form over function.
Euclidean Zoning
Form Based Zoning Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
What does FBC do? • Form based zoning attempts to replicate the organic process by which our existing downtown neighborhoods grew, over time. • It focuses on the physical character of buildings, and the relationship of buildings to each other and to the street. • 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. • Great public spaces – plazas, greens, parks and squares – that foster a sense of community.
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
How is it Regulated? FBC’s are regulated in both text and graphics to make it clearly understandable without discrepancies. The three factors considered in the regulation process are: •Purpose & Intent –District & Regulations •Regulation by Type •Administrative Departures
What is Regulated? Building Elements
: Transparency, Articulation, Roofs, Materials, Entry, Height
Building Site & Placement
: Lot Dimensions, Perimeter Setbacks, Build-To Lines
Use
: Use Categories, Approvals
Accessory Provisions
: Parking, Signs, Landscaping, Screening, Sidewalks,
Accessory Buildings, Lighting Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
General Process
• Develop the commitment to better places. • Determine type of code desired – Hybrid, Parallel, and FBC. • Identify existing “forms” of the community that should be maintained or new ones that should be achieved. • Describe and Document. • Develop Code that matches the forms.
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Potential FBC Benefits Benefits associated with Form-Based Coding include: • Increased community involvement. • Better comprehension of the regulations. • Improved flexibility, the promotion of good urban design. • Enlarged community equity. • Mixed Use. • Affordable Housing. • Historic Preservation and Complementary Infill. • Pedestrian Amenities. • Emphasis on form over density facilities.
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Pitfalls of FBC • As Form-Based Coding is a relatively new planning tool, determining whether or not this new version of coding achieves intended objectives could prove quite difficult. •Additionally long-term evaluation is impossible at this juncture and one must examine incremental components of the Form-Based Code to determine their relative success. •Other Weaknesses pertaining to Form-Based Coding includes lack of standardization, and possible gentrification. •Lack of standardization, particularly relating to building type classifications, could hinder the expansion of Form-Based Coding.
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Ex: Illinois Case Law
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Ex: Illinois Case Law
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Code is a Law • The authority to create and enforce a development code most often belongs to government, but under some circumstances could also be derived from the powers of religious leaders or be based on social and cultural customs. • Though a modern code is normally legally enforceable, unlike a plan, the difference between the two is not as straightforward as it would seem. • Idealized models of human settlement can sometimes act like codes. • One example is Clarence Perry’s neighborhood unit concept, which planning textbooks, government regulations, chambers of commerce, and social service agencies promoted after it was implemented at Radburn and Baldwin Hills Village, and which was widely accepted. • Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish FBCs from other types of rules, guidelines, standards, court cases, and legislation, all of which play important roles in city form. Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
FBCs as having the following attributes: • Significant enforceability; • The intent to prescribe the public realm, often by regulating private building; and • The direct or indirect production of “time-tested forms of urbanism” - Form-Based Codes Institute, 2008
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava
Thank You
Presented By: Avinash Shrivastava