Columbia Pike Form Based Code - sacog

Neighborhood Center
Western Gateway
Village Center
The Columbia Pike Urban Design Charrette, held in September of 2002, was a forum for citizens to
get involved in designing the future of the Pike. Citizens gathered in small groups to discuss and
draw ideas for redeveloping the Pike, and to build consensus on the ideas that were important to them.
During the charrette week, the design team began to assemble one overall plan, incorporating the “big
ideas” generated by the community. Community members stopped by the studio located on the Pike,
offering continual input as the plan progressed. The Illustrative Plan (above) is the result of this
planning process; it shows the hypothetical buildout of the corridor, locating building footprints (new
and existing), open space, and parking areas. The corridor was divided into four study areas, the
Western Gateway, the Neighborhood Center, the Village Center, and the Town Center. Each area has
it’s own unique characteristics and challenges which were addressed.
Quick sketches were done to study buildings that would result from the hypothetical building footprints
in the Illustrative Plan, combined with the proposed height limits in the study areas and potential
architectural regulations of the new code. These sketches were presented to the public, so they
could envision the form and mass of future development. One example, illustrating new buildings in
the Village Center, is shown at left.
At the conclusion of the charrette week, work began on developing the detailed codes and regulating
plans that would lay out the rules for new development. The Town Center Regulating Plan (right)
illustrates the required building line (RBL), the street tree alignment and parking setback lines, and
identifies a street frontage type for each street, which corresponds to written code regulations.