Form-Based Code - The Greenfield Tool Box

Form-Based Code
Greenfield Tool Box
DESIGN
PROCESS
IMPLEMENTATION.. Land Use + Transportation
140
Credit | Urbsworks Inc.
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Form-based codes are an alternative to conventional zoning codes, and are becoming
more widely used because they provide more predictable results and are more effective
at implementing a community’s desired urban form. Because they place greater emphasis
on the relationship of buildings to streets and open spaces, form-based codes create
higher-quality public spaces. They are more effective at communicating the intended result
of the regulations to all users of the code, including developers and designers applying for
approvals, the local jurisdiction representatives who administer the code, and interested
members of the public.
Form-based codes combine detailed, dimensional standards for buildings and streets with
a site-specific zoning map, called a Regulating Plan, to regulate urban form. The Regulating
Plan and development standards also regulate the allowable uses within buildings; however,
form-based codes offer more flexibility on these uses than many conventional codes.
Conventional zoning, which was adopted by most North American cities during post-war
suburban expansion, was developed to protect property values by separating incompatible
uses. Separation was achieved by creating single- or limited-use zones, such as residential
and commercial areas. Along with the automobile becoming the dominant transportation
mode, separation of uses helped to created the character of today’s suburban communities.
A major feature of conventional zoning codes is the use list, consisting of highly detailed, now
outdated uses such as “retail sales business” or “wholesale sales business.” Conventional
codes might allow retail sales in one district but not in another district. Distinctions like
these can hamper business innovation without addressing the root concerns of incompatible
development, such as noise, pollution, hours of operation, parking, and auto trips generated
by a given use. Form-based codes deal directly with these root concerns while allowing much
greater flexibility regarding the specific uses allowed within buildings.
Similarly, conventional zoning segregates different types of housing into separate zones, such
as rental apartments and detached single dwellings. This separation has created isolated
enclaves of homeowners and renters, reduced housing choices for residents in different
phases of their lives, and stifled innovation in the housing market. Neighbourhoods that
blend different types of housing in close proximity, offering small units, flats and cottages
Tool Intent
Form-Based Codes are
regulations used by local
governments to emphasize
the physical character of
development and de-emphasize
the regulation of land use.
USERS
Municipal Officials
Municipal Planning Staff
Planning + Design Professionals
Engineers
Land Developers
Landowners
Community Members
Credit | Urbsworks Inc.
Greenfield Tool Box
O2 Planning + Design Inc.

13
12
NW CROSSING DRIVE
SUMMIT
HIGH SCHOOL
11
10
9
8
1
DISCOVERY
PARK
13
7
2
11
12
3
4
15 14
6
16
1
10
5
9
5
6
159
158
157
23
22 85
SACAGAWEA LANE
21 84 71 70
20
19 83 72 69
68
82 73
17
18
67
16 81 74
15 80 75
66
79 76 65
12
78 77 64
HIGH LAKES
COLTER AVE.
ELEMENTARY
10 11 62 51 50
SCHOOL
9 61 52 49
8 60 53 48
7 59 54 47
6
58 55 46
5 57 56 45
HIGH LAKES LOOP
4
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
3
14
13
156
2
1
8 7
4
17
24
162 164 166
163 165
SHIELDS DR.
149 148 136
150 147 137
146 138
151
145 139
152
144 140
153
143 141
128
155 154
130 129
BRATTON LN.
115-D 116 117 118 119 120
114-D 113 112 111 110 109
88-D
87
86
30 29 28
385
2 1
3
4
5
6
3
7
8
594
108 107 106 105 104 103 102 101100
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
27 26 25 24 23
2
167
3 4 5 6
365
366
384
383
382
381
387
388
389
390
404
403
402
401
407
408
409
168
ORDWAY AVE.
NW CROSSING DRIVE
596 597 598
135
134
133
132
131
127
126
125
124
123
122
121
169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
22 21 20 19 18 17
1
234567
8
910
11
380
379
378
377
376
391
400
392
393
394
395
399
398
397
216
16
15
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
196
195
194
179
193
POMPY 205 192
206
207 191
LEWIS 208 190
209
&
210 189
CLARK 211
212 188
PARK 213 187
214 186
LEMHI PASS DRIVE
235 236 237 238
396
242 241 240
12
13
14
15
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
239
243
463
462
461
460
459
458
457
45
443
42
47
41
439
48
438
437
450
436
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
603
604
629 630
605
628 631 641
606
627 632 642
607
626 633
608
643
625 634
624
615
635
614
613 623
616
622
621
620
2 617 618 619
659
602
601
600
599
609
610
611
612
653
654
655
656
657
658
40
372
371
HIGH LAKES LOOP
.
300
451
435
4 3
434
453
429
428
427
426
425
424
180
181
182
183
184
185
255
254
253
252
251
250
256
257
258
259
260
261
283
282
281
280
279
244
245
246
247
284
285
286
287
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
432
456
455
454
COMPASS PARK
431
430
423
422
7
464
465
466
467
278
277
276
310
311
312
313
486
485
484
483
482
481
480
525
526
527
528
First Lutheran
Church
341
342 343
275
274
273
272
334 335 336 325 337 338
339
324
340
323
550 551552553
554
555
556
535 536
537
538
539
540
577
8
578
11
9
12
13
6
10
14
5
LABICHE LANE
571
572
17
16
15
314
315
316
317
318
352
345
351
346
350 349348347
557
558
582
581
580
579
2
1
559
560
4 8
487
2
1
271
270
321 320
686
687
4
3
319
6
5
705
704
703
702
8
7
14
13
706
707
505
708
709
479
685 688
701 711
684 689 700 712
529 593 683 690 699 713
561
682 691 698 714
468 562 591 681 692 697 715
469 563 590 680
470 564 589 679 693 694 695 696
DROUILLARD AVENUE
471 565 588
472 566
587
473 567
568 586
569
570
585
584
583
9
710
Available Custom Home Lots
Available Multi-Family Lots
Townhomes
Mt. Washington Cottages
Residential
Multi-Family
Mixed Use/Live-Work
Commercial
Mixed Employment
Industrial Employment Overlay
Note: This is not a survey of the land.
Map indicates lots listed by The Garner Group Realtors and Development LLC
including those owned by West Bend Property Co.
This map is solely distributed by The Garner Group Realtors and Development LLC and West Bend Property Co. © 2011
Revised 7/28/11
Form-Based Code
near conventional detached single dwellings, and rental housing near owner-occupied
housing, offer more options for a changing population. This is especially important with
major demographic changes, such as smaller household sizes, aging baby-boomers, and
the future wave of homebuyers and renters of Generation Y who will continue to push for
smaller, more affordable units, both for rent and for sale, in walkable areas with affordable
transportation choices. Communities that are able to allow Baby Boomers to age in place
and downsize while remaining in their long-time neighbourhood, for example, will fare better
than segregated single-use housing districts. Form-based codes also excel at maintaining the
desired look and feel of a residential neighbourhood, while allowing a much wider range of
housing choices.
Compared with conventional codes, form-based codes also allow greater innovation and
flexibility for homebuilders. Housing types and arrangements are the product of creative
entrepreneurs appealing to consumer tastes in response to changing demographic trends
and economic conditions. As allowed by local codes, housing design will increasingly blur the
line between what is built in multi-family zones and what is built in single-family zones, and
between what is sold and what is rented.
A third distinction between form-based codes and conventional codes is the way they
integrate the design of private development and public areas. Conventional zoning
ordinances deal with private development, but typically do not include standards for the
design or character of the streets that serve it. These standards are usually left to engineers
or public works departments. As a result, street standards are normally created with a
distinct deference to accommodating automobile traffic. They are based on general street
classification (arterial, collector, local) with no special consideration of how these standards
relate to the different areas the streets serve. For example, it is common for an arterial street
to have the same design as it travels through employment, commercial, and residential
districts in a city. This general application of development and street standards does not
allow zoning ordinances to promote development envisioned by community plans. In fact,
conventional zoning regulations often undermine the very plans they are supposed to support.
Critical components of the form-based code include:
› The Regulating Plan
› A Development Standards Table
› Easy-to-understand graphics and tables used to array the Development Standards (note
that form-based codes emphasize illustrations over text)
Benefits
Form-based codes have many advantages over conventional codes. Among other
characteristics:
› They are the result of a public design process, which creates a clear and articulate vision
for a defined district or neighbourhood.
› By encouraging active public participation in creating the Regulating Plan and related
design elements, form-based codes build consensus at the beginning of the process,
thereby reducing misunderstanding and conflict during implementation.
› They focus on what the community likes and not what it dislikes, making it easier for
developers, citizens, and decision-makers to find common ground when individual
development projects are proposed.
› They pay greater attention to the design of the public realm and the importance that
streetscape design and individual building character have in defining public spaces and a
special sense of place.
› Development standards are tailored to fit a specific place by reflecting its vernacular
architecture and overall character; therefore, form-based codes work better than
conventional codes in helping communities retain and strengthen their identity.
CASE STUDIES | BEST PRACTICES
NorthWest Crossing Form-Based Code
DISCOVERY LOOP
CHARBONNEAU ST.
DISCOVERY LOOP
YORK ST.
NW CLEARWATER DR.
MT. WASHINGTON DRIVE
160 161
142
Sales
Center
LEPAGE PL.
FORT CLATSOP ST.
JOHN FREMONT ST. JOHN FREMONT ST.
JOHN FREMONT ST.
LEWIS ST.
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
595 636 637 638 639
640
TOUSSAINT DR.
FORT CLATSOP ST.
375 374
373
SKYLINERS ROAD
WILLIAM CLARK ST
SHIELDS DR.
MERIWETHER PL.
333 332 331 330 329 328327326
534 533 532531
530
4 3
262 263 264
288 289 290
265 266 267 268
269
360 359 358 357 356 355 354 353
344
LOLO DRIVE
549548 547 546 545544
543542
541
FORT MANDAN WAY
592
474
477 476 475
576 575 574573
LOLO DRIVE
SILAS PLACE
291 292 293 294 295
296
297
298
299
DORION WAY
CRUZATTE WAY
5 2
523
524
490
489
NW CROSSING DRIVE
SHEVLIN PARK ROAD
492
491
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
PRYOR WAY
12
1
10
MCNEAL WAY
W
FRAZER LANE
NW CROSSING DRIVE
N
S
E
LEMHI PASS DRIVE
NEWPORT HILLS DRIVE
Legend
NorthWest Crossing Sales Center
The Garner Group
2762 NW Crossing Drive, Suite 100
www.thegarnergroup.com
www.northwestcrossing.com
Location: Bend, Oregon
Project size: 500 acres
Description: An innovative form-based code is being used
to implement the master plan for 500-acre greenfield site in
Bend, Oregon. Called NorthWest Crossing, it is a complete
community with mixed uses, mixed housing types, two public
schools, and an industrial employment zone. The form-based
code is used in three ways: to achieve land division and
mixed-use zoning approvals from the city, to describe the
desired development to homebuilders, and to help sell the
community vision to homebuyers. In 2001, the building
type-based form-based code was part of the developer’s
application for land division and zoning approval from the City
of Bend. The form-based code (called a Prototype Handbook)
provided details about how 16 building prototypes either met
or needed adjustment to meet the city’s zoning requirements.
Building types were preapproved by the city, along with a
specific subset of building types to be allowed on any given
site within the 500-acre development.
The Regulating Plan illustrates where different building
prototypes are permitted within the planning area. There is
significant overlap where different prototypes are permitted,
resulting in great flexibility for developers.
The form-based code has enabled the developer to respond
to market demand for different housing types over the last ten
years. As of 2011, this award-winning development is largely
built out.
Planning + Design: Walker Macy; W & H Pacific; Fletcher Farr
Ayotte Architects; Catherine Morrow; Urbsworks Inc.
Developer: West Bend Property Company, LLC
BENS COURT
ERIN CT.
141
Greenfield Tool Box
O2 Planning + Design Inc.

Form-Based Code
› Form-based codes address economic conditions by allowing flexibility in land uses,
allowing developers and municipalities to respond quickly to changing market forces.
› By emphasizing site design and building form over density and use regulations, formbased
codes build in long-term value. Form-based codes pay more attention to buildings
which will last many years, instead of uses that can change over time.
› By encouraging a mix of uses and housing types, form-based codes reduce the need to
travel as part of one’s daily routine.
› Form-based codes provide information that is easier to understand and use than
conventional zoning codes because they are shorter, more concise, and emphasize
illustrations over text. Therefore, form-based codes are more engaging and
comprehensible to non-professionals.
› They allow greater flexibility for development to respond to environmental conditions, such
as wetlands, existing trees, views, and topography.
CASE STUDIES | BEST PRACTICES
Central Hercules Form-Based Code
142
WHEN IN THE PROCESS IS IT USED
Form-based codes are the result of a public design process to create a clear and articulate
vision for a defined district or neighbourhood. A form-based code is developed as an outcome
of this process to help implement this vision.
Form-based codes can be developed concurrently with the public design process or after the
process is complete. Time is saved when the public visioning process and the form-based
code processes are conducted concurrently, because the community outreach is done once.
During the creation of a form-based code, a strategy for administering the code must
be developed. This strategy involves, among other things, training staff and educating
stakeholders.
RELATED TOOLS
Smart Code
The Neighbourhood Unit
Residential Street Patterns
Conservation Subdivision Design
Greenway and Open Space Networks
Block and Lot Standards
Connectivity index
Walkability Catchment
Parking Mangement and Policies
Location: Hercules, California
Description: The City of Hercules, California, adopted a
form-based code with the intention of fostering a new town
centre for an industrial town. The code, while highly specific
in terms of physical form (by regulating building envelope,
key dimensions, siting, and relationship to streets, sidewalks,
and adjacent buildings), retains flexibility in uses. The code
does not prescribe architectural styles but does prescribe a
minimum set of basic design parameters. Users of the code
consult the regulating plan and determine the classification of
the street in front of their parcel. They then cross-reference
the code relating to the street type to determine applicable
land development regulations. The code is sub-divided into
four districts and eight distinct street types. Where two street
types meet, the order in the hierarchy determines the code.
Build-to-line requirements and building frontage requirements
are waived for certain sites such as civic facilities to provide
greater flexibility. The new code has been successful, with
more than 300 units built and construction underway on the
main street area of the Waterfront District.
Planning + Design: Dover Kohl & Partners; Gibbs Planning
Group; Fehr & Peers Associates; Urban Advantage;
Zimmerman-Volk Associates
Developer: Various public and private development entities
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Sacramento Area Council of Government (SACOG) Form-Based Code Handbook (http://www.sacog.org/projects/form-based-codes.cfm)
Parolek AIA, Daniel G., Karen Parolek, and Paul Crawford, FAICP. Form-Based Codes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2008
Form-Based Codes Institute (http://www.formbasedcodes.org/)
Greenberg, Ellen, Joel Russell, Jonathan Barnett, Paul Crawford, Rick Bernhardt, and Gianni Longo. Codifying New Urbanism: How to Reform Municipal Land Development Regulations.
Chicago: American Planning Association, Congress for the New Urbanism, 2004.
Northwest Crossing Prototypes, Bend, Oregon (http://www.northwestcrossing.com/)
Hercules Central Hercules Form-Based Code, Hercules, California (http://www.ci.hercules.ca.us/index.aspxpage=197)
Greenfield Tool Box
O2 Planning + Design Inc.