Institute Teaches Planning and Development Professionals about Form-Based Codes
According to the Institute's definition, Form-Based Codes provide "a method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-Based Codes create a predictable public realm by controlling physical form primarily, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regulations."
"Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks. The regulations and standards in form-based codes, presented in both diagrams and words, are keyed to a regulating plan that designates the appropriate form and scale (and therefore, character) of development rather than only distinctions in land-use types. This is in contrast to conventional zoning's focus on the segregation of land-use types, permissible property uses, an the control of development intensity through simple numerical parameters (e.g., FAR, dwellings per acre, height limits, setbacks, parking ratios). Not to be confused with design guidelines or general statements of policy, form-based codes are regulatory, not advisory."
The coding process usually begins as part of the master planning process. It is often developed in what is referred to as a charrette, a weeklong brainstorming session involving residents and planners to determine what is desired for the neighborhood. A draft of the Form-Based Code will typically be created by the end of that intensive process, according to Peter Katz, President of The Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI). "Once you know the plan, it's very easy to codify it," he says. In fact, Katz believes that writing the code during the planning workshop helps to achieve a better outcome. "Time can be the enemy of a great plan," he says, "I’ve seen great plans become watered down by codes that get drafted months and years later."
Source: Sarasota County, Florida
In Living Color
Form-Based Codes, in contrast to conventional codes, are closely linked to illustrative plans and colorful renderings that are easy for citizens to understand. The codes themselves are organized in a clear and highly visual format. (More conventional zoning documents consist of stacks of bone-dry regulations, mostly in text form.) Because such regulations are more user-friendly, the Form-Based approach makes it easier for ordinary citizens to see what the end result of a neighborhood transformation will look like—ideally resulting in greater community support for the project.
By literally sketching out a big picture view of the city, planners can also create a more harmonious block-by-block, neighborhood-by-neighborhood transformation from city center to the outskirts (some planners call this a transect), by designating the choice of building type, frontage type and streetscapes along the way. The codes also include carefully worked-out standards for sidewalk widths, street lighting, tree placement and more to help create more inviting public spaces for residents.
Assistance for Planners
For city planners pondering a break from decades of conventional use-based codes, a move to Form-Based Codes can be daunting. To that end, The Form-Based Codes Institute conducts educational programs around the United States, consisting of three successive courses: An Introductory Course, a Design Intensive Workshop and a capstone course on Completing, Adopting and Administering the Code. Katz, who teaches at several of the courses, says most of the attendees are planners who work for city and county governments, but that the classes also attract consultant planners, architects, developers and attorneys.
(FBCI will present its introductory course November 15-17, 2007 In Atlanta. Click here for details.)
Feedback on the courses has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Carol Wyant, Executive Director of the FBCI. Wyant says attendees appreciate learning the different ways to do Form-Based Codes and how to adapt them in different parts of the country. One student proclaimed: "We will be implementing FBCs in a section of our city and hope to do a great job of it. This served to clarify many issues." Said another: "The field exercise was great—it really set this conference apart from others."
Old School vs. New School
In his travels around the country, Katz has discovered that many cities that use 'conventional zoning' are fighting over issues, such as density, use and materials selection that "ultimately have little impact on the way a place looks and feels." He believes that other factors, such as how a building fronts a street or what percentage of the front of the lot is occupied by a building, are far more important to making a great place. By taking a closer look at Form-Based Codes, planners will find the implementation tools to help fight sprawl and spark new life in moribund neighborhoods. "There's a widespread sense that form-based coding is a viable regulatory approach that in some situations can achieve real breakthrough results," Katz says.
As one course attendee commented: "FBCs are a valuable tool that is now coming into widespread use. The more practitioners know, the more it will be used."
Eight Advantages to Form-Based Codes
1. Because they are prescriptive (they state what you want), rather than proscriptive (what you don't want), form-based codes (FBCs) can achieve a more predictable physical result. The elements controlled by FBCs are those that are most important to the shaping of a high quality built environment.2. FBCs encourage public participation because they allow citizens to see what will happen where-leading to a higher comfort level about greater density, for instance.
3. Because they can regulate development at the scale of an individual building or lot, FBCs encourage independent development by multiple property owners. This obviates the need for large land assemblies and the megaprojects that are frequently proposed for such parcels.
4. The built results of FBCs often reflect a diversity of architecture, materials, uses, and ownership that can only come from the actions of many independent players operating within a communally agreed-upon vision and legal framework.
5. FBCs work well in established communities because they effectively define and codify a neighborhood's existing "DNA." Vernacular building types can be easily replicated, promoting infill that is compatible with surrounding structures.
6. Non-professionals find FBCs easier to use than conventional zoning documents because they are much shorter, more concise, and organized for visual access and readability. This feature makes it easier for nonplanners to determine whether compliance has been achieved.
7. FBCs obviate the need for design guidelines, which are difficult to apply consistently, offer too much room for subjective interpretation, and can be difficult to enforce. They also require less oversight by discretionary review bodies, fostering a less politicized planning process that could deliver huge savings in time and money and reduce the risk of takings challenges.
8. FBCs may prove to be more enforceable than design guidelines. The stated purpose of FBCs
is the shaping of a high quality public realm, a presumed public good that promotes healthy civic interaction. For that reason compliance with the codes can be enforced, not on the basis of aesthetics but because a failure to comply would diminish the good that is sought. While enforceability of development regulations has not been a problem in new growth areas controlled by private covenants, such matters can be problematic in already-urbanized areas due to legal conflicts with first amendment rights.
~ Peter Katz, President, Form-Based Codes Institute
For more information, visit www.formbasedcodes.org
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