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Form-Based Code

I found this article over at STREETSCAPES Online, a "James Hardie" site. I know that I have in the past posted about Form-Based Codes, but again, I believe that words say more about what we could have instead of what we are getting from our zoning. Please notte that inthe illustrations it states that Sarasota County adopted the Form-Based Code in August 2007.

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."

Exhibits from the Form-Based Code adopted by Sarasota County, Florida in August, 2007.
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

10 Tips to City

Interestingly I just returned from Philadelphia and had been reading about the city's struggles with rewriting their arcane, politically structured zoning code.See here. Then today, I found this article which it would be nice if our local political structure took the time to read and start to implement. Remembering, that the first step is realizing there is a problem.

Posted on Wed, Oct. 17, 2007 from The Philadelphia Inquire

10 tips to city for building

By Karen Black and Robert Rosenthal

In the spring, Philadelphia voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of a Zoning Code Commission to reform and modernize Philadelphia's 50-year-old zoning code.

The code is so outdated that it defines a milliner (a hat maker), but offers no definition for a technology firm, an outpatient clinic, or a self-storage warehouse.

That's about to change.

For three years, we have been working with a coalition seeking to make changes in Philadelphia's zoning and development review process. We have participated in dozens of meetings with zoning commission members, planning directors, and zoning experts from other cities who were responsible for modernizing their codes. As Philadelphia begins the work of zoning reform, we'd like to offer our top 10 tips.

Listen. Listening is the first act of every successful zoning reform commission. Holding public listening sessions in every city neighborhood helps commission members learn about the code's impact on different communities, view zoning from new perspectives, and send a clear message that reform will be an open and inclusive process.

Determine code weaknesses. Commissions must quickly identify the code's weaknesses. Cities that successfully updated their codes hired nationally recognized zoning experts and local consultants to analyze the code to determine where it had to be modernized, simplified and restructured to offer consistency, predictability and transparency.

Report key findings early. Commissions in Chicago and Portland, Ore., released reports detailing the failings of their codes and offering recommendations for change. Releasing these findings for public comment ensures that the mayor, council and public agreed on the commission's purpose and priorities early on.

Simplify. Philadelphia's code is 600 pages and almost dares readers to make sense of it. It is complicated, hard to use, and harder to consistently enforce because of the thousands of amendments over the years. In other cities, success required a major "code cleanup" that included modern definitions to reflect today's world, one-stop shopping for clear zoning designation descriptions, and helpful pictures and diagrams.

Make reform a public process. Zoning reform requires intensive public education and outreach that includes public meetings (San Diego held 250), a regularly updated Web site, and a determined communications effort.

Keep zoning designations and overlays simple. Philadelphia has 55 zoning districts, 31 of them residential. Chicago has just eight residential zoning districts. Pittsburgh has five. Fewer districts mean clearer rules and a more transparent code.

Choose "street sense" over code adherence. Older cities like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee found that adding a "contextual zoning" provision offered the best way to preserve and strengthen a neighborhood's unique look. Contextual zoning requires the city to consider the look of the existing block when determining whether a new development is appropriate.

Find big ideas that define the city's zoning goals. This approach forces the city to develop a common vision about its look and future growth. Other cities' big ideas include preserving the classic architecture of existing neighborhoods, revitalizing neighborhood commercial corridors, minimizing sign clutter, and reducing the percentage of land zoned for industrial use.

Be flexible. Experts advise taking important changes to the city council for adoption throughout the process, rather than waiting until the process is completed. In Milwaukee, 75 percent of the changes in the new code were adopted during the three-year process. This made reform easier and added consistency and predictability to the code much sooner than expected.

Limit controversy. While it is tempting to take on every zoning issue, successful reform initiatives limit the number of controversial issues they try to resolve during the first phase. Too much controversy stalls or stops the process, and a lot of good work is lost. If we are successful in reforming the Philadelphia code, that in itself will create momentum for further reform.

---

Karen Black is principal of May 8 Consulting Inc., a firm in Moylan that analyzes public policy. Robert Rosenthal is vice president of the Reinvestment Fund Development Partners in Philadelphia.

It is amazing that the city of Philadelphia's government realizes there is a problem and has set about fixing it. Yet our local governments are glued to a 1926 Supreme Court ruling (Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926)).

Zoning Ideas from Elsewhere

From the Philadelphia Inquire, here are some examples of how other cities are rewriting and reviewing their zoning codes. The Philadelphia Inquire also had an excellent article about Philadelphia's changes in their antiquated and political charged zoning codes.
Philadelphia Inquire - Posted on Sun, Oct. 7, 2007

Zoning and Planning Ideas From Elsewhere

Miami – From sprawlage to village In Miami, a three-year project will replace the city's old, sprawl-generating code with a new model, called "Miami 21." The buzzword for the new code is "form-based." It aims to create compact, traditional neighborhoods with building forms that provide a coherent public realm. Famed New Urbanist architect Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, a Main Line native, argues that form-based zoning can retrofit Miami with the atmosphere of an urban village. http://www.miami21.org

Denver - Props for process Already renowned for its redeveloped LoDo (lower downtown) warehouse district, Denver launched a three-step regional planning campaign that is a model for citizen engagement. It started with Plan 2000, shaped by 11 citizen task forces. Next came "Blueprint Denver," a land-use and transportation plan. These set up step three, the zoning-code revision that is happening now. Throughout, Denver planners used listening sessions, open houses and a Web site to keep the public on board. http://www.denvergov. org/ZoningSimplification/HomePage/tabid/396395/Default.aspx

Boston - A custom-made city

Rather than allow politicians

to tweak neighborhood zoning at will, Boston invites neighborhoods to customize their own zoning district to match neighborhood goals. Intense civic involvement means this takes four years per neighborhood, with regular meetings of a citizen advisory committee guided

by planners from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. They've been at it since 1989, with immense public support. http://cityofboston.gov/bra/zoning/zoning.asp.

If these large metropolitan areas realize that they have zoning problems, why can the BOCC not be reviewing our zone mess? Where is our LEADERSHIP ?

Affordable Housing

Here is a link to an Affordable Housing site. This link takes you to the Overview of Project Search page. On the left side, you can click on different types of project categories. Not surprisingly there is no mention of Lee County, Florida. The site is called Design Matters: Best Practices in Affordable Housing. It is obvious that there is something wrong with our policies that we can not get the developers to produce quality affordable housing. As Steve McQueen said in the original "Thomas Crown Affair", when asked you he would try to rob a bank with all his wealth, he said,"It's the system." When the staff says, "oh well... that's the way it is!" when discussing the codes and how they add such a burden to projects that there is no affordable left when the system is through with a project. It is lovely to deal that staff, "I don't care attitude."

Retail and Real Estate

Have you ever wondered about all the retail establishments and fast food stores and the land under them? I once read an article that MacDonald's may sell a lot of hamburgers, but the under lying value of the company is in the land. Check out this graph on land holdings.

Ten Principles for Developing Affordable Housing

Ten Principles for Developing Affordable Housing from a ULI Report.

1. Inspire Leadership
2. Build Community Support and Trust
3. Learn the Alphabet . . . and Do the Math
4. Know Your Market and Your Customers
5. Nurture Partnership
6. Select Sites for Opportunity and Choice
7. Strive for Healthy, Balanced Communities
8. Use Design to Foster Community, Safety, and Pride
9. Empower the Residents
10. Orchestrate Sustainability

The question becomes, do you see these principles shining from our elected officials or the staffs that support them? If you have to answer no, than you understand why we are in the cycle of bad choices we continually find ourselves. Leadership and Vision are not our strong suit. I believe that to often, the staffs, are more concerned with politics and making sure that they are seen in what they believe is the best light and the community goes out the window.

Seven Reasons Why Government Planning Cannot Work

I found this post in the Antiplanner by Randal O'Toole and I believe it explains a lot about why planning as we know it cannot achieve it's stated goals.

“Planning is not radical doctrine,” some planners wrote soon after the fall of the centrally planned Soviet empire. “It is rational decision making.”

In fact, comprehensive, long-range planning cannot be rational decision making for the following reasons. I have discussed some of these reasons in detail in previous posts, and I will discuss the rest in future posts. But I thought it would be worthwhile listing them here.

1. The Data Problem: The amount of data needed to write a truly comprehensive plan is more than any planning agency can afford to collect. Even if collected, it is more than anyone, even with the help of computers, can comprehend.
2. The Future Problem: Writing a long-range plan requires information about the future that is unknowable, such as future technologies, costs, and personal preferences.
3. The Modeling Problem: All planning requires models, but before a model becomes complicated enough to be useful for comprehensive planning, it becomes too complicated for anyone to understand.
4. The Pace of Change Problem: By the time planners collect all available data and go through the public process of writing a comprehensive plan, conditions have changed so much that the plan is obsolete.
5. The Incentive Problem: Government planners who deal with other people’s resources, whether their land or their tax dollars, have no incentive to find the right answers because the costs of their mistakes will be imposed mostly on others.
6. The Political Problem: Ultimately, the final decision in any government plan will be made through the political process, a process which is hardly rational.
7. The Special Interest Problem: Any time you give a government agency the power to write plans for other people’s money and resources, you create incentives for special-interest groups to lobby in favor of plans that primarily benefit them. Such interest groups will not provide a balanced view; in particular, taxpayers will be underrepresented.

Any one of these reasons would be sufficient to make government planning unworkable. None of them can be solved by any technological or institutional improvement. Those who worry about externalities and other problems that planners purport to address need to find alternative solutions to their problems.

Area Proformance

The Milken Institute / Greenstreet Partners Best Performing Cities 2007, September 2007 is out and gives us some interesting ideas on how we compare to the rest of the county. You can view the full report here.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL (MSA)

Overall Rank: 13
MSA Population: 571,000

5-yr Job Growth (2000-2005)	Score: 127.17	Rank: 1
1-yr Job Growth (2004-2005)	Score: 102.81	Rank: 11
5-yr Wages & Salaries Growth (1999-2004)	Score: 142.30	Rank: 1
1-yr Wages & Salaries Growth (2003-2004)	Score: 107.10	Rank: 2
Job Growth (Mar06 - Mar07)	Growth: 3.03 %	Rank: 22
5-yr Relative HT GDP Growth (2000-2005)	Score: 93.80	Rank: 132
1-yr Relative HT GDP Growth (2004-2005)	Score: 99.70	Rank: 83
High-Tech GDP LQ - 2005	Score: 0.45	Rank: 175
# of HT GDP LQs Over 1 - 2005	Score: 4.0	Rank: 115

Zoning Road Blocks

Have you ever rely thought about how we got into the zoning mess we are in because of zoning laws. First let's check Wikipedia about Zoning. The planning sketch above illustrates why we have the traffic problems that plague our communities. If you look at the upper half of the drawing (sprawl), you will see that each development project must separately connect to the road. This means that for each trip to a different project, each car must go out onto that same road. It creates a system of non connectivity, which leads to total GRIDLOCK and CONGESTION. If you look at the bottom development (traditional town), your eye can see multiple ways to travel to you destination without every going on that one main road. And yet our planners who wrote these codes, seem unable to understand this simple concept, or do not have the political courage to find the vehicle to address this issue with the BOCC. And members of the BOCC complain about the traffic problems and the costs associated with the traffic. Then again, the BOCC seems able to think that the way to solve the problem is through moratoriums, zoning denials and the wonderful community groups that are having great input into a broken system.

There is truly, a lack of real VISION on the part of the BOCC. The real question becomes, "Are we happy with the status quo that so effects our daily life's?"

Why not put together a community road show in the form of a charrette to give the residences of the county options. Such as our current system (Euclidean), Performance, Incentive or Form Based zoning. This does not mean, creating more community groups under the cover of their having more input into their local community area. How does that work if the model that they are using is broken? Let us give the citizens of Lee County a chance to give input into a real VISION of what the county should become and not use the eighty (80) year old template! I believe as a society we have learned a lot in that time period. Just think, we have gone to the moon, and yet we are using zoning codes modeled from 1926. To give an example, look at a car from 1926 and than a new 2007 automobile. They look different. What about our zoning laws. The only thing that has changed, is that the staffs have learned how to make them more one sided (to create an advantage for the staff in reviewing projects and costly to the citizens, " The fox watching the chicken coop!"), restrictive (and not always for the communities best interest) and inflexible and slow to societies changes and requirements.

It is time for the BOCC to create a BOLD VISION and break with the past! The system is broken, let's fix it.

Smart Code

If the you were not excited with our proposal for the county to change to a "Form Based Code", how about a Smart Code as written by DPZ. Both of these alternatives are much better than our existing bureaucratic mess.

Here is the explanation from the first page of the "Smart Code" web site.

Welcome to Smart Code Central

The Smart Code is a model design and development code released by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company (DPZ) in 2003, after two decades of research and implementation.

The Smart Code is the only unified transect-based code available for all scales of planning, from the region to the community to the block and building. As a form-based code, it keeps towns compact and rural lands open, while reforming the destructive sprawl-producing patterns of separated-use zoning. The Smart Code is designed for calibration to your town or neighborhood.

Smart Code Central collects all the important components of Smart Code planning in one place. We provide up-to-date files of the latest versions of the model Smart Code, we offer supplementary Modules and Plug-Ins, and we link to all the calibrators, attorneys, and town planners who do significant work with the Smart Code.

Smart Code Central is for everyone who wants to conserve, create, and complete good places — all along the Transect.

County Growth Direction

I was reading this article in the News-Press about Commissioner Mann's comments at a recent BUPAC meeting as reported below...

Mann speaks out

Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann was the featured speaker at BUPAC (Businesspeople United for Political Action Committee) this week, where growth-related issues took up much of his address.

In about 20 years, Mann, said, experts predict Lee County will be about $2 billion behind on needed roads and highways, leading him to question why the county should move so fast to create gridlock.

“There’s 800,000 buildable lots vacant right now in Lee County, so when I said OK, no more zoning changes to allow more, I don’t think I hurt a single builder,” Mann said. “I think 800,000 new units are probably enough. People say they don’t want another Fort Lauderdale here, but that’s exactly where we’re headed. Why should we talk about granting additional density when we’re destroying our quality of life?”
With no new revenue sources in sight, and pressure growing from the state and from local residents to cut spending, Mann said the board has to look at every new service and cost.

Originally published in the News-Press by Betty Parker on 8/31/07

This gets back to an earlier post on staff "reading the tea leaves" wrong information, which . This statement is a prime example of why staff's tea leaf reading in regards to zoning can be used by staff to give the BOCCleads to them not being able to make an informed and intelligent answer for doing what is good for the county. I believe that commissioner Mann is right and what he is really saying is...we have a comprehensive plan that is in place, let's stick to it. There is no need to stray outside the confines of the plans that it currently enacted. Developers must stay within the line and policies as defined by our current land uses. At least, I think that is what he is saying. Although, he might be saying as an example, if you are in Urban Community and currently zoned AG-2, he believe that the zoning should not change, even though the code allows the land to chnge from AG-2. Stay tuned!

In the 1980's we had a commissioner who was hell bent on stopping growth. It led to a BOCC that was in turmoil at a huge cost to the residents of the county for the misdirections and roadblocks. In spite of our thick zoning books (Lee Development Code, LCD, Lee Plan, etc.) we still on the whole get poorly planned communities and mediocre houses and the growth will still happen mainly because our staff is not planning but "reading tea leaves". The only thing that can happen, is Lee County's name will be tarnished and it will take years to rebuild it when sounder minds prevail!

A One Page Vision for our County's Planning & Zoning

Let's try to create a one page Vision statement for our Counties Planning and Zoning.

1. Create a Shared Vision for the Future . . . and Stick to It

2. Provide Diverse Housing Types and Opportunities

3. Encourage mixed-use development: Integrating different land uses and varied building types allows people to work and play near where they live.

4. Use Multiple Connections to Enhance Mobility and Circulation

5. Build vibrant public spaces: Public places should be welcoming and well-defined linked green ways (pedestrian/bike)

6. Conserve landscapes: Open space and wildlife habitat should be accommodated and preserved.

7. Design on a human scale: Compact, pedestrian-friendly communities should be promoted.

8. Design Matters

9. Protect environmental resources

10. Staff accountability matters.

11. Make It Easy to Do the Right Thing

We will in the next week define each area of this Vision Statement. Even without the definitions, I can guarantee you that the results will be better than the existing 4" thick, three ring binder, open to any interpretation zoning code. It is a document of negative actions by defining what you are not allowed to do. Are any of us happy with the results of the current code?

Remember

An Example of the Vision our County Needs.

I found this article, and it struck me that the actions of the late mayor of Pittsburgh, Pa are something that would greatly help the wobbling BOCC. Not is not about volumes of words, paper and political games, but a simple well throughout, concise vision, and actions on one page and in plain English. What follows are some excerpts from the article.

From the Post-Gazette Now News- (excerpts)
O'Connor left behind one-page 'vision' for city through 2010

Eleven weeks after his inauguration, Bob O'Connor and key staff met with a consultant and began summarizing the vision critics had said he lacked and setting a course for the city during what they hoped would be just his first term as mayor.

That meeting started a behind-closed-doors process that resulted in a one-legal-size-page statement of 45 goals and strategies for the new administration. It was to be made available to all Pittsburgher's in an effort to quiet the critics and give voters the means to decide if he was fulfilling his promises.

...The vision was summarized in 33 words. "By 2010, Pittsburgh is one of the safest, cleanest cities in the country. It is a vibrant, developing city that is financially sound. All of us as Pittsburgher's are proud of our city."

Mr. O'Connor made sure that the vision and the strategies with which he would achieve it were concise. His years in the restaurant business taught him "that you had to have a clear sense of where you were trying to get to, and make it understandable so people can get behind it," said Kate Dewey, a consultant paid by a foundation to facilitate the effort.

The effort went on to involve heads of all departments, who met during the week and on Saturdays, at the Downtown office of McCrory & McDowell, where Ms. Dewey was a principal.

A set of goals emerged that were constrained by the city's iffy finances, but were all to be reached by 2010.

By early August, the plan "was wrapped up," said Ms. Dewey. "It was given back to the administration, and then so many things happened."

Under safety, Mr. O'Connor wanted to increase the visibility of the police force, the perception of safety, and the raw number of arrests. He was planning to launch a "youth-directed gun hot line," use data to target crime "hot spots" and upgrade equipment in all public safety bureaus.

He also wanted to get police out of their cars and walking streets -- a goal Mr. Ravenstahl has embraced -- improve paramedic response times and reduce fire fatalities. Potholes would be filled within 48 hours of a complaint.

He viewed cleanliness as part perception, part hard fact. He intended to track the number of clean-ups, number of residents involved in them, and how many tons of illegally dumped trash removed.

He intended to boost street resurfacing efforts and eliminate the backlog of 1,200 structures that the city condemned, but could not afford to demolish.

...A "vibrant, developing city," according to Mr. O'Connor's plan, was one with more building permits, more jobs, rising wages, affordable housing and growing population. Getting there would require a streamlined permit process and zoning, improvement of Downtown's retail core, wireless Internet access for the entire city and more public art.

...Finally, Mr. O'Connor sought "customer satisfaction." That included concrete changes like the institution of a 311 help line and better city Web site, and intangibles like "a can-do attitude." It included returning Pittsburgh "to its status as the most livable city in America."

Here are some of his "Strategies" in the one page plan:

"By 2010, Pittsburgh is one of the safest, cleanest cities in the country. It is a vibrant, developing city that is financially sound. All of us as Pittsburghers are proud of our city."

* Increase police positive interaction with residents by increasing the number of "park and walks."

* Repair potholes on average within 48 hours from identification.

* Raze/demolish more structures annually than condemn to reduce the spread of blight throughout the neighborhoods and Downtown.

* Create opportunities and a sense of pride in the city that gets Pittsburghers actively in keeping our streets, parks and public spaces clean.

* Streamline city functions and services in ways that increase productivity through better use of technology, staff and data.

* Create the systems that enable the City to be held accountable by its residents.

* Reduce zoning hurdles to stimulate more investment and development activity.

* Implement the plan for the Fifth and Market district.

* Create Internet access to city services.

* Have a "can-do" attitude and focusing on "the basics" to ensure Pittsburgh returns to its status as the most livable city in America.

Can you imagine if our BOCC had such a simple clear and concise vision/action plan, instead of volumes of paper that the staffs use to gum up the works. (See our post of September 4, 2007 Enemies of Innovation.) I believe it is called courge and leadership!

Reexamining Our Zoning Direction

If you watch Lee TV and view the Zoning hearings you will start to notice that there is a consistent pattern of non consistence from staff's findings and recommendations to the BOCC. I believe it is called "political pandering". Staff should only be reviewing projects to make sure a project fits into one of the zoning cubbie holes that have been created in the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Maps by staff. Instead their findings tend to reflect what the higher ups in Community Development believe the BOCC growth leanings are at the moment. As I have stated in the past and have been told by staff, "...they are just reading the Tea Leaves" or maybe putting their finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. THIS IS NOT THE WAY WE SHOULD BE ZONING OUR PROPERTY. It is another form of TAXING the residents of the county. Remember who pays the bills for all the wasted time, energy and consultant fees...the rsidents each time the use, rent or purchase anything that has gone through the zoning process. In the end, you must ask, "Are you happy with the results from these zoning shenanigans??? If the answer is no, maybe the BOCC should sunset the process and a new form of zoning approved. I believe FORM BASED ZONING may be a better direction for the county.

If you go the the Form Based Codes Institute you will find a wealth of information and links to give you a through understanding of the process and why it is better than the arbitrary and arcane system we now have in place.

Definition of a Form-Based Code
Draft Date: June 27, 2006

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, and 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.

Form-based codes are drafted to achieve a community vision based on time-tested forms of urbanism. Ultimately, a form-based code is a tool; the quality of development outcomes is dependent on the quality and objectives of the community plan that a code implements.

Form-based codes commonly include the following elements:

•	Regulating Plan. A plan or map of the regulated area designating the locations where different building form standards apply, based on clear community intentions regarding the physical character of the area being coded.
•	Building Form Standards. Regulations controlling the configuration, features, and functions of buildings that define and shape the public realm.
•	Public Space/Street Standards. Specifications for the elements within the public realm (e.g., sidewalks, travel lanes, street trees, street furniture, etc.).
•	Administration. A clearly defined application and project review process.
•	Definitions. A glossary to ensure the precise use of technical terms.

Form-based codes also sometimes include:

•	Architectural Standards. Regulations controlling external architectural materials and quality.
•	Annotation. Text and illustrations explaining the intentions of specific code provisions.

A Camel is a Horse Designed by a Committee

I found this guest opinion in last weeks Florida Weekly by former county commissioner Charlie Bigelow. I have always felt that Charlie holds one of the must intellectually honest positions on government and how it serves or does not serve the people it represents. He also speaks very candidly of the politics of local government.

A camel is a horse designed by a committee
BY CHARLIE BIGELOW

Could it be that Lee County government seems awkward because it is led by a committee? This is one of the questions the Lee County Charter review committee is considering.

Florida Weekly was the first to report tension in the working relationships within the Lee County government. Following that report, The News-Press has become obsessed with personality conflicts which, to their blindered eyes, define the present board and impairs its effectiveness.

Some on the charter review committee suspect there is more to explore than personality conflicts. They think the structure of county government itself should be examined. Unlike The News-Press' criticism, psychoanalysis of individual commissioners is unnecessary. Indeed, structural analysis accepts conflict as the norm to be embraced - or at least accepted - rather than avoided.

For the mere voter the underlying question is: Who is responsible for the way things go in county government? We always wonder about this when elections approach. Whether we seek to demand a new direction or express our faith in the status quo, we need to know who is responsible.

In the typical urban government format, a mayor is the designated political leader. In state government, it is the governor. On the federal level, the president is the one. In each instance, the elected executive is primarily responsible for setting the course. But, in the traditional county government, no one is the designated leader. Every one is responsible, so no one is.

Under these ambiguous circumstances, the meaning of our votes is often unclear. Not long ago, The News-Press' Betty Parker reported that some in the courthouse construed the last election to be a mandate for change. Others, she said, pointed to the reelection of Tammy Hall, a strong advocate for staying the present course, as proof to the contrary. In the presence of a muddled mandate, there is no direction from voters. Everyone is free to claim the voters' mandate supports their vision. And they do.

The approach that some on the review committee are suggesting, is to elect a county executive or "mayor." This is an emerging national trend and one of the alternative forms of charter government permitted as county governments adapt to urbanization. Two urban Florida counties have adopted different variations of this form in their pursuit of more accountable and responsive political leadership.

This movement toward the elected executive is not a step back in time. It does not replace professional management with politics. The professional manager continues as the administrator or chief of staff just as he does under the existing Lee Charter.

What the elected executive form does that Lee County's charter does not is create one elected head of government to work in concert with the legislative branch. One political executive mandated to be responsible for leading the effort to set the right course according to the voters' will.

Each of the two urban Florida counties adopting a variation of the elected executive head of government has adopted a different variation. Most of the differences involve the mayor's duties and powers . But both create a designated leader elected countywide, a legislative commission, some or all of whom are elected from single member districts and a professional manager of the staff.

Orange County, the home of Disney World, adopted the elected executive form several years ago when it had about the same population as Lee County does now. Current U.S. Senator Mel Martinez served as "county mayor" during some of the most explosive urban growth in Florida. Orange's legislative body is a seven member commission all elected from single member districts. The commissioners and the Mayor are limited to two terms. This is like the strong mayor system common in large cities.

Volusia County adopted the elected executive in a different format. The political head of government is the County Chair who is elected at large to a four-year term and is a part of the legislative commission. The commission consists of seven members, five of whom are elected from single member districts and two elected countywide (including the county chair.) The professional staff is managed by a professional manager selected by the commission. This is like the weak mayor form common in middle-sized cities. Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs each follow this format.

The tensions within the Lee County Commission, more ideological than personal, have focused attention on how Lee County government works or fails to work. Certainly structural reform is not a sure cure for what ails us. There is no perfect system of government or even one that the wrong combination of politicians cannot foul up. But consideration of the two systemic changes made by a pair of comparable Florida counties is inviting because they put the voters back in charge.

Charlie Bigelow is a longtime

Fort Myers attorney and former Lee

County Commissioner.

Enemies of Innovation

I found this report by IBM Business Consulting Services and thought it should be mandatory reading for anyone who must deal with our Community Development department.

Enemies of innovation: What they look like, and how not to become one.
October 2005

Executive summary – Understanding opposition to innovation can help protect and strengthen the initiative. In addition, the same characteristics that are found in opponents often are found in innovators themselves. When they can be acknowledged and dealt with, the potential for success can be improved, in many cases.

This Executive Technology Report is based on a personal essay by Peter Andrews, Consulting Faculty Member at the IBM Executive Business Institute in Palisades,
New York.

Innovations usually fail because they were bad ideas to begin with. One in a million genetic mutations is beneficial, and I sometimes think humans have a success rate
that is only slightly better. Blaming others for the failure of an innovation is usually a mistake and a distraction. It is much more likely that the environment (timing, resources and competition) was wrong or the execution was faulty. However, there are active innovation killers out there. Most are “just doing their jobs,” but, from an innovator’s perspective, it doesn’t
make any difference whether the creation was blocked by ineptitude or malice. Recognizing the enemies of innovation can be an important step toward preparing a defense. It can also help you avoid becoming one. Here are my top six:

1. Bureaucrat. The job of the bureaucrat is to help ensure consistency, set
limits and reduce risk. It’s not hard to understand why these goals would be
at odds with innovation, especially 1) as rules, classifications and
processes begin to age, or 2) something really new and “out-of-the-box” is
in play. The damage that can be done includes slowing progress, draining
talent and initiating specific prohibitions.

• Bureaucrat quotes – “That’s not allowed.” “Fill out this form.” “Use the process.” “Propose this next year; you just missed the budget cycle.” “Your project will create unacceptable exposures.”
• Unkindest cut – Killing the innovation with imaginary downsides.
• Value – Clearly articulates the status quo that must be addressed.

2. Gatekeeper. This person blocks access to resources, power and decision makers. The Gatekeeper can starve an innovation. He or she can establish unrealistic criteria and set the bar at a height that is unreachable.

• Gatekeeper quotes – “Has this been approved by X?” “How does this fit our business model?” This isn’t in the plan.” “What’s the ROI?” “This doesn’t score well.” “No one else has shown success here, sorry.”
• Unkindest cut – Frittering away all advantage by stalling
• Value – Saving you from embarrassing yourself in front of an executive and pointing you toward folks who can help.

3. Deadbeat sponsor. A champion of innovations must have an attention span greater than that of a gnat. Real innovations stumble, miss deadlines and fail. Executives who pull resources and don’t return phone calls cannot only starve an innovation, but make it unavailable to more appropriate sponsors.

• Deadbeat sponsor quotes – “Let’s study this some more.” “Everyone is taking a ten percent cut.” “We are redirecting operations.”
• Unkindest cut – Hollowing out the project, then replacing the staff.
• Value – Leads to exploration of other options, including informal routes.

4. Wimp. Some people on an innovation team are jet propellers and some are anchors. Innovating is necessarily a delicate activity, and those who are negative, inept or unreliable jeopardize the whole operation. (Grouchy people, on the other hand, are just fine. And don’t argue with me about it.)

• Wimp quotes – “Sorry, I don’t have it.” “I can’t work with X.” “Can we reschedule (again)?” “Yes (meaning no).”
• Unkindest cut – Disrupting and maligning the team.
• Value – These people make you treasure those who have talent, optimism, persistence and commitment.

5. Owner. Generally, power is more important than success to the Owner. The Owner is often a pop-up enemy, appearing out of nowhere to claimnjurisdiction over a whole realm of human activity (as in, “I own security.”) The Owner stakes out his or her claim by denying the innovator access to authority, resources and even legitimacy. What they can’t kill outright, they
grab in a hostile (and often corrupt) takeover.

• Owner quotes – “We’re already taking care of this.” “You don’t understand this.” “I’m shutting you down.”
• Unkindest cut – Grabbing your best people.
• Value – Helps you define your position in terms of your market and your benefits.

6. Rival. Competitors, both inside and outside the company, pull every trick imaginable. If they move faster, maneuver better, adapt more quickly and execute more effectively for advantage, then shame on you. If they co-opt your ideas, at least the innovation moves forward. If they slander you or your work, that’s a different matter. If they pull rank and use the hierarchy,
bureaucrats and gatekeepers against you, there’s an important lesson there. The most troublesome rivals change the context. They manage the measurements of success, and they spin the story.

• Rival quotes – “Mine is better.” “I am better.” “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
• Unkindest cut – Being right.
• Value – Creates urgency and force re-evaluation. There are other enemies, of course. There are those who steal ideas, abandon partners, grab the pizzazz and destroy the spirit of a project, or just drape the innovation in “an ugly dog suit” so no one will come near. But the most common enemy is closer at hand.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” – Pogo

Usually, the enemy cannot actually stop an innovation. Innovators have a lot of cards in their hands, including vision, creativity and imagination. But innovation is hard, so innovators need to be persistent. They need to build alliances. They need to find alternatives. People who are inflexible, credit-hogging, unfocused, sloppy loners do not make good innovators. The best innovators often have a generosity of spirit, an openness to the ideas of others and a sense of purpose that enemies rarely can match.

Related Web sites of interest

Creativity: Concepts and tools http://www.infinitefutures.com/resources/frm/frmcreativity.html
See especially the Innovation Roles list.

“Team dimensions profile: Helping people work more effectively in teams.”Momentum Coaching. http://www.momentumcoaching.com/care.html

Drucker on innovation

http //blogs.salon.com/0002007/categories/businessInnovation/2003/11/13.html#a515
Go to the original book (Innovation & Entrepreneurship at http://www.peterdrucker.
com/books/0887306187.html ), or read the precis in this blog.

“Primary difference between innovation and operations.” Ten3 Business e-Coach.

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/innovation_vs_operations.html

Kamm, Lawrence. “Responses to your new ideas.” Consulting Engineering.

http://www.ljkamm.com/inov.htm A collection from sympathetic to hostile.

Habits that block creativity http://www.carleton.ca/~gkardos/88403/CREAT/Block4.html
Meyer, Marcy. “Innovation Roles: From Souls of Fire to Devil's Advocates.”
The Journal of Business Communication, October 1, 2000.

I recently was talking to a land use attorrney and he asked me why I thought all the strip centers in South Fort Myers looked the same, and I said lack of innovation on the developers part. He responded, no, it is the concept all the consultants knows that staff will approve. Remember the old saying, "You can tell the pioneer, he has all the arrows in his back!"

Labor Day

Hope you had a happy and safe Labor Day! According to the U.S. Department of Labor here is the history of Labor Day...

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.