form-based code

With Downtown in the midst of a renaissance (See recent CSBJ article, ‘Skyscraper’ points toward Springs Future), it’s time to focus some attention and love to …

In the year of Seaside’s fortieth anniversary, it seemed appropriate to reflect back on the many years and generations of the new urbanism movement. Seaside was …

Today, I am prepared (if I see that it is needed) to address the Colorado Springs City Council regarding the removal of an extra regulatory hoop in the path of progress. Approximately three years ago, Downtown Stakeholders rallied around Colorado Springs Planners Ryan Tefertiller and Meghan Riesterer in adopting The Downtown Form-based Code. The code was one that provides a framework of what is desired downtown, rather than regulating what we do not want. It is a mind shift from the status quo of a Euclidian Code which exists in the remainder of the City.

Euclidean zoning codes have created numerous headaches for public and private planners, developers, property owners, architects, planning officials, contractors, and common community residents for several years now. Many of the inherent problems of Euclidean zoning are not realized until many years after a zoning decision has been made.

The evolution of the big box has become a fairly predictable life cycle for most cities across the country. Larger cities and their respective suburban communities were the first to realize that the expected life of the big box was short-lived.

Colorado Springs' Downtown Form-based Codes has now been in effect for over one year now. The changes in the code for Colorado Springs were beneficial modifications for neighboring property owners, downtown visitors, users and developers. Not only is the downtown form-based code now more appropriate for downtown, which formerly allowed conventional suburban development to impose itself in a pedestrian setting, but the process and predictability are now much greater.

Existing Mission Trace Shopping Center. Proposed Retrofit of the Mission Trace Shopping Center. Thursday evening of this past week, I gave a presentation on new urbanism …