Form-based Codes: When and How They are Useful

VERMONT DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE
Form-Based Codes:
When and How They are Useful
November 5, 2014
Steven Cecil AIA ASLA
The Cecil Group
VERMONT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE | 2014 | Form Based Codes | Steven Cecil AIA ASLA | 1

Introduction
Topic:
Form-Based Codes: When and How they Are Useful
 Shaping Communities: Design, Culture and Economics
 Form-Based Zoning 101
Comments and Questions: Tales from the Towns
 Potential Benefits and Drawbacks
 Case Studies
 Observations: Form-Based Zoning and Vermont
Discussion

Introduction
Speaker Steven Cecil AIA ASLA
 Principal: The Cecil Group, Boston
 Practice Focus: Planning, urban design and
townscapes for new England communities
 Disciplines: Urban design, urban planning,
architecture, landscape architecture, environmental
planning
 Clients: Municipalities, public agencies and
development authorities, developers, institutions

Introduction
Speaker Steven Cecil AIA ASLA
 Background and Form-Based Zoning:
o Preparation of form-based zoning for municipalities
o Preparation and negotiation of design standards and form-based
regulations for private development entities
o Advisory services for communities: when to use or when not to use
form-based codes and other innovative tools
o Publications, lectures and workshops on this topic

Shaping Communities: Design, Culture and Economics
The Form of Communities
 The physical shape and appearance of communities is
the resolution of shared and private interests that are
the result of design, cultural and economic
influences.
 The process of shaping
communities in New
England legally and
pragmatically requires an
active municipal
government role today –
and always has.

Forms to Think About: Prototypes
What shapes communities?
What shapes our perceptions and interpretation of
these forms?

 Lebanon (CT) and its
Town Green

 Concord (MA) and its
village centers
o Center
o Thoreau Depot
o West Concord

 Dover (NH) and its
industrial heritage…a
river runs through it

 Sudbury and the Role
of Roads:
o Post Road
o Rail
o Auto Routes

 Boston as a layered
community

Challenges in Shaping Communities
 Adapting to change
 Balancing public interests and private choices
 Providing effective frameworks for shared needs
(infrastructure, streets, roads, parcelization)
 Supporting the health, safety and welfare of
communities

Form-Based Codes 101
The Origins and Evolution of Zoning
 Early 20th century
 Government reform and
progressive movements
 Urban planning as a
physical planning
profession
 Euclidean zoning (that’s
Euclid, Ohio, not the
mathematician…)

The Origins and Evolution of Form-Based Codes
 Reaction to development and infrastructure patterns
that did not support, or actively harmed, communities
 Reaction to modern movement in city planning and
architectural design (“post-modernism”)
 New urbanism movement
 Assertion of urban design
that is neither architecture nor
civil engineering
Illustration from the
Pleasant Hill BART Station Property Code

The Origins and Evolution of Form-Based Codes
Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)
 Founded in 1993 and dedicated to promoting mixed-use
neighborhood development and healthier living conditions.
Seaside Florida and Other Planned Development
 1981 Seaside Development Code was the first modern
day application of FBC.
Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND)
 Late 1980’s, early 1990’s several cities and counties in
the southeast adopted FBC in the form of TND ordinances.
The SmartCode
 Released in 2003
 Model transect-based development code applied to all
scales of planning
 SmartCode Version 9.2 - Open source document available
today
From “Greenfields” to Existing Built Environments
 Over the past 10 years, FBC has been applied city-wide as
well as to districts targeted for revitalization and
redevelopment.
Example of an early application of
Form-Based Zoning Principles:
Mashpee Commons,
Cavendish Partnership

What is a “Form-Based Code”?
 Reconfiguration of the rules for development with a
focus on creating physically integrated and coordinated
development patterns for large areas by…
o Shaping relationships among private redevelopment, public space and
facilities, and infrastructure
o Creating texture in the physical fabric of communities by
acknowledging the need for fine-grained relationships among uses,
spaces and circulation
o Introducing urban design, architecture and landscape architecture into
land use regulations to increase value
o Facilitating diverse and mixed uses

The Components of Form-Based Codes
 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Regulating Plan, Manchester CT
Form -Based Code

 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Transect Diagrams for New Development, The
Cecil Group with Concord Square Associates

 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Site Type Diagrams, Draft Form-Based
Zoning, Amherst, MA
The Cecil Group

 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Site Type Diagrams, Draft Form-
Based Zoning, Amherst, MA
The Cecil Group

 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Street Type Standards, Manchester, CT
Form Based Code,
The Cecil Group

 Regulating Plan
 Transects
 Sites
 Buildings
 Streets
 Other Elements
Illustration from Tiverton, RI
Form Based Code,
The Cecil Group and Union Studio

Methods for Creating Form-Based Codes
 Evaluation (“Calibration”)
Workshops (“Charrette”)
 Visual Preference Analysis (“VPS”)
 Design Standards (“FBC”)

Example: Visual Preference Survey
Visual Preference Survey Results,
Manchester, CT
The Cecil Group

Evolution of Form-Based Codes
 Form-Based Codes were initially created and used for
greenfield development planning and approvals.
 They are now being adapted to existing communities
as “hybrid codes.”
Form-Based Codes are being
strongly promoted by smart growth
and sustainability advocates,
municipal planners and public
officials, along with professionals
who prepare them.
Great Pond Development Concept Plan
Windsor, CT
Winstanley Enterprises LLC

FBC can be thought of as a brand
 Value system
 Brand promise
 Origin narrative
 Rituals
 Language
 Disciples
 Demons
CNU
Calibration
VPS
Transects
FBC
TND
BMP’s
Regulating Plans…

Observations
 Form-Based Codes are powerful tools.
 They are not right for every circumstance, but can be
very beneficial in particular cases.
 They need to be drafted and used with great care.
 The advocacy, formulation and adoption of these
codes has important political, legal and economic
implications that need to be considered.
 Form-Based Codes are a trend, trendy and often linked
to other planning, design and community agendas.

Tales from the Towns
 Are Form-Based Codes being
promoted, planned and
implemented in your
community?
 How have you learned about this
type of zoning?
 What impact could they have in
your community?

Potential Benefits and Drawbacks
Potential Benefits
More predictable review and approval process leading
to development rights (“entitlements”)
 Comprehensive entitlement strategy for large and
complex projects, creating community support through
a consensus-building process
 Enhanced value and quality assurance for new
development and renovations in an entire district
 Method to link public realm and private realm
investments

Potential Pitfalls
 Overly restrictive standards that block feasible
redevelopment, resulting in no substantial reinvestment
 Codifications of preferences that cannot be achieved,
including topics such as parking standards, building
scale, infrastructure or public benefits
 Planning processes that misuse seductive visualization
and misrepresent the roles and responsibilities and
outcomes, leading to unfounded public expectations
 Legal risks – including regulations that do not adhere
to legal standards

Misalignment with Market Trends
 Automobiles and community design - antipathy for cars
that does not take into account fundamental
transportation and market conditions
Concept Illustration
Woodmont Commons, Londonderry NH
Duany Plater - Zyberk & Company

 Building scales – Restrictions on building dimensions
that are not consistent with feasible development
Excerpt
Form-Based Code
Poughkeepsie, NY Waterfront

 Mix of uses – Combinations of uses that are not
consistent with market conditions, particularly in regards
to the timing, amount and distribution of retail uses
Image from the Master Plan for
Southfield (former South
Weymouth Naval Air Station,
SMWM Prime Consultant

 Building or site development costs – Design standards
that cannot practically be accomplished
Draft Form-Based Code
for the Tri-Town
Development Area,
Massachusetts

Alignment with Market Trends
 Current trends in retail development: place-making
 Value derived from civic spaces and attractive streets
 Preferences for sustainable practices
 Value associated with pedestrian-oriented districts
 Preferences for traditional village development
South Norwalk (CT) TOD Master Plan
The Cecil Group
Rendering by Beinfield Architecture, PC

Case Studies
Form-Based Code, Manchester, CT
o Focused on underutilized
commercial land
o Accompanied acquisition of large
areas by the municipality for a
Request for Development
Proposals
Illustrations from the Manchester Code, The Cecil Group

Case Studies
Village Center Zoning, Amherst, MA
o Initiative to create compact village
centers as a future pattern of
development
o Narrowly defeated at two town
meetings; unfamiliar approach and
fears of expanded student housing
in multifamily developments raised
by residents in nearby low density
neighborhoods
o Implementation being advanced
through proposed incremental
changes rather than as a
comprehensive zoning package
Illustrations, Draft Zoning for North Amherst and Atkins Corner,
Amherst, Massachusetts, The Cecil Group

Case Studies
Tri-Town Form-Based Initiative, Massachusetts
o Coordinated planning for
redevelopment of large land areas in
three towns (Andover, Tewksbury,
Wilmington) including planning for a
new interstate interchange
o Preparation of coordinated
proposals for form-based zones in
all three towns
o Professional evaluation of potential
economic and real estate impacts
indicated that some form-based
provisions would significantly
impede feasible redevelopment
o Zoning proposals rejected at town
meetings

Case Studies
Woodmont Commons, Londonderry, NH
o Professional advocacy of form-based
zoning by the peer review
professional team
o Preparation of detailed design
guidelines by the proponent similar
to form-based zoning as part of a
master planned development
provision in the existing zoning,
leading to approval of the master
plan
o Establishment of formulas and
allocation of uses, density and
subsequent project review and
approval process Woodmont Common Master Plan Illustration
Woodmont Commons Planning Team
The Cecil Group/Shook Kelley/Chellman

Case Studies
Woodmont Commons, Londonderry, NH
o Example of flexible application of
standards: compliance alternative
mechanism is built into the approved
master plan that implements the
zoning
o Compliance alternative – a project
may be approved in regards to certain
standards if both the proponent and
the permit granting authority agree that
the alternative approach meets a list of
planning and design principles at least
as well as the requirements that would
otherwise apply to the project
o Avoids the need for zone changes or
variances in many cases
Woodmont Common Master Plan Illustration
Woodmont Commons Planning Team
The Cecil Group/Shook Kelley/Chellman

Observations on Form-Based Codes and Vermont
Developer Opportunities
 Identify and support concepts that are
aligned with market conditions
 Use form-based methods for large
projects as a type of master plan
zoning to advance planning for
projects and zoning simultaneously
 Promote useful flexibility through
compliance alternative mechanisms

VERMONT DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE
Form-Based Codes:
When and How They are Useful
November 5, 2014
Steven Cecil AIA ASLA
The Cecil Group

Form-based Codes: When and How They are Useful

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