Implementation of
Design Guidelines
Caleb Racicot
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
Community Planning Academy
October 22, 2008
Background
Our Firm:
• 15 years of enhancing communities
• 25 full-time employees in a studio
environment
• Full-service planning and architecture firm
Our Focus:
• Community Design: neighborhood and
town planning, small area and corridor
planning
• Coding: Zoning codes and design
guidelines
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Background
Design Guidelines:
Public
• Hapeville Architectural Design Standards
• Dalton Historic Infill Standards
• Bells Ferry Road
• Blythewood, SC
• Emory Village
Private:
• WestTown
• Stonecrest
• Glenwood Park
• Wade Green Road
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Background
Projects:
Planning:
• Vickery
• Glenwood Park
• Edgewood Retail District
• Downtown Woodstock
Architecture:
• Glenwood Park
• Cosmopolitan at Lindbergh
• Downtown Woodstock
• Cornerstone Square
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Background
How do we get there?
Design Guidelines/
Community Vision
??????
1. Enlightened developers or
2. Governmental mandate
- Codes and ordinances that reflect the vision!
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Built Project
Background
Codes:
Urban Core
• Downtown Atlanta
• Midtown Atlanta
• Lindbergh
• Hapeville MU
• MRC, MR, NC
Town Center
• Woodstock
• Lawrenceville
• Hapeville UV
• Garden City
• Bells Ferry
• Stonecrest (private)
Neighborhood
• Oak Ridge, TN
• Mechanicsville
• Vickery (private)
• Glenwood Park (private)
• West Town (private)
• Clark’s Grove (private)
Historic District
• Dalton, GA
• Piedmont Avenue
• Fairlie-Poplar
• Emory Village
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Following completion of design guidelines,
options to codify them include:
•
•
•
•
•
Conditions of rezoning
Overlay district
Amended base district
New base district
Citywide mandate
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Conditions of Rezoning:
•
Rezoning is conditioned on meeting
design guidelines.
Advantages
• Works well for large projects.
• Allows community to wave standards that
may be inappropriate for a given site.
• May eliminate the need for variances.
• Allows guidelines to be tested before they
are applied to a larger area.
MARTA’s Lindbergh City Center rezoning was
conditioned on meeting the urban design
standards for the Lindbergh area.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Condition of Rezoning:
Disadvantages
• Inappropriate for infill or
redevelopment areas.
• Adjacent sites without rezoning are
not held to standards.
MARTA’s Lindbergh City Center rezoning was
conditioned on meeting the urban design
standards for the Lindbergh area.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Overlays:
•
•
Base zoning remains.
New requirements applied “in addition
to” base zoning.
Advantages
• Works well where several districts
exist but consistent design is desired
• Avoids challenges associated with
changing base zoning – may be
politically easier.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Overlays:
Disadvantages
• Often not more permissive than base
zoning.
• Can create confusion when
contradictions exist.
Most historic districts are a form of overlay
administered by a historic review board.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Base District Amendment:
•
Incorporate standards into current
zoning text.
Advantages
• Does not require zoning map change.
• Avoids potential contradictions.
Disadvantages
• May be perceived as a greater threat
than an overlay.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
New Districts:
• Create new zoning district
• Rezone an area to district.
Advantages
• Can be customized as needed.
• Avoids potential contradictions of
overlays.
Disadvantages
• May be perceived as a greater threat
than an overlay.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Jurisdictional Mandate:
•
•
Applies to all areas of a community.
May be via:
– Zoning ordinance text
amendment
– Creation of a new chapter
Advantages
•
•
•
Ensures consistent standards.
Avoids need to amend each zoning
district.
Works well in compact communities
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Coding Options
Jurisdictional Mandate:
Disadvantages
• May be politically challenging.
• May not be precise enough,
communities are very diverse.
• If a separate chapter, may conflict
with zoning, other; which prevails?
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
• Design-based codes are more difficult
to administer than conventional
codes.
• Regulations must be matched to
administrative resources.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
Options for compliance review:
• Standard review process
• Administrative process
• Board process
Site Plan/Use
Building Design
Building Code/
Life Safety
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
Standard Review Process:
• Application proceeds through usual
channels.
• No special permits needed.
• Variations granted by BZA/ZBA.
Advantages
• Does not require additional processes.
Disadvantages
• Existing entities may not be qualified to
review plans.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
Administrative Process:
• A new type of permit (e.g. special administrative permit) is created.
• Allows administrative variations if consistent with the code’s intent.
Advantages
• Can speed up review process.
• Effective for complex projects, especially infill.
Disadvantages
• Official may not be qualified to review plans.
• May be politically difficult to give administrative powers to official.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Review Process
Administrative Process:
Administrative Permit Review Board
• Reviews plans
• Makes recommendation to administrative
official.
Advantages
• Community can appoint qualified board
members.
Disadvantages
• May take longer than administrative permit.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Potential Members
• Architects
• Developers
• Business owners
• Landscape architects
• Planners
• Residents
Typical terms of 1 to
3 years
Review Process
Board Process
• Special group to review permits for design
– May have approval authority
– May make recommendation to Planning Commission
• Historic Preservation Committee:
– Provides a “certificate of appropriateness,” usually for historic
areas
• Design Review Board
– Makes recommendation, or issues a “design review permit”
Advantages
• Often qualified board members.
Disadvantages
• HPC may be too slanted towards preservation concerns.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Local Examples
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
City of Hapeville
• Urban Village Zoning
• “Architectural Review Standards”
– Regulate building design citywide.
• Design Review Committee (DRC):
– “…review all construction projects requiring
a building permit for conformance with the
new architectural design guidelines.”
• Site plan regulated by Planning
Commission
• All standards, zoning regulations, and
subdivision regulations are
coordinated.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
City of Hapeville
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
City of Woodstock
• Downtown zoning code
• Planning commission site plan
review
• Administrative permit
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
City of Woodstock
2008 CNU
Charter Award
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh MARTA Station Area
• New zoning district – SPI 15
– Not an overlay
• Administrative permit
– 30 day process
• Design Review Committee
– Reviews permit requests
– Make recommendation to administrative
official
• MARTA site (Lindbergh City
Center) controlled by zoning
conditions.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh City Center
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh City Center
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh City Center
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh City Center
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Cosmopolitan on Lindbergh
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh Plaza
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh Plaza
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh Plaza
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh Plaza
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Lindbergh Plaza
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Conclusion
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Conclusion
• Proper codification of guidelines is
necessary to achieving your vision.
• Regulations must be tailored to
administrative capacity.
• Several options exist for code review:
– Standard process, administrative, board-based
• There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution,
you must determine which works best for
your community.
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Questions?
Caleb Racicot
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
1389 Peachtree Street NE, Ste. 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-873-6730
cracicot@tunspan.com
www.tunspan.com
IMPLEMENTING DESIGN GUIDELINES
Community Planning Academy
Implementation of
Design Guidelines
Caleb Racicot
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
Community Planning Academy
October 22, 2008