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RESOURCES REGARDING THE CURRENT DEBATE IN COLUMBIA Memorandum Regarding Subdivisions, McMansions, and Demolitions - September 5, 2007 by Marc Mylott, Director of Development Services This memorandum was preprared by Mr Mylott in response to the City Council meeting and hearing on August 9, 2007. It addresses the Dorsey/Lewis plan and offers concrete recommendations for amendments to the current zoning regulations to address demolitions, subdivision of lots and moving structures. Read the memorandum... Memorandum Regarding Subdivisions, McMansions, and Demolitions - August 9, 2007 by Marc Mylott, Director of Development Services This memorandum was preprared by Mr Mylott in response to City Council's request for a list of suggestions to be used to address the practice of subdivision of lots, outsize houses, and demolitions. Read the memorandum... CITY OF COLUMBIA RESOURCES The City of Columbia Planning & Development Services Web Site Includes information about the Planning Department, Development Services Department, City Codes, Ordinances & Regulations, Maps, and the Design/Development Review Commission (DDRC) which is key to the interim plan for controlling infill development. Go to the web site... CODE OF ORDINANCES, City of COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA Chapter 17 covers PLANNING, LAND DEVELOPMENT AND ZONING. Read the codes... OTHER RESOURCES Smart Growth Online In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development patterns -- dominated by what some call "sprawl" -- are no longer in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities, or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it further out. Spurring the smart growth movement are demographic shifts, a strong environmental ethic, increased fiscal concerns, and more nuanced views of growth. The result is both a new demand and a new opportunity for smart growth. The features that distinguish smart growth in a community vary from place to place. In general, smart growth invests time, attention, and resources in restoring community and vitality to center cities and older suburbs. New smart growth is more town-centered, is transit and pedestrian oriented, and has a greater mix of housing, commercial and retail uses. It also preserves open space and many other environmental amenities. The Smart Growth Online web site...Out With the Old, in With the New: The Cost of Teardowns By Lane Kendig Published in ZONINGPRACTICE 6.05 a publication of the AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Usually that replacement building is much larger and often of a different character than the original, affecting both adjacent landowners and the neighborhood-sometimes positively, but most often negatively. Few issues define the modern planning dilemma like residential teardowns. The number of research inquiries on teardowns logged by APA's Planning Advisory Service reflects planners' concerns that teardowns are a clear and present threat to community character, housing affordability, and historic preservation. There is also no shortage of media coverage on this issue as it plagues older suburbs, gentrifying urban neighborhoods, and resort communities. In a sense, communities at risk for teardowns are victims of their own success. But are teardowns a symptom of a throwaway culture or a necessary byproduct of modernization? In this issue of Zoning Practice, planning consultant Lane Kendig examines the nature of this landuse phenomenon and provides helpful zoning tools for planners grappling with it. Read more... Article provided by Marc Mylott, City of Columbia Director of Development Services Form-Based Development Codes By David Rouse, AICP, and Nancy Zobl, AICP Published in ZONINGPRACTICE 05.04 a publication of the AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION New development codes are emerging that focus on regulating physical form as an alternative to conventional Euclidean zoning. Form-based coding emerged out of the New Urbanist movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. New Urbanism is based on the concept of walkable neighborhoods and small towns, with the compact, mixed-use development patterns of the pre-World War II era as models. Form-based coding is a regulatory approach designed to shape the physical form of development while setting only broad parameters for use. According to Peter Katz, former director of the Congress for the New Urbanism and a proponent of this approach, form-based codes focus on what is desirable rather than what is forbidden, the underlying principles having their foundation in a vision or plan developed through community workshops and charrettes. Regulatory standards prescribe physical elements, such as building height, setbacks, lot size, parking location, etc., to achieve quality design in context with surrounding areas. They also seek to integrate private development with the public realm, typically addressing the character of civic buildings, public streets, and civic spaces. Read more... Article provided by Marc Mylott, City of Columbia Director of Development Services Growing by Choice or Chance "Communities in South Carolina have an opportunity to 'grow by choice, not by chance,' through more efficient land use that decreases the amount of land developed to accommodate population growth, and offers more variety in how people live, work and shop, according to a report recently issued by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the South Carolina Real Estate Center (SCREC) at the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business. Read more from the Smart Growth web site... The Atlanta Infill Development Panel is a group of professional organizations that have focused their knowledge, experience and resources on the issue of infill development in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The work of the Panel is applicable to virtually all domestic U.S. municipalities because so many cities are struggling with the same issues. This site, hosted by American Institute of Architects Atlanta Chapter, recounts the exhaustive research and the comprehensive report which was developed. Read more... SPECIAL FOCUS >> RETHINKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING DESIGN Break Out of the Box How community input is driving new affordable housing designs It started in June 2001 with a survey asking neighbors and residents of Seattle's High Point development which of seven housing types they preferred for the site. Charrettes, or community design meetings, followed a year later. In November 2002, members of a resident design committee spent two hours poring over apartment floor plans and suggesting where to place interior doors and add entry areas. One of the architects showed how his firm had incorporated earlier community ideas into the project design. A month later, the committee voted on which features to include in a series of neighborhood parks. That sort of intensive focus on detail, coupled with back-and-forth communication between neighborhood residents and the architects and developers, was a hallmark of the High Point rehab project, spearheaded by the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA). Read more from Affordable Housing Finance Magazine... The Not So Big House Sarah Susanka, Author "The inspiration for The Not So Big House came from a growing awareness that new houses were getting bigger and bigger but with little redeeming design merit. The problem is that comfort has almost nothing to do with how big a space is. It is attained, rather, by tailoring our houses to fit the way we really live, and to the scale and proportions of our human form." Read more... DeKalb (County, Georgia) Infill Task Force "The DeKalb Infill Task Force was formed when the infill tear-down trend burst into Oak Grove. The group drafted a packet of proposed changes to the countywide zoning code and hopes to have some measures adopted late this summer by the DeKalb County Commission. Local interest in the effort is so high that nearly 300 people attended a meeting this month to hear proposals and make their own suggestions." DeKalb Infill Task Force If you have resources pertinent to infill development, please send us a link to the information at cnfaid@dmzgraphics.com |