Concepts Flashcards
Superblocks
Associated with Corbusier, Clarence Perry’s neighborhood unit, applied in Radburn (New Jersey) by Clarence Stein and Harry Wright, and seen in urban renewal public housing projects.
Interior of the block limited to pedestrian and slow-moving vehicles. Major transportation routes, commerce delegated to the exterior.
Edge City
-5 million or more square feet of leasable office space.
-Has 600,000 square feet or more of leasable retail space.
-Has more jobs than bedrooms.
-Is perceived by the population as one place
-Was nothing like a “city” as recently as 30 years ago.
Joel Garreau’s 1991 book “Edge City”
What is zoning?
Regulatory process that controls the location and intensity of specific land uses.
It is based on the POLICE POWER, the authority of state/local governments to regulate private actions to promote health, safety and welfare.
Typically regulates land use, lot size (density), lot coverage (FAR), setbacks, building heights, parking requirements, landscape requirements.
What is cumulative zoning? (Pyramid zoning)
Uses automatically accumulate from one district to each successive one. Assumes that some land use categories such as residential deserve higher protection than the most intense districts. Ex. L1 allows R1 and C1 uses.
What is exclusive (Euclidean) zoning?
No uses allowed except for those which the district was created. Intended to guard against incompatibility.
What is the difference between a conditional use and a variance?
A conditional use is defined in the code and is subject to interpretation. Typically goes through a public hearing process.
A variance is a relaxation of the zoning owing to hardship conditions of a specific property. Financial considerations are not reasons for the required hardship. Providing a zoning variance may not be contrary to the public interest.
What are intensity requirements designed to accomplish?
Intensity requirements regulate density. The smaller the lot, the greater the intensity. Ex. In multi-family housing developments, PUDs, and mixed-use zones, residential intensity is specified as the # of dwellings per acre (DU/acre). In commercial developments, intensity is controlled with zoning standards such as lot coverage, landscape open space, and FAR.
(commercial) FAR = building area/lot area
(residential) Density = # dwelling units/acre
What are bulk requirements designed to accomplish?
Bulk requirements determine the shape of the lot and the 3-D area into which the building must fit. Design specs include setbacks and building height limits, landscaping.
Describe the different groups and roles involved in zoning administration.
Legislative branches - power and responsibility for zoning decisions, ex. city council, county commission, board of supervisors, etc.
Planning commission - advisory to the governing body on zoning matters, often has final authority in the adoption of master plans and subdivision reviews
Board of adjustment or appeals - considers requests for variances or exceptions of zoning standards. In some states, responsible for the interpretation of unclear provisions or interpretations of the zoning bode and considers appeals from administrative actions, such as the denial of a building permit or zoning related matters .
Planning staff - support boards in the zoning functions, propose changes to maps, codes, and procedures.
What is the purpose of a zoning overlay?
Superimposed on top of an existing zoning district, additional standards and review based on a particular location.
What is a floating zone?
Unmapped zoning districts described in the text of zoning; applied through rezoning approval of development.
What is a Planned Unit Development (PUD)?
a large area of land under unified control with a Master Plan - a special type of floating overlay district which generally does not appear on the municipal zoning map until a designation is requested and approved; allows flexibility in a mix of uses (sometimes even including industrial), intensities and location.
What is a cluster development?
Apply density limitations (through lot sizes) to entire development; flexibility in setbacks, roads, utilities – development concentrated on the site and the remainder of site is preserved.
What are transfer of development rights (TDR)?
Yielding partial or complete right to develop in exchange for a right to develop another parcel more intensely.
What is performance zoning?
Performance standards regulate development by setting the desired goals to be achieved by regulation rather than regulating how those community goals are met. Instead of restricting specific uses on a
property, performance requirements allow any use that meets the set standard.
For example: a city ordinance might specify that all residential swimming pools must be completely screened from the public, but not require
which materials be used to do so. Performance standards attempt to address the same goals desired by traditional zoning ordinances, such as envs protection, neighborhood character, traffic control, etc., but with a greater amount of flexibility.
