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Columbus Zoning

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Started 5 months ago by columbusmike
Latest reply from ScottUlrich

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columbusmike

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Here is a quick map I put together showing the 5th by NW Columbus area (Grandview and UA) and some walkability circles (1/4 mile radius). Obviously this map isn't fully accurate, but it quickly illustrates that most of the people that live in just this small section of Columbus are outside walking distance from commercial development.

One of the biggest things Columbus and the surrounding 'burbs could do to make our city stronger, is to lay out a city-wide Master Plan that ensures that 100% of Columbus is within walking distance of a school, grocery store, pharmacy, and other critical commercial uses. Using existing commercial areas and schools as a starting point, Columbus could then require that only new commercial or residential development will be approved if it is within a designated walkability zone, preferably, towards the center.

This strategy would put a crimp on sprawl. Since sprawl is inherently non-walkable and not dense, requiring suburban developers to build commercial buildings and small schools would likely be a failing enterprise. Instead, developers would likely take this zoning requirement and try to take advantage of it by making quality space that will go occupied (more rental income for the developer). They would also likely concentrate their developments around existing suburban schools so they would not be required to set aside space for a school building, which would begin to form a better suburban lifestyle that has a true "main street" identity and a sense of community.

This approach has a better opportunity to be successful, compared to trying to draw a ring around the city preventing outward growth, which has many legal complications.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Have other cities implemented a Master Plan strategy like this before? Just wondering what sort of pros and cons would need to be weighed...

Posted 5 months ago #
columbusmike

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Not exactly like this, but some cities have minimum density requirements or FAR (floor area ratio) requirements. There are also several cities that now offer incentives for meeting certain requirements, such as mixed-use development, density, building height requirements, etc. A similar such incentive/bonus based system could work to ensure most development occurs near schools, commercial areas, etc.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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I guess my concern with the idea... would it have prevented development like The Arena District or Grandview Yard because it's not close enough to existing development? Would a new apartment building in East Franklinton for artists past through these requirements if there's no grocery store or school located close enough nearby?

There are plenty of places within the core of Downtown that need all kinds of infill without a lot of the required existing resources to deem those places already "walkable". Just wondering if this type of proposal might inadvertently work against them.

Posted 5 months ago #
leftovers

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1/4 mile radius also seems a bit too retrictive imho.

Posted 5 months ago #
joshlapp
SoHud
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Form Based Codes are a good response to the problem. They regulate the built environment rather than the use. Density (built in a proper urban way) breeds walkability.

For a further explination:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form-based_code
A very good article.

Form Based Codes.org

Form-based codes foster predictable built results and a high-quality public realm by using physical form (rather than separation of uses) as the organizing principle for the code. They are regulations, not mere guidelines, adopted into city or county law. Form-based codes offer a powerful alternative to conventional zoning.

Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks. The regulations and standards in form-based codes are presented in both words and clearly drawn diagrams and other visuals. They are keyed to a regulating plan that designates the appropriate form and scale (and therefore, character) of development, rather than only distinctions in land-use types.

Posted 5 months ago #
ScottUlrich

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A requirement like that would only work if the zoning allowed densities high enough to support those uses. The lack of commercial development/community facilities within walking distance is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem.

The real problem is a lack of density. Trying to address the symptom by imposing such a mandate may serve to expose the root problem, but isn't that just a bass-ackwards way to go about things? I suggest any time you're about to suggest a new policy requiring someone to do something, ask yourself, "why wouldn't they want to do it on their own?" Continue peeling back those layers and more often than not, you'll find that you actually need to enable something to really accomplish what you want.

Posted 5 months ago #