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Code Reform

Hang on! Help with Code Reform is on the Way!

Whether you’re a planner, P and Z Commissioner, elected official, or neighborhood leader, the following organizations and websites will provide you with state of the art examples of land use and transportation-related ordinances. Additional help to understand and build support for smart growth principles is available from Idaho Smart Growth. If you know of a resource that we do not currently have listed we would appreciate if you would hare them with us at isg@idahosmartgrowth.org.

If you have any questions please contact us. We are glad to help!

Code Reform Resources as a .pdf

General

  1. City of Austin, TX, Ordinances and Specifications for Sustainable Development . What you’ll find: links to model ordinances and programs related to community design and resource-efficient buildings.

  2. “Codifying New Urbanism”, American Planning Association, http://www.planning.org/bookservice/description.htm?BCODE=P526. What you’ll find: Good compendium of case studies, model ordinances, and where to go for more information.

  3. “Commercial and Mixed-Use Development Code Handbook”, Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program, http://egov.oregon.gov/LCD/docs/publications/commmixedusecode.pdf. What you’ll find: Excellent overview of commercial and mixed use development best practices. Model ordinances included.

  4. “Community Rules: A New England Guide to Smart Growth Strategies ”, by Elizabeth Humstone and published by the Conservation Law Foundation, http://www.clf.org/general/index.asp?id=347. What you’ll find: Book full of model ordinance language and advice on where to go for more info.

  5. Congress for the New Urbanism, Model Codes collected by the Congress for New Urbanism . What you’ll find: links to many smart growth and traditional neighborhood development codes)

  6. “Crossroads, Hamlet, Village, Town: Design Characteristics of Traditional Neighborhoods, Old and New” by Randall Arndt and published by American Planning Association,www.planning.org (autographed copies available directly from Randall Arndt at rgarendt@home.com What you’ll find: Book featuring 160 photos, site plans, other visuals, and model ordinance language. Special attention given to park, pathway, and open space strategies.

  7. Cyburbia, www.cyburbia.org, What you’ll find: a comprehensive online source of ordinances. Go to home page and click on ‘Resource Directory’. Links to zoning ordinances from Boise , McCall, Coeur d’Alene , and Post Falls are on the Cyburbia site.

  8. Envision Utah model codes and Land Use Analysis Tools for Quality Growth, www.envisionutah.org. What you’ll find: Comprehensives overview of Envision Utah project and model ordinances.

  9. Georgia Department of Community Affairs, "Model Code: Alternatives to Conventional Zoning," . A downloadable model code developed by the State of Georgia .

  10. “The Infill and Redevelopment Code Handbook”, Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program, http://egov.oregon.gov/LCD/docs/publications/infilldevcode.pdf. What you’ll find: Excellent sample code provisions and suggested code reform process.

  11. Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC), Here’s a list of hotlinks to ordinances passed Washington cities to streamline and reform the regulatory/permitting process: http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Planning/planning.aspx. What you’ll find: The MRSC is essentially a big library created for Washington cities by the Association of Washington Cities. Downloadable ordinances and articles are available on a host of planning and zoning topics, most of which come from Washington.

  12. Narrow Streets Database, Congress for the New Urbanism, et al., http://www.sonic.net/abcaia/narrow.htm. What you’ll find: Standards and contact information for cities nationwide that have adopted more walkable street design standards (e.g. reduced street widths).

  13. National Trust for Historic Preservation, http://www.nationaltrust.org/issues/smartgrowth/toolkit/toolkit_codes.pdf. What you’ll find: This .pdf is a link to a good article on code reform, with special emphasis on rehabilitation of older buildings. An overview of the New Jersey and Maryland models is included.

  14. New Hampshire Office of Energy, New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning Reference Library. What you’ll find: All kinds of example ordinances from New Hampshire cities and towns on a wide range of planning and zoning topics.

  15. Planning Commissioner’s Journal, www.plannersweb.com. What you’ll find: Every planner and planning and zoning commissioner should subscribe to the Planning Commissioner’s Journal. The website is not a source for specific model ordinances, but does have excellent articles regarding various aspects of ordinances and comprehensive plans.

  16. Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse, http://www.huduser.org/rbc/index.html. What you’ll find: an excellent website created by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Very comprehensive, with a focus on the barriers to housing that the middle class can afford.

  17. “Model Development Code and user's Guide for Small Cities”, Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program, http://egov.oregon.gov/LCD/TGM/docs/modelCode05/pdf/guide.pdf. What you’ll find: good outline of recommended reform solutions specifically for small cities.

  18. Smart Growth Online: Land Development Regulations Codes . What you’ll find: links to other great collections of codes .

  19. “Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide”, by Steve Tracy, Local Government Commission, www.lgc.org. What you’ll find: Excellent source of state of the art zoning and subdivision code language to achieve mixed use and more walkable development. Comes with CD full of .pdf documents and weblinks. Model TND, Mixed Use Overlay, TOD Overlay, Parking, Commercial and Multifamily Design Standards, and Streets and Blocks ordinances from around the U.S. are summarized.

  20. State of Wisconsin Model Conservation Design Subdivision Ordinance, http://www.doa.state.wi.us/dhir/documents/
    conserv_subdiv_Model_ordinance_Feb2001.pdf    , What you’ll find:
    A draft of a model ordinance considered by the State of Wisonsin .

  21. State of Wisconsin Model Traditional Neighborhood Development Ordinance, http://www.wisc.edu/urpl/people/ohm/projects/tndord.pdf. What you’ll find: Wisconsin ’s model TND ordinance that all cities with populations greater than 12,500 are required to adopt.

  22. Stormwater Manager's Resource Center, Model Ordinances for Aquatic Resource Protection. What you’ll find: model ordinances dealing with erosion, sediment control, etc.

  23. Traditional Neighborhood Design Code, Belmont, North Carolina, http://www.cityofbelmont.org/Planning/Planning.ASP. What you’ll find: Belmont ’s is a frequently cited model TND ordinance.

  24. “Traditional Neighborhood Development Street Design Guidelines”, Institute of Transportation Engineers , www.ite.org. Also available from the Local Government Commission, www.lgc.org. What you’ll find: A good overview of Traditional Neighborhood Development Principles and recommended designs. Excellent information about the safety benefits of TND.

  25. U.S Department of Energy Publications: Smart Communities Network Land Use Codes, and Green Development Codes

  26. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Model Codes to Protect Local Resources. What you’ll find : Ordinances mostly dealing with protecting water quality and protecting open space.

 

Big Box Stores

  1. American Planning Association's PAS "Big Box Inquiry", http://www.planning.org/pas/bigbox.htm. What you’ll find: Example zoning regulations, development standards, and design standards. Also includes information regarding reuse of vacant big box stores)

  2. Institute for Local Self Reliance’s New Rules Project: http://www.newrules.org/retail/impact.html. What you’ll find: Ordinance examples from communities that limit the size of new retail stores and require stores that reach a certain size to undergo a special review and permitting processes.

  3. "Site Planning for Large-Scale Retail Stores" Duerksen, Christopher. PAS Memo (APA), April 1996, pp. 1-4.

 

Building Rehabilitation Codes

  1. Maryland Rehabilitation Code, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, http://www.dnr.state.md.us/education/growfromhere/LESSON15/MDP/
    SMARTCODE/SMARTCODE00.HTM    . What you’ll find: Similar to the New Jersey code.

  2. New Jersey Rehabilitation Code, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, http://www.state.nj.us/dca/codes/rehab/index.shtml What you’ll find: New Jersey adopted this code in the late 1990’s and saw a significant increase in the re-use and redevelopment of older building.

 

Fire and Police Department Concerns

About Traffic Calming

  1. “Emergency Response, Traffic Calming, and Traditional Neighborhood Response”, By Dan Burden with Paul Zykofsky, Local Government Commission, www.lgc.org. What you’ll find: Book and companion video about the traffic calming and emergency responder issues.

  2. Institute for Transportation Engineers’ searchable Traffic Calming Library, http://www.ite.org/traffic/index.html. What you’ll find: Hotlinks to excellent reports/articles on traffic calming. Most of them directly address emergency vehicle issues. Here’s another link to a one page fact sheet about traffic circles specifically: http://www.ite.org/traffic/circle.htm

  3. "Traffic Calming: The State of the Practice" (Published by Institute of Transportation Engineers and Federal Highway Administration, http://www.ite.org/traffic/tcstate.htm#sartm What you’ll find: excellent one stop shop for all issues related to traffic calming. See Chapter VII on emergency response issues.

 

You Ought to Be in Pictures!

Here are on-line sources of images and Powerpoint presentations that illustrate smart growth principles.

  1. Congress for the New Urbanism Image Bank, http://www.cnu.org/resources/index.cfm?formAction=image_bank&CFID=5501902&CF.

  2. Landscape Architecture Image Resource Project, http://www.lair.umd.edu/default.htm

  3. Local Government Commission’s one stop shop for downloadable Powerpoint presentations made at recent Local Government Commission workshops, http://www.lgc.org/freepub/land_use/presentations/. What you’ll find: We know of no other single site that has as many free Powerpoint presentations by experts in various aspects of growth management and smart growth.

  4. Local Government Commission’s Compact Development CD, www.lgc.org. What you’ll find: Excellent images and case studies of well design, context sensitive housing at various densities. Also comes with Powerpoint presentation and a “Guess the Density” game.

  5. Municipal Research and Services Center image bank, http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Planning/PlanIllust.aspx, What you’ll find: a collection of images from Washington and elsewhere that communicate specific planning concepts and standards.

  6. Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center Image Library. Highly recommended! http://www.pedbikeimages.org/. What you’ll find: Don’t let the name fool you. Excellent source of photos of smart development of all kinds.

  7. Smart Growth America Image Library (go to homepage, click on "tools for advocates"). http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/

 

 

 

  
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