Form-Based Codes in South Burlington: Priorities for a Sustainable and Walkable Community

1. Form-Based Codes 101 Form-Based Codes Committee City of South Burlington July 12, 2012

2. Priorities & Possibilities • Walkable • Reduce current grid of car-dependent sprawl by presenting the streets as a destination in themselves • Mixed-Use • Daily and civic needs within proximity to each other (office, retail, grocery) • Compact • Preservation of natural and scenic areas while developing urban areas for density • Diverse • Mixed housing and non-residential options invite diversity of incomes, ages, and demographics

3. Function Follows Form – The What & Why • Emphasis on buildings, facades, street composition, dimensions • Specify building massing, height, and relation to street and public spaces & street and sidewalk widths • Emphasize mixed uses • Regulatory focus on form, instead of density & use • Prescriptive not proscriptive • Primarily works to define and create a “place” • Enables more fine-grained placemaking (transect) • Greater attention to streetscape, public realm & role of individual buildings in shaping public realm • More predictability for both the public, land owners, and developers • Concise, organized, and written for non-planners to understand • Up-front public participation during code creation limits the need for discretionary review

5. Key Components • Regulating Plan • Designates key locations or “zones” where different building form standards apply • Zones often based on the Transect • Definitions/ Glossary • Annotated glossary to make specific language clear and accessible to public • Public Space/ Street Standards • Design specifications for elements within the public realm (streets, landscaping, parks) • Building Form Standards • Controls building placement, orientation, features & functions such as height, massing, setbacks, parking, and the use of buildings • Architectural Standards (optional) • Standards and guidelines controlling external architectural materials and quality

6. Land Use Continuum/ Spectrum: Introducing the Transect • Urban to rural transect or cross section • Natural science- to planning: draws a cross section through different habitats to better understand their relationships on a spectrum/ continuum • Used to better understand where different uses and building types fit well in relation to their context • Allows for a common understanding that relates development characteristics to places within the urban fabric • Establishes a common language that allows developers, planners, and residents to comprehend the context for different uses and building types

8. Sustainability & Quality of Life • Urban agriculture & community gardens • Green roofs • Alternative energy sollutions • Natural infiltration • Rain gardens • Green streets • Flow-through planters

9. FBC Implementation • Existing conditions analysis and inventory • Public visioning/ charrette • Regulating Plan and zones • Develop urban standards (streets, blocks, building placement, height, land use, etc.) • Develop architectural standards (building or frontage typologies, etc.) • Illustrate standards

10. Additional Resourcesavailable at www.sburl.com • Sample communities’ codes • Annotated web resources • South Burlington initial draft code • South Burlington consultant presentations • Committee information