[M II A II R II K]

Unlocking city's future depends on new code


April 10, 2012

By Mark Sommer

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Read More: http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article803440.ece

Brendan R. Mehaffy knows that the topic of updating outdated zoning ordinances and land-use plans can be a sure-fire way to elicit drowsiness and suppressed yawns. Yet the city official overseeing this task is convinced that there may be nothing more important to Buffalo's future, particularly as the city eyes $1 billion in new development money promised by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

- Mehaffy, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning, said the community consensus that's emerging as it heads toward a November finish line will lay the foundation for the kind of livable city that Buffalonians want and the better business climate that developers and businesspeople have long clamored for. This is the first time the City Code will be comprehensively revamped since 1953, and the first changes to land-use planning since 1977.

- "We have a development framework that does not fit modern-day realities, and this will give Buffalo a tremendous competitive advantage," Mehaffy said. The current City Code can be difficult to interpret because it has been amended so many times over the years, by different authors, that it no longer speaks with one voice, he said. Mehaffy's boss, Mayor Byron W. Brown, has made transforming the decades-old zoning codes a top priority of his administration.

- "We found we couldn't move as quickly or clearly as we would have liked from an economic-development standpoint, because the city's zoning was so out of date and did not really embrace 21st century zoning values -- the new urbanism of walkable, green communities and mass transit," Brown said. "There also happened to be advocates and activists in the community who felt very strongly that this was a major problem in the city, so we decided to take it on."

- Only two cities Buffalo's size or larger -- Denver and Miami -- have undertaken a complete code rewrite and replaced it with a "form-based" code, which addresses the appropriate form and scale of development, as opposed to use alone. Leslie Pollock, principal consultant with Camiros, said the interest shown by Buffalonians has been an added motivation for the organization. "There is in many people in Buffalo a real commitment to the city, and that makes the work more interesting to us," Pollock said.

The two key changes will:

• Embrace a progressive urban planning model. The zoning changes will prioritize walkable neighborhoods, environmental sustainability, aesthetics and mass transit.

• Streamline the development process. Clear and transparent building standards and the consolidation of approval procedures into a single document will make it easier for developers to finish projects and reduce the prospect of lawsuits.

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[WilliamTheArtist]

I wish the best for Buffalo in their efforts. Just last week I went to a "Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission" meeting that was to possibly begin to approve Form Based Codes for one tiny area of the city. The area in question is near downtown, is ripe for redevelopment, and is about 1/2 square mile out of about 200 square miles of the city. Yet the outrage, anger and efforts that were on display at this meeting against the codes being put in place were stunning. There is one Mc Donalds in the periphery of the area and apparently these Form Based Codes were seen as such a threat that Mc Donalds felt they had to fly in someone from corporate to go in front of the TMAPC and fight against it?! And that's just one example.

The sad thing is that this plan was begun by people and businesses in this area of the city "The Pearl District" and all the local people and businesses were always welcome to participate in it's development, and were invited to participate in the process at the regular neighborhood/district meetings. The FBC effort for this area had been publicized widely in the media, and worked on for OVER A DECADE! Yet, just before it was going up for approval, an array of parties suddenly appeard against it, throwing fits. Some were saying, "I am a property owner in this area, how DARE you change the zoning on MY PROPERTY, without MY PERMISSION and MY input!" (If these concerned property owners were so concerned with their properties, why werent they doing their civic duties by participating in their district/neighborhood meetings?) Many others were saying the project was "too big" covering too large an area and should be smaller and then studied to show "proof" that it would work before being done on "such a large scale"... such a large scale!? Approximately ONE HALF of ONE percent of the city is large scale!? lol Some people and corporations were acting like this was some alien force bent on total domination and destruction of the city.

It boggles the mind to think that Tulsa can't even change the zoning in one tiny, miniscule area of the city while other cities manage vastly more and some even consider and implement the changes City Wide!

Best of luck Buffalo, and wish us luck too!

[strongbad635]

Here's hoping that form-based codes spread like the flu and become the hottest new concept in urban design!