(A) Existing patterns of urban development have seriously compromised sustainable growth, the quality of life and economic viability of cities. The practices of land use segregation and auto dependent design criteria have resulted in wide-spread loss of open space and forest cover; increased traffic congestion and air pollution; environmental degradation with increased water runoff, soil erosion and water supply contamination; increased housing and infrastructure costs; inadequate provision of schools and public services; and growing areas of declining property values, crime and poverty. The resultant loss of community identity adds to these problems by discouraging citizen awareness of and participation in, community affairs.
(B) Under this model, a majority of a municipality’s time and money is spent replacing and extending infrastructure and mitigating the negative impacts of development. Assessed on a project by project basis the total effects and subsequent costs are hidden by immediate tax base increases and owner profits. However, if assessed at the community level, long term, all additional development of the model described above becomes a burden on a community. Low-density development increases the cost of living in order to finance, maintain and replace infrastructure. Eventually, the increased cost of building and living in such areas prevents growth from continuing. This occurs long before an area reaches full economic potential and physical build out. A development model which addresses these problems must treat a community as a highly complex entity, not merely as a collection of individual market segments or an opportunity for real estate speculation.
(C) The most basic viable unit of our complex economic region is the neighborhood. Neighborhoods provide the daily essential needs of all its residents in an area which is easily definable and pedestrian friendly. Neighborhoods interconnect to form town centers. Traditionally, commercial development respected this neighborhood scale and therefor integrated itself into the fabric of the neighborhood through appropriate building design and its center.
(D) The return to traditional and sustainable development practices focuses on physical change of the urban environment through the traditional design elements of city making; public space, infrastructure, buildings and parks. It combines these elements to construct places beyond the autonomy of the individual project, interest or property. Traditional development is guided by the following set of principles, which in turn establish the framework in which this code has been prepared:
(E) (1) Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks and river basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are cities, towns and villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges.
(2) The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world. Governmental cooperation, public policy, physical planning and economic strategies must reflect this new reality.
(3) The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The relationship is environmental, economic and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as the garden is to the house.
(4) Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. Infill development within existing urban areas conserves environmental resources, economic investment and social fabric, while reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage the infill development over peripheral expansion.
(5) Where appropriate, new development contiguous to urban boundaries should be organized as neighborhoods and districts and be integrated with the existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized as towns and villages with their own urban edges and planned for a jobs/housing balance, not as bedroom suburbs. The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns, precedents and boundaries.
(6) Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and private uses to support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes. Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.
(7) The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework of transportation alternatives. Transit, pedestrian and bicycle systems should maximize access and mobility throughout the region while reducing dependence upon the automobile.
(8) Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the municipalities and centers within regions to avoid destructive competition for tax base and to promote rational coordination of transportation, recreation, public services, housing and community institutions.
(F) (1) The neighborhood, the district and the corridor are the essential elements of development and redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and evolution.
(2) Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian-friendly and mixed-use. Districts generally emphasize a special single use and should follow the principles of neighborhood design when possible. Corridors are regional connectors of neighborhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail lines to rivers and parkways.
(3) Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing independence to those who do not drive especially the elderly and the young. Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage walking, reduce the number and length of automobile trips and conserve energy.
(4) Within neighborhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can bring people of diverse ages, races and incomes into daily interaction, strengthening the personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic community.
(5) Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centers. In contrast, highway corridors should not displace investment from existing centers.
(6) Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile.
(7) Concentrations of civic, institutional and commercial activity should be embedded in neighborhoods and districts, not isolated in remote, single-use complexes. Schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.
(8) The economic health and harmonious evolution of neighborhoods, districts and corridors can be improved through graphic urban design codes that serve as predictable guides for change.
(9) A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community gardens, should be distributed within neighborhoods. Conservation areas and open lands should be used to define and connect different neighborhoods and districts.
(G) (1) A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.
(2) Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings.
(3) The revitalization of urban places depends on safety and security. The design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at the expense of accessibility and openness.
(4) In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accommodate automobiles. It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space.
(5) Streets and squares should be safe, comfortable and interesting to the pedestrian. Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities.
(6) Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history and building practice.
(7) Civic buildings and public gathering places require important sites to reinforce community identity and the culture of democracy. They deserve distinctive form because their role is different from that of other buildings and places that constitute the fabric of the town.
(8) All buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of location, weather and time. Natural methods of heating and cooling can be more resource-efficient than mechanical systems.
(9) Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts and landscapes affirm the continuity and evolution of urban society.
(Ord. 881-04, passed 5-24-2004)