East & West Side Neighborhoods Character Study Taking Shape

The East & West Side Neighborhoods Character Study (study) represents a follow-up to the previous East/West Side Neighborhoods Design Standards Study conducted in 2010.  The following is from the City's Study Outline that FCBR's REALTOR & Consumer Advocacy Department recieved this past week.

At the May 24, 2011 Council Work Session, staff received direction to restart the discussion with a new process.  A primary component of the study will be to take a broader and deeper look at neighborhood character and compatibility issues associated with renovation, infill, and redevelopment projects in the east and west side neighborhoods near downtown.

There are three main spheres or arenas of inquiry that need to be explored.  First, what are the   attributes that define neighborhood character and context?  Second, which of those attributes warrant new solutions, to retain and enhance the positive aspects of the character and context?  And third, what tools and systems are appropriate as solutions to retain and enhance the character and context, as change occurs over time?

Initial steps in this process are paramount in establishing a foundation for the study.  They include clearly defining the goal and understanding the issues and context, and then putting together a targeted community engagement process to obtain effective participation from diverse stakeholders.  A key expectation is that any regulations or other solutions will be based on thorough understanding of neighborhood characteristics, including physical facts and dynamic aspects such as past and future changes, value and importance to the city, cycles and transitions in the role of the neighborhoods, attitudes, market factors, and social aspects, all supported by data.  Another key expectation is that the understanding of the neighborhoods, and any solutions, will be tailored to different parts of the neighborhoods, rather than being “one size fits all” for whole zoning districts.

Goal

Retain and enhance the  unique  character  and  context  of  the  neighborhoods  as  they  continue  to  change  with  renovations,  additions,  and  new  housing construction, with a well supported and effective public process resulting in appropriate  and mutually agreeable solutions.

Issues and Context

The overarching, general issue is the need to find ways to support the goal of neighborhood compatibility with positive solutions that make it easier for owners, designers, and builders to design and build projects that fit the goal, without creating new obstacles for the majority of projects that fit well within the neighborhood character and context.

The search for such solutions is challenging because the goal typically involves limits, parameters, or regulations which are typically perceived by some as obstacles to design and construction projects.

Part of the context that creates specific issues is the current zoning, with its development standards, in the Land Use Code.  For example:

• §  Land Use Code standards implement adopted neighborhood conservation and compatibility policies to only a rudimentary degree.
• §  Some citizens have concerns that current regulations allow infill and redevelopment projects to introduce inappropriate, incompatible change that negatively affects existing residents and the unique character and context of different parts of the neighborhoods.
• §  These citizen concerns are more numerous and detailed than the topics currently addressed in Land Use Code requirements.  Examples of these concerns are: size of new construction, placement of building mass on the lot, shading, loss of privacy, diminished affordability, lost role of existing small houses in the social fabric, disruption of established patterns of houses, windows, and yards, and loss of historic character, all of which can significantly change the “feel” of certain neighborhood areas.  These concerns are interrelated as aspects of the overall design of infill and redevelopment.

Another part of the context that creates specific issues is the potential for unintended consequences of any new zoning regulations or other limits, on construction activity.  For example:

• §  Some citizens have concerns that increasing requirements or limits for infill and redevelopment projects could hinder reinvestment in lots that have outdated houses, resulting in loss of revitalization that comes with reinvestment in renovation and larger new construction.
• §  These citizen concerns reflect a basic viewpoint that eclectic variety and change over time are primary defining characteristics of the neighborhoods; that the degree of change currently allowed is acceptable; and that this change includes benefits that offset the negative impacts of change.
• §  These concerns also reflect a viewpoint that individual housing consumers, builders, and designers should determine the size and design of renovations, additions, and new houses, to best meet consumers’ needs and desires, with minimal or no additional public interference.

Objectives

• §  Define and understand a complete range of characteristics of the neighborhoods, as a basis for solutions to achieve the goal.  Examples of characteristics include both physical facts and measurements, and dynamic aspects, such as the history and role of change, likely future changes, value and importance to the city, cycles and transitions in the role of the neighborhoods as part of the city’s housing stock, market cycles and factors, and attitudes.
• §  Use data to define the characteristics of the neighborhoods.
• §  Create a shared vocabulary among various stakeholders, using both words and images to articulate the characteristics, and to articulate appropriate types of change, and appropriate limits on change, such as use of a visual preference survey approach.
• §  Conduct a community involvement process for residents and other stakeholders to evaluate which characteristics warrant new solutions to help retain and enhance them.  Conduct the process to include statistically valid or data-driven findings.
• §  Continue the community involvement process to derive solutions from the desires of residents, the Planning and Zoning Board, and the Landmark Preservation Commission, resulting in buy-in and informed consent.  This community based support will ultimately benefit consideration
• §  Include necessary funding or staffing resources in any solutions.
• §  Include testing and monitoring of any actions to evaluate objective results for effectiveness and consequences.

Study Process Outline

Phase I – Define Direction and Scope

1.  Set the goal and understand the issues and context to be addressed.

2.  Set objectives.

3.  Set a work program, schedule and budget.

4.  Confirm consultant scope and deliverables.

5.  Identify an appropriate and effective public involvement process considering such techniques as: 

• §  City Council work session(s).
• §  Planning and Zoning Board involvement.
• §  Landmark Preservation Commission involvement.
• §  Zoning Board of Appeals
• §  Survey or questionnaire instruments.
• §  Tours.
• §  Workshops or focus groups for relevant neighborhood areas.
• §  Public open house(s).
• §  Online public engagement.

Phase II – Identify and Evaluate Characteristics and Alternatives

December 2011–June 2012

1.   Assess how other communities have addressed similar issues.

2.   Identify and understand different character areas of neighborhoods.  Build a useful base of data on characteristics including physical, economic, and social/attitudinal factors to inform a whole system dynamics perspective.

3.   Conduct a targeted, statistically valid or data-driven public involvement process to evaluate the importance of various defining characteristics and identify those that warrant new solutions for their retention and enhancement.

4.   Identify and evaluate the range of possible solutions for retaining and enhancing the character and context of different areas within the neighborhoods.

Phase III – Recommendations

July–September 2012

1. Develop recommendations for preferred solutions.

Examples of different types of solutions to consider include Code regulations, education and design assistance, incentives, design and development review process improvements, neighborhood associations, and other solutions that may emerge.  Solutions should be tailored to different parts of the neighborhoods with distinct defining characteristics as appropriate.

2. Draft and illustrate materials.
3. Identify resources needed for implementation.
4. Recommendations will be reviewed by boards and commissions, such as the Zoning Board of Appeals, Landmark Preservation Commission, and the Planning and Zoning Board. 
5. Formal consideration by City Council in October.