Clark County is in the midst of the approval process to establish a subarea plan for the Highway 99 corridor that will lay out a new vision, land use and guiding principles and implementation strategies to guide future growth in the area.
If the subarea plan is adopted by the Board of County Commissioners, likely in December, the county will need to set zoning standards to implement the plan, encourage a mix of uses within the corridor, promote sustainability and provide more design standards for development.
As of now, that plan is a hybrid form-based code, which would regulate land development and set clear controls on the building form. Form-based code is new to the region and Seattle-based Makers Architecture and Urban Design has been retained as the consultant for the code.
Breaking the mold
Traditional form-based code is a method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form, creating a predictable public realm by primarily controlling physical building form with less of a focus on specific land uses, according to the Form-Based Codes Institute.
The regulations and standards in form-based codes – presented largely with diagrams – are keyed to a regulating plan that designates the appropriate form, scale and character of development rather than only distinctions in land-use types.
Using diagrams and pictures to illustrate the intent of the code is generally easier to understand and demonstrates what development will look like.
Whereas conventional zoning focuses on segregation of land uses and the control of development intensity – the number of dwellings per acre, setbacks, parking ratios, etc. – form-based code addresses the relationship between building facades and public spaces, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another and the scale and types of streets and blocks.
Form-based codes are often drafted to achieve a community vision, which planners are working with stakeholders to establish now.
Clark County and Makers are aiming for a hybrid form-based code to allow for flexibility, said County Planner Michael Mabrey.
“Having a hybrid code means we get to decide what ‘hybrid’ means,” he said.
A strict form-based code wouldn’t include any guidelines about what uses are allowed in the area, it would simply consist of building heights and the like.
Aiming for flexibility
The Board of County Commissioners directed planners to apply form-based code to the Three Creeks Special Planning Area, which includes unincorporated urban areas around Hazel Dell, Felida, Lake Shore, Salmon Creek and the fairgrounds.
Development of the code is in early stages. Makers and the county held a community workshop to gauge the public’s zoning wishes in early October. Now the consultants are putting together a framework that will be used for several proposed subareas, with Highway 99 as the first.
“Form-based code doesn’t require strict separation of uses,” Mabrey said. “It is not as specific about uses inside of structures. It doesn’t prejudge the market, which allows broader flexibility. It concentrates on the form and relationship of the buildings to the street.”
Many property and business owners in the Highway 99 corridor have expressed the need for flexibility in the code, said Brad Lothspeich, chair of Team 99, a group of concerned residents, businesses and property owners working toward revitalization of the area.
Too many restrictions could create a disincentive for development and redevelopment, said Rick Haddock, who co-owns FBR Realty Inc. and owns the building the business is located in along Highway 99.
Among his concerns are a restriction on building heights, especially when multi-story buildings are concerned.
“The mixed-use aspect is very difficult to get financing for,” Haddock said. “And requiring a parking lot behind a building can sometimes be restrictive, especially when you’re working with very small parcels.”
Some in the development and real estate communities have expressed concern about the Board of County Commissioners adopting the subarea plan without having zoning standards in place.
But the plan itself doesn’t change zoning or restrict building design, Lothspeich said.
While the code is still in the early formative phase, some ideas that have been discussed include prohibiting uses in certain areas that do not contribute to the desired pedestrian-oriented setting.
That may mean saying drive-through banks or gas stations are not appropriate for certain areas, for example.
At the initial public workshop to gather feedback about form-based code, attendees took part in a survey of what standards they prefer or reject. By and large, attendees supported the ideas presented.
To the idea of requiring storefronts on sidewalks and parking in the rear of buildings fronting Highway 99 and Northeast 78th Street, 68 percent of attendees indicated it is a great idea; 4 percent called it a bad idea, one person writing, “Sounds like previous transit overlay district, which negatively impacted development.”
Overwhelmingly, attendees favored ideas that had the most built-in flexibility. But 68 percent favored prohibiting certain uses that don’t promote a walking-friendly environment. And attendees also indicated that while a single design theme isn’t desired, some guidelines for design compatibility are.
Unknown brings challenges
Some challenges come with trying to introduce a new way of zoning to an area, and form-based code is relatively new and unproven, according to the county.
The county does not aim to touch the underlying zoning of the Highway 99 area. But there is the question of what happens if a piece of land with existing development doesn’t fit with a new code.
“There is always a question of Do I become a nonconforming use under this code?” Mabrey said. “Those are the kinds of issues we’ll have to discuss, but our intent is to be flexible. We’re not trying to create a situation where existing property owners are at any disadvantage.”
And planners may have to battle apathy from property owners during the code-molding stage.
“There are many absentee owners in that area who don’t care,” Lothspeich said. “They just have cash flow.”
If and when the subarea plan is adopted, planners will meet with the Responsible Growth Forum, a private nonprofit group of private sector businesses largely involved in the development community, in mid-December. And when a workable draft of the code is in place, it will be open for the public to mold it into its vision.
A representative of Makers was not available for comment on this story.
Megan Patrick-Vaughn can be reached mpatrick@vbjusa.com.
