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Friday, February 22, 2008
Changes Would Make City Pedestrian-friendly, Revitalize
Urban Areas
By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News
sjean@dallasnews.com
Later this year, Dallas hopes to have new zoning regulations in place to
foster more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development as part of a citywide
vision.
City officials believe the changes will help revitalize certain urban areas,
such as along the Trinity River Corridor, and create new neighborhoods, such as
around DART light-rail stations, by offering more flexible zoning options that
allow a variety of uses.
Development would follow urban design standards that promote attractive
streetscapes, flexible parking provisions and density through taller buildings.
The theory is that such standards are necessary to create places where people
can walk and bike among home, work and recreational venues.
It's the first overhaul of city zoning codes in about 20 years, said the
city's chief planner, Neva Dean. Planners – along with a consulting firm and a
local advisory group – have been working on changes for more than a year.
The city's planning department hopes to take its zoning proposal to the
Dallas City Council in April and, pending approval, adopt the regulations by
summer, said Peer Chacko, the city's assistant director of long-range planning.
The new codes would be added to the existing zoning regulations.
"The code is pretty darn complicated," Mr. Chacko said. "We're trying to
really open up new opportunities for development and streetscape design. There
already are areas like this, such as West Village, Mockingbird Station and the
South Side on Lamar [apartments]. In many ways, Dallas is playing catch-up to
the market."
The zoning changes stem from
ForwardDallas, a comprehensive land-use plan
adopted by the city in 2006. That plan provides a road map for consistent
planning, zoning and design across the rapidly growing city.
North Texas is projected to grow by about 4 million residents to 9.1 million
by 2030.
"Where does Dallas want to be 20 years out?" asked William H. Hudnut III,
senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. The
former mayor of Indianapolis and Chevy Chase, Md., said he is seeing
higher-density zoning and transit-oriented zoning nationwide as cities look to
revitalize their urban cores around population changes.
Dallas' existing zoning focuses on the use of a building or land. The city is
moving toward urban form-based zoning, which focuses on design and how buildings
relate to the street and pedestrians.
For example, a new district might be called a "town center" or "urban
neighborhood" instead of office, retail or residential.
New zoning districts will focus on large tracts of land in certain parts of
the city: the Trinity River Corridor, the central business district, areas
around DART light-rail stations (15 stations will be added in Dallas by 2010)
and major employment areas such as the Stemmons medical district and the
University of North Texas campus in South Dallas.
Form-based zoning won't be in use for a while, but at least two developers
have integrated some of those principles into plans for land recently rezoned by
the city.
"As we've brought things before the city over the last six to nine months, we
would be foolish not to look at what's coming and not try to honor the concept
and make our projects work in [the] context of the new plan," said Jud Pankey,
chief executive of Dallas-based Prescott Realty Group.
Prescott's 70-acre Lake Highlands Town Center development in northeast Dallas
includes a parking ramp, wider sidewalks, hiking and biking trails, and public
access points to the nearby Walnut Hill DART station, he said.
In December, Irving-based developer JPI received city rezoning approval for
46 acres of industrial land just north of the Dallas County Justice Complex
along the Trinity River levee. It, too, incorporated form-based zoning
components for residential, retail and office space, including:
- Multifamily housing must be at least four stories tall with at least 60
units per acre.
- All buildings must be at least 30 feet tall.
- The narrowest side of towers must face the levee so they don't block
river views.
- Buildings are set back farther from the street to provide more open space.
- Streetscapes are designed to be more pedestrian-friendly, with trees,
benches, bicycle parking and trash bins on sidewalks and window awnings on
building facades.
"It went very well," said Mark Bryant, president of JPI's mixed-use
development division. "We were first in the downtown area for this. I think we
got a lot of flexibility in the use – we can mix between office and
residential."
Developments in the Trinity River Corridor Project are different because the
city is establishing separate zoning standards under a planned development
district. However, city planners are coordinating zoning along the river with
the citywide zoning changes, said David Whitley, chief planner for the project.
"The Trinity River Corridor Project must have new zoning in place now. We
can't wait until code amendments are adopted," Mr. Whitley said. "JPI is the
test case."
Concerns have been raised about the length of time the city is taking,
development constraints and neighborhood preservation.
Developers Mr. Pankey and Mr. Bryant said that the city needs to tweak its
plans and that it should speed up the process, but they remain optimistic.
"As the city becomes more familiar with the form-based zoning process, it
will get smoother and will evolve into a streamlined process," Mr. Bryant said.
"Because form-based zoning is focused on building form over the type of
business uses allowed, we have to make sure that we're not permitting
inappropriate uses, for example, in residential areas," said Dallas City Council
member Angela Hunt, whose District 14 includes many older neighborhoods. "From
the research I've seen, form-based zoning appears to be more appropriate for
larger developments than single parcels."
In general, form-based zoning is positive because it can create "a sense of
place" and a lively pedestrian environment to support retail, Ms. Hunt said.
Article is Courtesy of The Dallas Morning News Friday, February 22, 2008
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