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ViewsPerformance zoningFrom PlanningWikiPerformance zoning is an alternative to conventional zoning. Where conventional zoning specifies what uses land can be put to in specified districts, performance zoning specifies the intensity of land use that is acceptable. It deals not with the use of a parcel, but the performance of a parcel and how it impacts surrounding areas. Planning consultant Lane Kendig is considered the father of performance zoning. It was first implemented in 1973, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Other places in the United States where comprehensive performance zoning codes are (or were) used include:
Many other communities have zoning codes that incorporate performance elements. Many jurisdictions in the United States that adopted performance-based planning subsequently abandoned it because of the heavy administrative burden required. Where performance methods survived, they were typically hybridized with traditional zoning. New Zealand's planning system is grounded in performance zoning under the 1991 Resource Management Act. In Australia, the 1997 Integrated Planning Act of Queensland promotes the use of performance based zoning, and removed the power of local authorities to proscribe any form of development.
[edit] Performance zoning and industrial usesThis concept of performance standards in building codes influenced the wider-spread establishment of performance zoning for industrial uses, permitting defined industrial activities and locations based on measurable adverse externalities and their effects on adjoining properties. Industrial performance zoning permitted the location of specific businesses and activities theoretically anywhere in a community based upon their measurable pollution impacts relative to their surroundings, human and natural, as opposed to being permitted only in established specific areas on the community’s official land use map. [edit] Advantages and disadvantagesThere are advantages to the performance zoning approach. In some ways it requires less administrative involvement, since variances, appeals and re-zonings are not necessary. It also gives more flexibility both to the municipality and to the developer, allowing more of a range of land uses, as long as their impact is not negative. This allows for more innovation and the incorporation of new technologies that may not be accommodated in more traditional zoning ordinances. This encourages more communication between the public and private sectors. Also, performance zoning is more effective in the preservation of natural features, since it evaluates directly the impact, rather than indirectly through listing permitted and denied uses. Performance zoning avoids the arbitrary nature of the Euclidian approach, and better accommodates market principles and private property rights with environmental protection. A primary disadvantage of performance zoning is that as a result of its flexibility it is subject to a steeper learning curve. In traditional ordinances, land uses are listed as absolutes--either allowed or not allowed. Under performance zoning uses are determined through sometimes confusing calculations of a variety of factors. This requires local zoning administrators to be more adept at making appropriate and fair determinations based on sometimes subjective criteria, and can lead to more legal challenges. For this reason, performance zoning has not been widely adopted in the United States and Canada, and is usually limited to specific categories in a broader conventional code. [edit] ImplementationPerformance zoning often uses a "points-based" system where a property developer can apply credits toward meeting established zoning goals through selecting from a 'menu' of compliance options (some examples include: mitigation of environmental impacts, providing public amenities, building affordable housing units, etc.). Additional discretionary criteria may also be established as part of the review process. The following describes how various communities implemented performance based zoning.
[edit] Best practiceThe Land Development Guidance System (LDGS) of the City of Fort Collins, Colorado is the best known example of a successfully implemented performance-based zoning code. When the city's comprehenisve plan was rewritten in 1997, the LDGS was replaced by the New Urbanist-influenced but more conventional Land Use Code, authored by Peter Calthorpe. [edit] Definitions
[edit] References
[edit] See also[edit] External links |
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