by Lisa Steiner, AICP In the last five years or so, many cities and counties all over the country have been updating their zoning codes to allow for more “maker” uses, including artisanal food production. If they haven’t updated their zoning code, they’ve probably needed several zoning interpretations as businesses have tried to open in their community.

A few years ago, Clarion Associates worked with Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana, on their Legislative Streamlining Project. As part of a broader effort to promote quality economic development, the city and county decided to align and simplify their development review and approval procedures, as well as almost all of their zone district regulations.

During the 2017 APAColorado conference in Telluride, Clarion Associates Director Don Elliott moderated a panel discussion on “What’s New in Form-based Zoning? Don’s co-panelists included Leslie Oberholtzer, AICP, LEED AP, Founding Principal of Codametrics, a national form-based code firm based in Chicago, and Sarah Showalter, AICP, Citywide Planning Supervisor for the City and County of

College towns are a staple of the American identity. It seems that every state has a college town it reveres. These communities have unique identities that reflect both the geographical setting of the community and the characteristics of its university. Community identity is often shown most clearly in its downtown, and growing student populations often