Albany’s New Hybrid Code Gets Attention

As Clarion Associates authors documented in our 2012 report on The Rules That Shape Urban Form (APA PAS #570), the use of form-based zoning controls is growing – but in myriad different ways, and almost always through integration into “hybrid” zoning ordinance that retain very significant land use controls.  Hybrid form-and-use based zoning has become a very popular approach when cities (and counties to some extent) decide it’s time for a new zoning ordinance. But how to blend reasonable permitted use controls with thoughtful form-based zoning appropriate to the city’s larger planning goals remains a difficult task.  Two years ago, Albany, New York, embarked on an ambitious project to develop a hybrid code that would implement the sustainable goals of its new Albany2030 Comprehensive Plan. Clarion Associates led a team including Dover Kohl Partners (and several other specialists) to develop the city’s new Unified Sustainable Development Ordinance (USDO). The city identified four key neighborhoods – the Warehouse District, Central Avenue, South End, and Midtown — where walkable urbanism could promote economic redevelopment. Dover Kohl Partners conducted four charrettes to developed form-based zoning controls based on tailored building frontages, and Clarion Associates drafted and updated zoning districts, development standards, and project review procedures for the remainder of the city. Importantly the Clarion Team, led by Don Elliott, FAICP, the integrated the form-based controls and more traditional zoning tools into a unified structure that uses a common vocabulary for permitted uses, a common approach to parking, landscaping, and lighting, and a unified graphic look for the entire code.  Albany Planning Department staff conducted endless analyses of existing development patterns from the city’s 400 year history and revised development standards to eliminate the vast majority of nonconformities discouraging badly needed reinvestment in Albany’s aging building stock.  Clarion Director Don Elliott, FAICP, and Dover Kohl Principal Victor Dover, FAICP, LEED-AP, CNU-A, presented the result of this collaboration at the Pace Land Use Law Conference in White Plains, NY, last December. Their presentation is available here.