Reinventing Zoning for the 21st Century

On October 26, Clarion Director Don Elliott was a keynote lunch speaker at the Utah Land Use Institute annual conference in Sandy Utah. Don’s presentation on Reinventing Zoning for the 21^st Century began with a review of the long, strange journey of zoning since 1916 – beginning with pure versions of Euclidean zoning and then absorbing elements of performance zoning, planned/negotiated zoning, and form-based zoning along the way – and ending with the current hybrid versions of Euclidean zoning that most cities administer today. To no one’s surprise, America’s towns, cities, and counties have generally decided that no “pure” theoretical approach to zoning fits their needs. Instead, they pick and choose those tools that suit their needs and implement their planning goals in ways that reflect their political and economic realities. That simply reflects the longstanding pragmatic tendencies of our local governments – and it’s likely to continue in the future.

But the 21^st century will bring new challenges, and responses to those pressures will require adding new tools to the mix.  Don’s summary of the 10 major pressures that will shape the future mix of zoning tools includes:

1. The continuing need to balance flexibility and predictability (which is exactly how zoning got where it is today)
2. Flexibility will need to be achieved much more efficiently.  Individualized negotiations for specific projects will decline, and the use of pre-approved menus, point systems, and administratively approved alternative approaches will increase – simply because global economic pressures will demand faster and less costly procedures than we use today.
3. Hybrid codes that blend “permitted use” and “building form” controls will remain the norm, even if the balance varies from community to community.
4. Zoning will accommodate a much wider variety of housing types by right – because rising pressures on housing affordability will force us to accommodate more people on less land. And we’ll also allow much more working from home – because it’s already happening and global economic forces will reduce the number of households that can afford a separate work space.
5. Mixed use zoning will increase – and will be available by right – because of changing housing preferences and because reduced journeys-to-work mean fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Parking and loading requirements will change dramatically, and will be joined by “staging area” requirements as we respond to the changing traffic and parking patterns brought on by the rapid introduction of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles.
7. Zoning will allow a wider range of facilities and services for the elderly within or close to the residential neighborhoods (even low-density ones) where the elderly generally prefer to age in place.
8. We will allow, accommodate, and encourage a wider variety of “third places” where people can gather and socialize even when their working erratic hours and living in smaller housing units (today we call that “Starbucks”).
9. New codes will lighten up on nonconformities and allow them to continue, and expand, and be reused more than we have in the past – because the old theory of “zoning parole” (i.e. if you make life tough you can force them out) has not worked.
10. Zoning will become more automated, inclusive, and prescriptive.  No, we’re not European and we’re not Japanese, but we can see what intelligent, developed, and well governed nations do when faced by the combined pressures of population growth, environmental stress, and global economic pressure – and that’s what it looks like.