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<br />KEYS TO URBAN CHARACTER
<br />• Streets and other public spaces are framed by buildings
<br />• Housing types range from small, narrower single - family lots
<br />dominated by driveways and front - loaded garages (auto -ur-
<br />ban) to attached residential (e.g., brownstones, town houses)
<br />and multifamily dwellings with alley access or rear garages
<br />(urban). Yard and landscaped areas are reduced
<br />• Higher lot coverage and floor area ratios leading to
<br />increased stormwater runoff
<br />• Smaller front and side setbacks with a tighter building
<br />spacing
<br />• Most conducive for pedestrian activity and interaction
<br />CHARACTER CLASS: URBAN
<br />There are three urban character types: auto -
<br />urban, urban, and urban core, each of which
<br />has increasing densities, heights, building
<br />coverage, and floor area, respectively, and less
<br />open space. Often, open space is in the form
<br />of civic squares, pocket parks, or urban plazas.
<br />The urban types are described as follows:
<br />• Auto -urban neighborhoods are usu-
<br />ally highly patterned and characterized by
<br />narrow —and often identical —lot widths with
<br />modest front yard setbacks, narrow side
<br />yard setbacks (meaning a tighter spacing
<br />of homes), and a high percentage of the lot
<br />devoted to driveways and on -lot parking.
<br />Depending on the width of lots, the location
<br />and visibility of garage doors and parked cars
<br />largely determines its character.
<br />• Urban neighborhoods refer to those with
<br />smaller lots, setbacks, and building spacing,
<br />or those of attached or multiunit buildings
<br />with alley access or on- street or structured
<br />parking, all of which have an increased build-
<br />ing coverage and floor area. Higher density
<br />buildings usually have a minimum of two or
<br />three stories.
<br />• Urban core is reserved for intensive residen-
<br />tial development including multistory or mid -
<br />and high -rise buildings. These may include
<br />vertical mixed use buildings with a mixture of
<br />commercial and residential uses. An urban
<br />core must have structured parking to achieve
<br />this character type.
<br />Urban areas are characterized by the
<br />closeness of buildings, which encloses space —
<br />whether it is a street, alleyway, walkway, or pub-
<br />lic space. There is a strong relationship among
<br />and between buildings and the street, with an
<br />increased emphasis on building design and the
<br />COMMUNITY CHARACTER AND THE COURTS
<br />Glisson v. Alachua County, 558 So. zd 1030
<br />(Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990)
<br />In this case the court held: The interests pur-
<br />portedly protected by the regulations at issue
<br />in this case are appropriate subjects for exer-
<br />cise of the police power. For example, among
<br />the interests deemed legitimate for exercise of
<br />the state's police power are such matters as:
<br />(1) protection of aesthetic interests, • (2)
<br />preservation of residential or historical charac-
<br />ter of a neighborhood, ... ; and (3) protection
<br />of environmentally sensitive areas and pollu-
<br />tion control."
<br />Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183 (1928)
<br />In this case the court held that zoning provi-
<br />sions must bear "a substantial relation to
<br />the public health, safety, morals, or general
<br />welfare." That said, the Supreme Court has
<br />broadly construed the public welfare as: "The
<br />concept of the public welfare is broad and inclu-
<br />sive.... The values it represents are spiritual
<br />as well as physical, aesthetic as well as mon-
<br />etary. It is within the power of the legislature
<br />to determine that the community should be
<br />beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well
<br />as clean, well- balanced as well as carefully
<br />patrolled."
<br />Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1 (1974)
<br />In this case the court held that a zoning ordi-
<br />nance will not violate equal protection if the
<br />law is reasonable and bears a rational rela-
<br />tionship to a permissible state objective. Ad-
<br />ditionally, a zoning ordinance can withstand
<br />constitutional scrutiny upon a clear showing
<br />that the burden imposed is necessary to pro -
<br />tect a compelling and substantial governmen-
<br />tal interest. (emphasis added)
<br />Urban with
<br />Green Spaces
<br />Secondary
<br />Buildings
<br />Secondary
<br />Grey Spaces
<br />Predominant
<br />%Open �Pa4e;
<br />7 500 sf
<br />i idth, mottEIMENfe
<br />rant S0b 5. ..> `�: o .•
<br />Fetade'Spaeing
<br />Street Spacing?
<br />Impervious Cover
<br />33.365
<br />Pervious Cover
<br />66.645
<br />Private Green :' v. 46.645
<br />Density, Gross
<br />3.177
<br />Density, Net 3.971
<br />Secondary
<br />Predominant
<br />Significant, but
<br />secondary
<br />7,0
<br />40.785
<br />59.225
<br />44.225
<br />3.250
<br />3,824
<br />Predominant
<br />(with buildings)
<br />Secondary
<br />(with open space)
<br />Secondary
<br />55
<br />39.095
<br />98.945
<br />50.125
<br />8,513
<br />11.351
<br />Predominant
<br />(with buildings)
<br />Significant, but
<br />secondary
<br />Secondary
<br />r , 129' _�.., -
<br />62.93%
<br />37.07%
<br />25.07%
<br />19.00
<br />pedestrian precinct. By nature of the uses and
<br />their relative intensity, urban areas are more
<br />connected and walkable. The difference between
<br />an auto -urban and urban character type, as
<br />illustrated above, is the handling of parking.
<br />An auto -urban type has a front - loaded garage,
<br />whereas the urban type is accessed via the alley.
<br />The lot size and open space is reduced to recover
<br />and slightly increase the density lost to the alley.
<br />Lots with on- street parking and alley access are
<br />typically urban in character, provided there is
<br />relatively high density and building cover.
<br />Cover image© iStockphoto.com ) lolon;
<br />design. concept, by Lisa Barton.
<br />VOL. 27, NO. 12
<br />Zoning Practice is a monthly publication of the
<br />American Planning Association. Subscriptions are
<br />available for $90 (U.S.) and $115 (foreign). W. Paul
<br />Farmer, FAICP, Chief Executive Officer; William R.
<br />Klein, AICP, Director of Research
<br />Zoning Practice (ISSN 1548 -0135) is produced
<br />at APA. Jim Schwab, AICP, and David Morley, AICP,
<br />Editors; Julie Von Bergen, Assistant Editor; Lisa
<br />Barton, Design and Production.
<br />Copyright ©2010 by American Planning
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<br />ZONING PRACTICE 12.10
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