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ZONING. USES BEFORE AND AFTER RZO <br />Residential <br />III <br />1 <br />Mixed Use <br />Institutional / <br />Community <br />Commercial <br />(11 <br />A1I <br />STREET <br />Recreation <br />I <br />S <br />T <br />R <br />E <br />E <br />T <br />rHrrr— <br />r' I' I <br />r <br />Building Footprint <br />Q This diagram shows three street blocks before and after the adoption of the RZO. The illustration on the left shows <br />the existing zoning, which is restricted to single family uses, while the illustration on the right presents the potential <br />expansion of uses under the RZO. Under the RZO underutilized residential buildings and land can be used for commercial <br />purposes, community activities, and new parks. <br />the future. The likely solution is a special <br />legal mechanism whereby new uses are es- <br />sentially grandfathered in and allowed fu- <br />ture zoning relief. Municipalities could also <br />choose to simply leave the RZO in place by <br />not adopting a reverter rate. This decision <br />will again depend on each community and <br />how they see their future, rather than on <br />planning that focuses on growth and in- <br />creased revenues. <br />A potential abuse of the RZO could be <br />collusion between property owners to pur- <br />posely increase vacancy rates even in situ- <br />ations when decline is not imminent. Their <br />goal would be to trigger the RZO and trans- <br />form their properties into more profitable <br />uses. This may be particularly true in cases <br />with larger property owners outside of the <br />community that can afford to keep their <br />properties vacant. Safeguarding against <br />such abuse would be difficult to do through <br />zoning changes or other legal mechanisms. <br />These are areas to be explored further by <br />the respective municipality as they create <br />trigger rates, geographic boundaries, and <br />monitoring systems for vacant properties. <br />A final issue with the RZO is how it will <br />interact with business licenses, building <br />codes, and design standards. Zoning regula- <br />tions require certain setbacks, height limits, <br />and other physical dimensions, and busi- <br />ness licenses and building codes are often <br />specific to the use. While this article focuses <br />on by -right uses under the RZO, it is clear <br />that physical zoning regulations and other <br />general business regulations will also need <br />to be addressed. <br />SUMMARY <br />Whereas most of the planning tools for <br />shrinking cities focus on post -decline prob- <br />lems, the RZO is a prospective tool. The RZO <br />A <br />1 <br />seeks to attack the issue of excess supply <br />early by establishing an expanded list of <br />permitted uses in advance of decline. As a <br />result, the RZO will allow property owners <br />to react quickly to decline with the goal of <br />reprogramming the uses of their buildings <br />or land. <br />The most important aspect of the <br />RZO is that its creation relies heavily on a <br />community -driven process. The RZO will <br />only be successful if there is demand for the <br />expanded list of permitted uses or if it adds <br />value from a cost or environmental perspec- <br />tive. Therefore, the input of residents on <br />the type of uses they would like to see in <br />their neighborhoods is critical. This article <br />has shown that the details of the RZO will <br />require a number of difficult decisions, such <br />as how to measure vacancy and the vacancy <br />rate, how to select the proper trigger and <br />reverter rates, the geographic scope of the <br />ZONINGPRACTICE 9.11 <br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 6 <br />