Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/05/2013

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Infill Development Standards Adding new zoning districts should not be the only change a community makes to encourage compact development. Many zoning codes inhibit the creation of compact development through regulatory provisions that inadvertently limit or restrict small -lot or infill development. This may occur because of existing suburban lot -size or dimension requirements in the zon- ing districts, but it is reinforced by additional regulations applied to the lot, such as design or development standards. Inflexible minimum landscaping or screening buffers, mandatory on - site open space dedications, building frontage or orientation standards, excessive minimum parking requirements, and prohibitions on nar- row streets or driveways can all contribute to the prevention of infill development. Communities that want to encourage compact, mixed use development should identify those develop- ment standards that make smaller lot, more compact, or infill development more difficult to design or approve and consider replacing those standards with updated standards designed for compact development. Alternatively, communi- ties can establish a review and approval method that permits the easy substitution of appropriate design for small lots. Administrative Approvals Developers want predictability in the develop- ment process and a product that does well in the local market. According to the National As- sociation of Home Builders, "if each developer must go through a complex and costly process of obtaining special waivers and approvals, special use permits, or planned unit develop- ment approval to achieve compact develop- ment, the developer will probably find it makes more business sense to keep building conven- tional large -lot subdivisions"(2o12). While establishing compact, mixed use zoning districts and updating development standards will eliminate some administrative obstacles, communities can further encourage desirable development by establishing an expe- dited review process for site plans that meet the new standards. If the community engages the public in the process of creating or updating the zoning districts or development standards, the new districts and standards can be adopted as optionally applicable in designated areas of the community, and development applications that conform to the zoning requirements can be re- viewed through an expedited administrative pro- cess. Some communities take this even further and offer an expedited building permit approval process for infill or sustainable development. RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY The modern concept of energy efficiency in the United States can be traced the "energy crisis" of 1973. This was triggered by an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries oil embargo that caused fuel shortages and a steep increase in petroleum -based fuel prices and led to a growing realization that available energy sources might not always outpace demand. Over the years, communities and citizens alike have looked for ways to control energy use and encourage renew- able energy creation to reduce reliance on the use of fossil fuels. While energy efficiency and production may initially seem better addressed by the purchase of alternative fuel municipal vehicles or construction of commercial wind or ing use standards, while others define the wind and solar regulations as development standards. Either way, the goal is to adopt a uniform set of regulations and avoid negotiat- ing approvals on a case -by -case basis. Energy Conservation and Production Development Standards Most zoning code changes necessary to encour- age site and structure energy conservation take place in the development standards. Site design standards can be updated to encourage the use of passive solar energy through better building placement in relationship to the sun (solar orien- tation) as well as passive cooling through build- ing placement in relationship to the wind along with the preservation or placement of trees and landscaping to enhance shade. Unlike some of the sustainability approaches that work practically The LEED Platinum Burnside Rocket building in the Lower Burnside neighborhood of Portland; Oregon, is an example of context -sensitive, small -lot commercial infill. solar farms, there are actually multiple changes that can be made to zoning codes that will en- courage energy efficiency as well as remove barri- ers to renewable energy production. Use Definitions and Standards To encourage the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power genera- tion, these uses should be defined in the code and added to the table of uses in appropriate zoning districts either as primary or accessory uses, as determined by the community. Some communities identify all of the regulations associated with wind and solar power as use regulations and include those with the exist - everywhere, such as reduced parking require- ments, the effectiveness of these approaches will range depending on the availability of the natural resource in the area. For example, solar orienta- tion will probably be more efficient in southern Nevada than in northern Michigan. Before invest- ing in the drafting and public education and out- reach required for energy -based regulations, the community should determine which approaches work best locally. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) is an excellent resource for solar and wind energy mapping. Currently, the most commonly requested small-scale forms of renewable energy pro- duction are wind power, solar power, and ZONINGPRACTICE 7.13 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION [page 4