Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/02/2016

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Zoning for Community Transformation in Flint, Michigan By/ohn Houseal, AICP, and Brandon Nolin, AICP Despite the story of Flint, Michigan, being a city of decline and hopelessness —made infamous in Michael Moore's Roger and Me and in the headlines for its water crisis —the city is using zoning to transform itself in a manner reflective of the community's new vision for the future. Flint is reinventing itself by building upon the foundation of the Imagine Flint master plan, the city's first comprehensive plan in more than 5o years, and implementing an entirely new zoning ordinance rooted in the plan's place - based approach. Flint is certainly not alone in facing is- sues of neighborhood decline and vacancy, commercial corridor disinvestment, weakening market position, and a collapsed industrial and employment sector. Other communities facing these and similar conditions will immediately recognize the applicability of the approaches developed in Flint. It is important to highlight the strong links between the zoning ordinance content and the Imagine Flint master plan. As such, we will: 1. Highlight zoning solutions that were devel- oped to counter weak market forces and prolonged disinvestment 2: Reinforce the important role a community - supported, land -use planning process plays in creating community -supported and prac- tical development regulations 3. Demonstrate the applicability of zoning solutions developed for Flint to other com- munities facing similar challenges IMAGINE FLINT A 5o percent population decline and a 90 per- cent loss in manufacturing jobs led Flint to be become one of America's most impoverished cities. Several unsuccessful attempts to craft a new master plan over the previous 5o years led to disastrous policy consequences, and more recent financial stress and local government troubles have led the state to appoint several emergency managers in an attempt to stabilize the community. Undeterred, community lead- ers continued to push for policy change and guidance, and Flint was awarded $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Ur- ban Development to write Imagine Flint and set the city on the right course. Following an extensive 18-month process that engaged more than 5,00o individuals at more than 300 outreach events, Imagine Flint became the first master plan adopted by Flint since 196o. The plan garnered communitywide support and helped reestablish a sense of trust between Flint citizens and the city government. In the short time since its adoption in October 2013, the plan has proven to be an . effective tool in addressing issues of popu- lation decline, large brownfields, blighted neighborhoods, and economic development. Imagine Flintwas the recipient of the Planning Excellent Award for Public Outreach (2013) from APA's Michigan Chapter (Michigan Association of Planning) and the Daniel Burnham Award (2015). The Michigan Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism also recognized the plan with its first -ever Mackinac Prize in 2015. PLACE -BASED LAND -USE PLANNING AND ZONING DISTRICTS Excessive vacancy presents Flint with an op- portunity unique to most mature cities —the opportunity to reinvent its land -use pattern. Rather than focusing on parcel -specific land use, the master plan utilizes a place -based strategy in which different place types are used to create unique and vibrant areas across the city. Twelve place types were identified within Flint, providing a full range of land uses and de- velopment types essential for creating a more livable and harmonious community. Not only does the place -based approach to land -use planning help paint a clearer picture of what is desired by the community, it also provides needed flexibility in its application and tends itself well to zoning interpretation. As de- fined in the master plan, each place type carries with it a set of desired future primary land uses that are essential to the function of the place, and secondary land uses intended to comple- ment that primary function. Each place type also has text describing the desired character of the place and'a series of images of existing examples of desired development. In fact, the Imagine Flint master plan includes a Zoning Plan that identifies the different place types and the range of uses anticipated for each. This master plan component served as the basis for the new zoning ordinance. The various elements of the place type (i.e., character description, desired uses, and imagery) have corollaries within traditional Euclidian zoning district content, including the statement of intent, permitted and special uses, and bulk standards. This made it easy to transition from community vision (the plan) to regulatory framework (the zoning ordinance). The strong overlap between place type and zoning district led to a zoning map that is nearly indistinguishable from the adopted land -use plan map. In creating strong visual parallels between the two maps, the city was also able to leverage the public trust that was gained through a highly publicized and trans- parent planning process with well -documented community support, and apply that momentum to the zoning ordinance adoption. It also pro- vides city staff and officials with firm ground to stand on if challenges are made to the zoning ordinance in the future. An assessment of the existing zoning map performed during the master planning process indicated that approximately 4o percent of the city's land area would need a new zoning des- ignation to align with the new plan. The vast majority of areas highlighted in this map were designated as Green Neighborhood, City Corri- dor, Neighborhood Center, or Green Innovation place types in the adopted plan. GREEN NEIGHBORHOODS En the fall of 2012, Flint city staff worked with a local foundation and 27 neighborhood orga- nizations to conduct a citywide assessment of residential property conditions. Using a prede- termined rating system and training from staff, hundreds of volunteers ranked every residen- tial parcel within the city limits. More than 5o percent of residential lots contained structures that were in poor or sub- ZONINGPRACTICE 5.36 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 2