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Zoning Strategy: Scaling Back
<br />The city's new zoning ordinance echoes the
<br />recommendations of the master plan and
<br />includes two new districts of the same name
<br />and intent as the place types: NC -Neighbor-
<br />hood Center and CC -City Corridor. With a focus
<br />on scaling back the extent of commercial
<br />development, large portions of the city have
<br />been rezoned from predominantly commercial
<br />districts to predominantly residential districts.
<br />While rezoning ailing commercial properties
<br />is not particularly unique or innovative, the
<br />city's strict adherence to the master plan's
<br />land -use recommendations and the scale of
<br />change now supported by development regu-
<br />lations is quite remarkable.
<br />The city's previous zoning code included
<br />four commercially zoning districts located.
<br />outside of the downtown and provided ap-
<br />proximately 25 miles of roadway with commer-
<br />cially zoned frontage (often on both sides of
<br />the road). Under the guidance of the previous
<br />code, Saginaw Street emerged as the longest
<br />commercial corridor, with eight continuous
<br />miles of commercially zoned property spread-
<br />ing from the city's northern border, through the
<br />downtown, to its southern border. With such
<br />a liberal application of commercial zoning, it
<br />is not surprising that the number of vacant or
<br />unoccupied commercial parcels is so high.
<br />Collectively, the new Neighborhood
<br />Center and City Corridor districts represent a
<br />fraction of the properties previously zoned for
<br />commercial use. The new zoning map identi-
<br />fies approximately six miles of City Corridor
<br />development (compared to 25) interspersed
<br />with 10 small Neighborhood Centers, often
<br />located at key intersections and not extending
<br />more than a quarter mile in any direction from
<br />that intersection.
<br />Zoning Strategy: Repositioning Aging
<br />Commercial Corridors
<br />The areas designated as City Corridors are
<br />healthy or possess market potential, but they
<br />are by no means immune to the issues ofva-
<br />cancy and poor property maintenance. Many
<br />of Flint's commercial corridors developed in
<br />predominantly residential areas where adja-
<br />cent development limits commercial lot depth
<br />and the ability of modern commercial tenants
<br />to reposition aging properties. Larger shopping
<br />centers featuring deep lots with expansive
<br />parking lots exist in isolated instances, typi-
<br />cally at key intersections along more significant
<br />routes like state highways.
<br />In seeking to implement the vision of the
<br />master plan, the new zoning ordinance had to
<br />establish rules for both large- and small-scale
<br />commercial types, while promoting a more
<br />pedestrian -friendly development palette. To
<br />accomplish this, the ordinance establishes
<br />two sets of distinct bulk standards, one for lots
<br />with a depth less than 140 feet and another for
<br />lots with a depth greater than 14o feet.
<br />Shallow lots were assigned a maximum
<br />front yard setback olio feet to force parking
<br />to be located at the side or rear of the build-
<br />ing, and the minimum lot width and area were
<br />reduced to reflect typical lot dimensions within
<br />older corridors. Conversely, deep lots were as-
<br />signed a maximum front yard setback of 8o feet
<br />to accommodate front loaded parking. Lack of
<br />a front -yard minimum setback also allows for
<br />outlot development and provides for flexibility
<br />in locating the building at the lot line and locat-
<br />ing parking in the rear.
<br />Complementing the varied bulk standards
<br />is a Planned Unit Development process that
<br />is required for any developments greater than
<br />five acres. This gives the city greater control
<br />over any proposed commercial development
<br />of significant size and further empowers it to
<br />protect residential areas from potential nega-
<br />tive impacts of development, while allowing for
<br />innovative design to address site constraints
<br />beyond what would typically be permitted as -
<br />of -right.
<br />GREEN INNOVATION DISTRICTS
<br />Flint, once characterized by robust neighbor-
<br />hoods and a thriving manufacturing sector,
<br />is now suffering from decreasing population,
<br />excessive residential vacancies, deteriorating
<br />neighborhoods, and large abandoned indus-
<br />trial sites. Collectively, these conditions have
<br />resulted in thousands of acres of vacant and
<br />underutilized land that has virtually no chance
<br />of returning to its former use or development
<br />pattern. In these areas, "what has always
<br />been" it not a viable option for the future.
<br />Some of Flint's most devastated neigh-
<br />borhoods have vacancy rates in excess of 8o
<br />or 90 percent, with several blocks being 100
<br />percent vacant or only occupied by structures
<br />that are beyond repair or rehabilitation. Al-
<br />though the individual lots are relatively small,
<br />very large contiguous vacant areas can be eas-
<br />ily assembled to accommodate larger uses or
<br />development. Many of the largely abandoned
<br />neighborhoods are located in areas adjacent to
<br />or in close proximity to vacant industrial areas,
<br />further adding to the overall availability of land
<br />with potential for significant redevelopment.
<br />Included in the vacant industrial areas are
<br />some of the nation's largest brownfield sites,
<br />such as Delphi East (16o acres) and Buick City
<br />(452 acres). Collectively, there are more than
<br />1,00o acres of brownfield sites in the city.
<br />Together, the vacant industrial areas and the
<br />vacant and abandoned residential neighbor-
<br />hoods represent thousands and thousands of
<br />acres of land currently serviced with city infra-
<br />structure, but lacking the market capacity to
<br />see the areas redeveloped to their former uses.
<br />In seeking to transform Flint's hardest hit
<br />areas, it was understood from the beginning
<br />that the city would need to embrace the idea
<br />of a more creative place type that prioritized
<br />flexibility and context over form and use. The
<br />second challenge, once the notion of flexibility
<br />was embraced, was to find the central theme
<br />for the areas, around which regulations could
<br />be crafted to allow a viable market to emerge.
<br />After consideration of various markets and
<br />industry trends, it was determined that the for-
<br />mer residential neighborhoods and industrial
<br />areas would serve as a proving ground for the
<br />green economy.
<br />The idea was to put Flint at the forefront
<br />of an emerging market and help lead the way
<br />by establishing a regulatory approach others
<br />could follow. Through the master planning
<br />process, the city created the Green Innovation
<br />place type to accommodate a wide range of
<br />large-scale "green uses." Then the challenge
<br />became how best to define a green use, miti-
<br />gate the impacts of such uses, and establish
<br />an approval process that accommodated flex-
<br />ibility while providing necessary safeguards
<br />and context sensitivity.
<br />Zoning Strategy: Defining Green Uses
<br />Imagine flint establishes the Green Innovation
<br />place type and designates many of the city's
<br />large vacant areas as such, recognizing their
<br />potential for a variety of solutions to repurpose
<br />these areas and help reinvent the city. As it
<br />relates to land uses, the city's intent is to re-
<br />main flexible.
<br />Areas designated as Green Innovation are
<br />intended to accommodate uses related to local
<br />food production, environmental sustainability,
<br />alternative energy, agricultural research, or-
<br />ganic food processing, and other locally based
<br />"green" initiatives.
<br />Once defined in the master plan and
<br />written into the intent and purpose sections of
<br />ZONINGPRACTICE 5.16
<br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I pages
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