Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/05/2004

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Zoning to Promote Health and' Physical Activity B? M~rya Morris, in the mid-199os, public health experts be§an to focus their attention on the extent to which the built environment can either help or hinder the public's ability to become or stay healthy. ~ These experts recognized that many of the community planning and design tools that were being used to implement smart growti~ objectives-such as bio/cie and pedestrian planning, mixing land uses, broadenin[l trans- portation options, and encouraging compact form--may also be a key to creadn§ communi- ties where people could be physically active on a regular basis and where air quality could be improved. The new focus on the relationship between community de~i§n and physica[ activity was sparked by soaring rates of obe- sity nationwide, a trend [hat has been widely reported in the ;opular media. As obesity rates have climbed steadily in the last Ihree decades, health experts realized that long- standing approaches aimed at §erring people to modify their eating habits and exercise (o reduce their wet§hr ano improve [heir cardio- vascular health were only modestly effective. What's more, the Centers for Disease Control also in the last ten years identified other health problems that are affectec~ by land use and ~.he built environment. These include the relationship of !and-use decisions and trans- portation systems to air quality and respira- tory heaKh; the impact of urban design and street design on the rates, of pedestrian injuries and deaths; the relationship between the built environment and transportation sys- tems and the mobiiity and quality of iife of the elderly; and the ways in which land-use decisions a fleck, community wa[er quality, sanitation, and outbreaks of disease. A SHARED HISTORY While the recent flurry of media ,]nd i)rofes- sional attention paid to ihe i)iannin§ and public health connection may make the issue . seem new, the two disciplines have a'iong .: shared histon/. The first master plans and zon- ing ordinances enacted early in the ~oth Century were aimed at preventing' overcrowd- ing and stemming the spread of contagious disease in urban areas, Early zoning laws required homes to be kept separate from nox- ious [ndustpl and nuisances and mandated residential building designs that would pro- vide tenement dwe[(ers with adequate air and ii§hr. As the century progressed, traditional town planning gave way to conventional urban sprawl, which was facilitated in large par[ by Eu.ctidean zoning and subdivision standards. The sharp separation of land uses--a fundamental tenet of zoning--ts now recognized as one of several hindrances to communities' efforts to create high-quality neighborhoods, balance transportation with land use and jobs with ',~ousing, and protect the environment. Today, the health focus on zoning' and subdivision regulations (and the plans that support them) is aimed at under- standing the impacts of the re§u[ations and the actions necessary/to mitigate the negative effects on today's predominant health prob- _ZONING PRACTIC~ 06.0A 144 ~,,~ER,cA,, PLANNIRG ASSOCIATION i p~g~ 2