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MARCH 2003 <br /> <br />AMERICAN <br />PLANNING <br />ASSOCIATION <br /> <br /> Combating 'Sameness' <br />with a Formula Business Ordinance <br /> <br />"Arcata's plaza area is the focalpoint of the communiey and the setting, that generated the initial concerns about formula restaurants and <br />their intrusion into a local historic district"---Mwm Mu~E~4, <br /> <br />Among the articles of'faith that many urban planners hold <br />as self-evident is that land-use planning is a truly local <br />endeavor. Many even espouse that a town's general plan can <br />influence quality of life through land-use regulation. Th. is theory <br />has been at the crux of'the New Urbanist argument £or <br />revamping development codes. <br /> But a funny thing happened on the way to urban design <br />perfecfion~American-style corporate capitalism. The .plethora of <br />the chain coffee houses, stores, and restaurants devouting space in <br />the neo town centers--the very projects that collect awards at &PA <br />conferences--are at risk of turning these developments into carbon <br />copies of one another. The result is not a new type of community at <br />all, but simply a new version of a shopping mall, ultimately <br />controlled by the same corporations that controlled the old ones. <br />And while the vast majority of municipalities are still thrilled when <br />Starbucks takes up residence in their downtowns or their revamped <br />suburban centers, there is a small but interesting posse of cities that <br />are going a different direction. <br /> These towns--call them anti-formula business towns--have <br />raised the bar on development, transcending the typical <br />discussion about facade treatment and sales tax revenues. They <br />have the vision of remaining a place that cannot be replicated; <br />safeguarding a community where retailers and hoteliers--like <br />residents--are unique to that place, and where the geography is <br />somewhere. They are forwarding that vision through the use of <br />the police power of zoning to raclde deeper issues of community <br />economics and social ecology. <br /> <br />The Shame of Same <br />In the last decade, other progressive efforts at supporting <br />independent establishments and fighting ~brmula businesses <br />have taken root around the aation. The Boulder Independent <br />Business Alliance (BIBA), a membership-supported nonprofit <br /> <br />organization in Boulder, Colorado, with a sustainable mission <br />of"srrengthening and supporting locally owned independent <br />businesses" has supported Boulder County's local businesses <br />since 1998 with joint marketing, consumer and polio/maker <br />education programs, and more. <br /> Community economists in Ithaca, New York, devised a-local <br />currency system with a "regional boundary [to] keep local <br />wealth re-circulating within the community." Since 199 l, the <br />program has grown to involve some 950 merchants and services. <br />Called ~[thaca HOURS, the currency is the equivalent to the <br />average hourly wage in Tompkins County--$10. <br /> HOURS notes buy plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, <br />roofing, nursing, chiropractic, childcare, car and bike repair, <br /> <br /> · .. about this article· <br /> . Join Us online,t <br /> From April 14-25 go online to participate in ou.r <br /> "Ask the Author" forum, an interactive feature of <br /> Zoning News. StePhen Svete, ^itt,, will be available <br /> co answer questions about this ardcle: Go to the <br /> APA website, at www. planni ,n,g.org and follow the <br /> links to the 'Ask the Author section. From there, <br /> ,~ just submit questions about the article using <br /> your <br /> an e-mail link. The author will reply, posting the <br /> answers cumulatively on the website for the benefit <br /> of all subscribers. This feature will be available ~br <br /> selected issues of Zoning News at announced rimes. <br /> After each online discussion is closed, ~he answers <br /> ~,5~ will be saved in an online archive available through <br /> ~ the APA Zoning News webpages. <br /> <br />215 <br /> <br /> <br />