Helping the Nashville community develop with emphasis on character and form

1. Building Support for Form-Based
Comprehensive Plans
Congress for the New Urbanism – June 11, 2009

2. Attempts to develop with emphasis on
character and form will always be
compromised if the community does not
plan for character and form.
Ironically, likely need some form-based
development to help community make the
leap to infusing the plan with form.

3. Education and Cultural Change
Evolution of Community Planning
Evolution of Zoning

4. Education and Cultural Change
Basics of Community Planning
Form & Character Matter
Form & Character Vary
Newer Themes – Regionalism and
Sustainability

5. Basics of Community Planning
What makes a “complete community”?
Employment and services in proximity to
housing
Housing choice
Transportation choice
Recreational
opportunities

11. Land Use Policy Application
Primary focus on
Land Use and
Density

12. LUPA

13. Form & Character Matters

14. Evolution of Zoning Tools
Urban Design Overlay
(UDO)
“Overlay” on base zoning,
which controls uses
Regulates form, not use
No variances, limited
opportunity to modify

15. West End Park

16. UDO Concept Plan
CORE
GENERAL
CENTER

17. West End Park
21 new buildings since 2004
6 projects in design development
31 st Av
enue
Lo
ng
Bl
vd
I-440

18. West End Park UDO
West End Park UDO

20. East Nashville
DNDP
Neighborhoods

21. East Nashville
Detailed Land
Use Policies

22. Development Scenario:
McFerrin/West Eastland/Chicamauga Area

23. Form & Character Varies

24. Transect Methodology
The Transect
A tool for understanding, categorizing, and designing
the natural and build environment from rural to
urban.
Encourages diversity of development rather
than homogeneity.

25. Natural
Different transect Rural
categories can sit side by
side,
Suburban
but within any transect
category, all elements of
development should be Urban
consistent.
Center
Core

26. Nashville -
Davidson
County
Transect

27. Combining the Transect and Form
Community Character Manual (CCM) – 2008
Reference guide for all Community Character Policies
Community Character Policies
To preserve community character
Changes emphasis from land use and density to the form
and character
Provides clear urban design guidance

28. What is Community Character?
The quality of a community as defined by its:
built environment;
natural features and open space;
infrastructure, public facilities and services; and
public realm – the character of its roadways and
streetscape.

30. T3 Suburban Neighborhood
• Moderate to deep setbacks
• Informal landscaping
• Shoulder and swale, likely
no sidewalk
• Larger lots and smaller
building footprint
• Moderate connectivity,
often with curvilinear
streets

31. T4 Urban Neighborhood
• Shallow setbacks
• Formal landscaping
• Curb and gutter with
sidewalk
• Smaller lots and larger
building footprint
• High connectivity with linear
streets, shorter block lengths
and complete grid

32. Downtown Community Plan: 2007

33. Zoning compared to the Plan
Existing Zoning Envisioned Neighborhoods

34. The Downtown Code

35. Building Regulations

36. Site Example – DTC zoning
Str Al
e et ley
t y
St ree lle
A
Height determined by number of stories - No FAR or Sky CF zoning
Exposure Plane

37. Newest Emphasis – Regionalism and
Sustainability

38. Regional Context – Transportation
and Land Use

40. Regional Context – Open Space
Preservation

41. Sustainability
Timeframe
Economic, environmental and social
Think regionally
Broad Definition of Stakeholders

42. Current Challenges
Discussing full impact of sustainability and
regionalism
Getting ahead of the market
Getting ahead of the audience

43. Jennifer Carlat
Metro Nashville/Davidson County
Planning
jennifer.carlat@nashville.gov
www.nashville.gov/mpc