4.0 DESIGN GUIDELINES Design Guidelines for Future Development
Introduction Communities help guide new development to meet the goals expressed by residents in master plans through the use of zoning ordinances and development guidelines. Different municipalities utilize different tools to manage growth; in this case, the Borough primarily relies on zoning ordinances, and White Township utilizes a Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO). This section of the report outlines an approach to improving these documents, and provides specific recommendations for change. The zoning ordinance of the Borough and the SALDO of White Township guide development by establishing requirements related to yard setbacks (expressed as minimums), building height (expressed as a maximum), density of development, site coverage, and related concerns. This approach has been utilized for decades by the planning profession across the country. While this approach has served to protect the basic planning related interests of the community, it has fallen short of creating the qualities of a community that many citizens now demand or encourage development patterns that maximize the potential for using development to create “place”. Over the last 20 years, community residents and the real estate development industry have adopted a new approach to guiding development. This new approach is less focused on managing specific land uses, and pays more attention to the siting and form of new buildings, creating a mix of land uses within a particular site or district, and creating a welcoming and useful public realm of streets and open spaces. The real estate market has responded well to this trend and to changes in housing markets including an increased demand for more urban living environments. Developers are willing to work within a broader set of planning and design guidelines because this approach is creating projects that meet consumer demands. Community residents support the approach of expanded guidelines when they are utilized in a way that results in new development with positive attributes that contribute to the aesthetic, economic, and environmental aspects of the built environment. Community planning officials are responding to these shifts by adopting “form-based codes” and design guidelines that focus more on the form of development and less on land use than traditional zoning codes.
Planning Principals Based on feedback from the public who participated in the District study, the community supports the use of new guidelines for development which can improve upon the nature and quality of new development. The underlying principles which drive this desire include: • Creating complete streets that serve passenger and service vehicles, transit, cyclists and pedestrians of all abilities • Encouraging development in specific nodes or neighborhood centers that have their own identity • Guiding new development to create a more appropriate transition in building size, height, and design from highly developed areas to single-family neighborhood • Improving development standards to more deliberately create “place” • Improving the suburban model to create welcoming corridors that function and are safe • Integrating sustainability in public and private development • Orienting development in the Borough to streets and open space amenities • Strengthening non-motorized and transit connections to key destinations (e.g. campus, open spaces, retail and services)
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