City June 4, 2012 2:15 PM

City Offers Preview of the New Zoning Ordinance

Mike Puma 50

The Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning unveiled a preview of the new zoning ordinance this morning. A series of Green Code neighborhood open houses starts tonight at Lafayette High School at 6 pm to discuss emerging details about the new form-based code, which is being written to build upon smart growth and sustainability principles.

The report, A Preview of Buffalo's New Zoning, is available here. According to the report, "Today, land use regulations in Buffalo are difficult to understand, reflect views that are out of touch with current lifestyle and development trends, and often stand in the way of quality investment. Buffalo's zoning ordinance dates back to 1953, its urban renewal plans as far back as 1957, and its subdivision ordinance back to 1974. They're long (a staggering 1,804 pages). They often contradict each other. They do not embrace a contemporary vision for the city's future. These outmoded regulations will soon be removed and replaced by a single, user-friedntly document that combines related regulations so they're easy to understand and enforce. It will embrace Buffalo's walkable, green neighborhoods. It will give Buffalo an advantage in attracting jobs, investment, and talent."

The 30-page report gives an overview of key topic areas in the ordinance: its new zones; a table of permitted uses; building types and frontages; and approval procedures. These are being presented to start a community conversation about how the Green Code can help realize a shared vision for future development. See some examples taken from the full text below, more details and input opportunities will be available starting tonight and running through Saturday. Here's the schedule of Green Code open houses:

- WEST: Mon., June 4, 6 pm, Lafayette High School, 370 Lafayette Ave.

- NORTHWEST: Tues., June 5, 6 pm, Riverside High School, 51 Ontario St.

- SOUTH: Tues., June 5, 6 pm, South Park High School, 150 Southside Pkwy.

- ELLICOTT: Wed., June 6, 6 pm, Montessori School, 342 Clinton St.

- NORTHEAST: Wed., June 6, 6 pm, Bennett High School, 2885 Main St.

- NORTH: Thurs., June 7, 6 pm, North Park Academy, 780 Parkside Ave.

- CENTRAL: Fri., June 8, 8 am; or Noon, Central Library, Lafayette Sq.

- MASTEN/E. DELAVAN: Sat., June 9, 9 am, East High School, 820 Northampton St.

- EAST: Sat., June 9th, 1 pm, Matt Urban Center, 1081 Broadway

The Buffalo Green Code is the most ambitious planning effort the city has undertaken in decades. If it is truly guided by input from the community, the community must show up and give its take. Be sure to be at any one of the open houses this week. For more information on the zoning rewrite, visit the project website at buffalogreencode.com.

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Comments

50 Comments Leave a comment

Dan

June 4, 2012 2:07 PM

Looks like Buffalo's going to have an excellent example of a form-based code; not a stock SmartCode variant or a bloated mess like Denver's new FBC. Let's hope they keep the language simple, clear and free of legalese.

[ Reply ]

Score: 14 ( 14 votes )

Travelrrr

June 4, 2012 2:27 PM

This looks great--kudos to all working/behind this. Does Mayor Brown understand that he doesn't have to wait for a new code to espouse new urbanism? He could start today......

[ Reply ]

Score: 19 ( 19 votes )

fixBuffalo

June 4, 2012 2:27 PM

This is a game changer for the City of Buffalo. Really amazing to see this project take shape over the past two years. Remember when Mayor Brown announced this legacy project - Earth Day 2010? This is good news for every neighborhood in the City.

[ Reply ]

Score: 9 ( 11 votes )

dkane37

June 4, 2012 2:37 PM

Amazing to see how far this has come! This is really a necessary step to finally start planning and coordinating efforts within the city in an intelligent manner.

[ Reply ]

Score: 7 ( 7 votes )

JSmith

June 4, 2012 2:44 PM

The long-term impact of this project is going to be immense. I have been thrilled at every step of this project to see all the right things being said. After decades of prioritizing the automobile and the convenience of highway commuters, city planners are finally putting the emphasis on the quality of life for those who live, work, and play in our neighborhoods and downtown.

My great concern is that all of this planning will be for naught if it is not enforced. The Zoning Board of Appeals seems to give out variances to the current code like candy, with little justification. Now I agree that the current code is full of rubbish, but once we have a solid code that correctly defines how we now want our city to look, the ZBA and Planning Board may need a significant culture shift / attitude adjustment, to make sure they enforce the new code, even if developers whine about having to put the front door at the front of the building and the parking in the rear, etc.

But three big cheers to everyone involved in this project!

[ Reply ]

Score: 14 ( 14 votes )

5to81ALLDAY

June 4, 2012 2:47 PM

Why doesnt buffalo have any brownstones in the urban center?

[ Reply ]

Score: 2 ( 6 votes )

Up and coming

June 4, 2012 3:29 PM

....because they were never there originally.

[ Reply ]

replied to 5to81ALLDAY

Score: 4 ( 6 votes )

Dan

June 4, 2012 7:32 PM

1) The nation's lumber port during Buffalo's boom years was in North Tonawanda.

2) Buffalo never had a destructive fire that caused the city to consider a masonry building code.

3) Immigrants to Buffalo came mainly from rural areas and smaller towns, where rowhouses and apartment buildings were uncommon.

4) Unlike other cities, large homebuilding firms with the means to buy large blocks of contiguous lots where they could have built rowhouses were rare in Buffalo until after 1900 or so. By that time, Buffalo grew beyond the areas where 25' lots were the norm, into areas where lots were 35' to 50' wide, where rowhouses would have been impractical without replatting.

5) Rowhoses, for some reason, were never part of the Great Lakes vernacular. They're uncommon in Rochester, Syracuse, Cleveland, and, despite their popularity in other parts of Pennsylvania, Erie.

There are some scattered rowhouses downtown, but they're difficult to recognize as such, because the other houses in the row have long since been replaced by other types of buildings. Swan Street was lined with rowhouses 150 years ago.

[ Reply ]

replied to 5to81ALLDAY

Score: 2 ( 6 votes )

townline

June 4, 2012 11:24 PM

Buffalo never had a destructive fire?

[ Reply ]

replied to Dan

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

No_Illusions

June 5, 2012 8:02 AM

Well it was burnt down in the War of 1812...but it was very small back then, with only 4,000 residents. So there were relatively few buildings to begin with.

[ Reply ]

replied to townline

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

MrGreenJeans

June 5, 2012 8:52 AM

Buffalo was burned more than once in the 1830s and 1840s - enough so the area below Chippewa was required to be rebuilt with brick. Check the 1894 City Atlas - plenty of rowhouses and near-rowhouses (only a tiny walkway in between) ... but they were in areas almost totally demolished since then. Lower Seneca, Division, Swan, Eagle,etc - very closely-built and mostly brick.

Buffalo also passed codes around 1900 to ensure it would never become full of tenements or look like NYC, with people packed on top of each other in filthy slums.

[ Reply ]

replied to No_Illusions

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

grad94

June 5, 2012 5:22 PM

4000 residents is accurate only if you count the entire county.

http://www.buffaloah.com/h/bflopop.html

[ Reply ]

replied to No_Illusions

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

Dan

June 5, 2012 12:30 PM

Aside from those mentioned below, nothing on a Chicago-like scale.

Never knew about the requirement for masonry south of Chippewa, though. Thanks for posting that! Buffalo would be a VERY different city today if it adopted a citywide masonry code.

[ Reply ]

replied to townline

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

Black Rock Lifer

June 5, 2012 9:07 AM

There were rowhouses in the area of the Elm-Oak Arterial that were demolished in the 1970's. There were also scattered examples on South Division, Whitney Place, Myrtle St, and a few other areas. There was a triple rowhouse on Eagle St that was very impressive. It was Greek Revival style with three separate cast iron stairways rising up to the raised first story. I took photo's of some of these in the late 1970's in a very amateur effort to document the oldest surviving structures in the city and also salvaged a few items at that time.

[ Reply ]

replied to Dan

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

Up and coming

June 5, 2012 10:03 AM

Great comment Dan.

[ Reply ]

replied to Dan

Score: 0 ( 4 votes )

Nicholas Tyler Miller

June 4, 2012 2:58 PM

Looks great.

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 5 votes )

buffalofalling

June 4, 2012 3:08 PM

Now if there was an economy to make this have an impact you'd be set. Despite the city's suggestion that the new code will have major economic impacts, it won't. And I invite anyone to show the research that supports a form-based code in a depopulating city as a growth INDUCING and transformational tool. great that any new buildings will be built in an urban manner but with so little growth the true impact will be minor in a city with major issues. But hey, it'll keep the gentrification of Elmwood on track and thats all that's all that matters.

[ Reply ]

Score: -16 ( 24 votes )

JSmith

June 4, 2012 3:28 PM

Every city needs a zoning code and land use plan, whether it is experiencing growth, stasis, or decline. And since you have to have one, the zoning code may as well encourage types of development that enhance the quality of life within the city rather than detracting from it.

But actually, this code and land use plan will help us deal the problems of decline by adding new land use flexibility for vacant parcels, by helping to reduce our (very expensive) dependence on personal automobiles, etc.

[ Reply ]

replied to buffalofalling

Score: 11 ( 11 votes )

Up and coming

June 4, 2012 3:34 PM

That's the thing, with historic tax credits and a high volume of large factory buildings, new builds are very few and far between. So I totally agree with your comment. I could see this having a slight to moderate effect 10-15 years down the road if Buffalo continues on its upward path. But, other than that I don't see it making a difference at all.

[ Reply ]

replied to buffalofalling

Score: -8 ( 16 votes )

EB_Blue

June 4, 2012 3:40 PM

You do know that zoning applies equally to existing properties as well as to new ones, right? If you want to rehab a historic building into a new use, you run into a hundred roadblocks in the current ordinance every time. Read the ZBA agenda.

Every good project in the city needs a dozen variances and must be dragged through the ringer to get through our mess of a zoning ordinance. It's 1,804 pages of garbage.

Remove red tape, have sane rules based on community input, and streamline the process, and yes, you're likely to get more economic development. Bully for the folks working on the Green Code! It's looking up.

[ Reply ]

replied to Up and coming

Score: 9 ( 11 votes )

RaChaCha

June 4, 2012 4:19 PM

I love the N1-E sketch -- it shows a midrise, built-to-the-curb building IN the Oak-Elm corridor. That suggests that folks have their eye on making some substantial changes to what is now essentially an expressway with a median full of hideous buildings & parking garages.

DEATH to the Traffic Moat of Horror that separates downtown from the east side! Instead, let's have a beautiful corridor visually linking ECC & BNMC along it, and knitting together downtown and the east side across it.

[ Reply ]

Score: 7 ( 7 votes )

JSmith

June 4, 2012 4:55 PM

You can check out the draft (note that it is not final) land use plan at www.buffalogreencode.com in the Document Library section. The maps of the proposed zonings are here: http://www.buffalogreencode.com/Appx1MappingAnalysis.pdf

All of the Elm/Oak corridor is currently slated to be zoned as N1-E. Of course, the existing buildings won't go away for a LONG time, but any new development will be built in a more pedestrian-friendly way. Hopefully, that will coincide with a conversion of these streets to two-way traffic.

[ Reply ]

replied to RaChaCha

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

EB_Blue

June 4, 2012 4:35 PM

The Mayor had a couple notes to say about the code in today's Buffalo News...

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/from-our-readers/another-voice/article886804.ece

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

RaChaCha

June 4, 2012 4:56 PM

Will The Barkyard be classified D-OG Green--? Just askin'.

[ Reply ]

replied to EB_Blue

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

JSmith

June 4, 2012 5:19 PM

Here's hoping that the Green Code will be part of the city charter AND that we will have a few great development success stories that illustrate its influence when the Congress for the New Urbanism brings their annual conference to town in 2014!

[ Reply ]

Score: 3 ( 3 votes )

grad94

June 4, 2012 5:24 PM

but will common council members or other public officials willingly relinquish the power they hold as gatekeepers when it comes to development projects?

[ Reply ]

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

Lego1981

June 4, 2012 6:29 PM

But, will Brown and Company actually 'Follow' these new guidelines or continue making Buffalo look like one giant suburb?

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 7 votes )

Dan

June 4, 2012 7:40 PM

Maybe, but this time, the Green Code will make it harder for the advocates of "crappy development is better than no development". They'd require variances/warrants for the crap, while today, a variance is required to build something that's better fits in to the long-established built environment.

In my experience, developers aren't necessarily opposed to strict zoning codes. They just want something that's predictable, which clearly tells them what's expected. Form-based, hybrid, and conventional codes with design standards do that better than the antiquated Euclidian-style code Buffalo uses.

[ Reply ]

replied to Lego1981

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

jasonharemza

June 5, 2012 12:37 PM

It should make it a bit harder. Just be ready for the inevitable argument from a developer: "Your codes are lovely and clear but very strict. They are preventing me from building my Family Dollar/Walgreens/Tim Hortons the way that the tenant requires. If you don't give me a variance from your new and lovely code, the project will go away."

Developers know how to game the system through blackmail. It's very few elected leaders who are willing to stand up to this sort of argument and call their bluff.

[ Reply ]

replied to Dan

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

hamp

June 4, 2012 10:59 PM

Will someone tell the Senecas about this code? Please.

[ Reply ]

Score: 5 ( 5 votes )

grad94

June 5, 2012 5:26 PM

if they consider that land sovereign land (even though federal judges have ruled otherwise), then they are no more bound by our laws than fort erie is.

[ Reply ]

replied to hamp

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

STEEL

June 4, 2012 11:20 PM

I hear there were a few people at the meeting tonight screeming for more parking

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 6 votes )

JSmith

June 4, 2012 11:42 PM

That's what they get for holding the meeting at Lafayette High School, where the staff parks on the sidewalk.

But in seriousness, why make the city force a one-size-fits-all solution on developers? Why not let each developer decide how much parking they need to provide to make a building viable, taking into account the unique circumstances of each building site?

[ Reply ]

replied to STEEL

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

jasonharemza

June 5, 2012 12:33 PM

Because, without parking maximums, developers will decide that they need as much as possible, and will demolish surrounding buildings for parking lots.

[ Reply ]

replied to JSmith

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

JSmith

June 5, 2012 12:45 PM

Establishing parking maximums isn't on anybody's agenda in Buffalo. Just eliminating minimum parking requirements and allow developers to build only the amount of parking necessary to meet the demand would be a huge step forward.

[ Reply ]

replied to jasonharemza

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

jasonharemza

June 5, 2012 1:13 PM

Rochester removed parking requirements downtown in 1975. 37 years of experience has shown that developers can't be trusted to build only the "amount of parking necessary." In a weak market, the most profitable use of land is often surface parking. So we end up with a beautifully renovated residential loft development surrounded by parking.

I'll give kudos to Buffalo if they can push through the inevitable neighborhood opposition to removing parking requirements along the mixed use commercial corridors. Rochester city staff would love to do that, but there has been fierce neighborhood opposition every time and City Council buckles.

[ Reply ]

replied to JSmith

Score: 3 ( 3 votes )

RaChaCha

June 5, 2012 2:17 PM

It's time for Rochester's city council to get some backbone, which has been only rarely displayed IMHO since the middle of the last decade when they backed the anti-lead ordinance over vehement landlord opposition, and refused to knuckle under to Ed Doherty on his plan to demolish the subway tunnel.

[ Reply ]

replied to jasonharemza

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

grad94

June 5, 2012 7:10 AM

there was one lady who was pissed off about something and was ranting at everyone who appeared to be on duty.

[ Reply ]

replied to STEEL

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

YesSir

June 5, 2012 7:52 AM

Are you sure it wasn't just Steel ranting via skype?

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: -2 ( 8 votes )

caseysmigelski

June 5, 2012 8:21 PM

I went to the South district meeting today and this is true here also.

"No parking requirements?!" and a lot of people shaking their heads no.

I talked with a few people and strongly supported having no minimum requirement for parking. They satopple outcry for parking minimums was even stronger at the West Side meeting.

What this tells me is that if you are strongly against having minimum parking requirements in the Buffalo Green Code you need to make your voice heard by going to the meetings, filling out the comment cards, and emailing them at the website. They told me they are literally counting one by one the number of people for and against it so make your voice heard!

[ Reply ]

replied to STEEL

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

distas

June 5, 2012 10:29 AM

Is there anything in the Green Code that addresses new build home setbacks from the street and lot sizes, as well as garage placement possibly BEHIND the front of the home instead of in front? (like we are currently seeing in some of the Colvin Estates homes)

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

Woods79

June 5, 2012 12:09 PM

Is there anything in the Green Code that would provide for an injunction on Colvin Estates? Is there anyone left who still thinks this was a good idea?

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 4 votes )

Dan

June 5, 2012 12:21 PM

Estoppel. The City can't stop the project.

I don't know if the Green Code would prevent such projects in the future. I've seen nothing about any possible street design, block length or connectivity requirements that might be in the Green Code.

[ Reply ]

replied to Woods79

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

JSmith

June 5, 2012 12:36 PM

Well, the summary presentations have certainly indicated that there will be block size requirements, etc.

Does the approval of the house designs for Colvin Estates under the current code apply to the entire subdivision, even after 10 years or so? Or would houses built at Colvin Estates after the Green Code is law have to abide by whatever design and form standards apply under the new code?

[ Reply ]

replied to Dan

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

Dan

June 6, 2012 9:32 AM

Good question. I wrote a new zoning code for a suburb of Austin (conventional with form-based elements and strict design requirements; we already had the SmartCode in place, which remained). When the code was adopted, homebuilders had to conform to the new regulations in existing subdivisions. The new regulations included residential design requirements; articulation, roof pitch, brick/masonry percentage, anti-monotony, restrictions on attached garage frontage and projection, and so on. The homebuilders hated it, but they had to do it. The old subdivisions as a whole couldn't be replatted by force; nonconforming use/estoppal. However, all new construction was subject to the new code.

[ Reply ]

replied to JSmith

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

caseysmigelski

June 5, 2012 8:24 PM

I don't believe the Colvin Estates would be allowed to be built without a variance if the Green Code were in effect today. The design of the homes do not meet any of the approved structures outlined in the new code to my knowledge.

[ Reply ]

replied to Woods79

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

Jenkins

June 6, 2012 3:35 PM

Does anyone have an idea of how to encourage local ownership of business's through zoning? All of my favorite and most successful neighborhoods are full of locally owned business and I'm wondering if there is a way of trying to make it more difficult for national chains to ruin a successful village like Elmwood, Hertel and Allentown.

[ Reply ]

Score: -1 ( 1 votes )

Up and coming

June 6, 2012 4:07 PM

Spot Coffee (not locally owned) Solie (not locally owned) Coffee Culture (not locally owned) and I'm sure there are more that I don't know of.

[ Reply ]

replied to Jenkins

Score: -1 ( 1 votes )

LouisTully

June 6, 2012 6:18 PM

For each one you named, or could name, there are probably 20 local businesses to counter with.

[ Reply ]

replied to Up and coming

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

Dan

June 7, 2012 9:40 AM

> I'm wondering if there is a way of trying to make it more difficult for national chains to ruin a successful village like Elmwood, Hertel and Allentown.

It's unconstitutional for a city to ban "formula businesses", as they're called. Courts have said such bans are a restriction on interstate commerce. We also get into the messy area of how to deal with local chains that residents are more accepting of.

Communities have had some success restricting chains through design requirements, limiting off-street parking, and limiting retail floor area.

[ Reply ]

replied to Jenkins

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

City Offers Preview of the New Zoning Ordinance

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