Andrew Burleson
Solving the Ashby Paradox
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The result of the regulations we have are the same as the results of the regulations in other cities: low density, pedestrian-hostile development disproportionately dominates the city – not because this is all the market demands, but because it’s all that is legal to build. Doing anything different exposes a developer to a regulatory situation that’s a headache at best and a nightmare at worst.
So while we like to think that we’re scarcely regulated, the facts are quite different. Houston has a pretty average amount of land use regulation, but where it is different is the scattered and unpredictable way in which the City enforces its regulations. The Ashby development is the poster-child for the problems with Houston’s approach.
Fortunately, there’s a straightforward solution for the issues Houston is facing. The Congress for the New Urbanism is an organization that has been dedicated to the development and advancement of new municipal policies to make urbanism in cities legal again. One of the tools the CNU has advocated is called “SmartCode.”
SmartCode is an effort to combine the many facets of development regulation (subdivision and platting regulations, building regulations, traffic and parking regulations, etc) into a single, streamlined, compact document. Its entire goal is to stay away from land-use controls (which unreasonably inhibit the market and create constant conflict at City Hall), and focus on simple, predictable, results-oriented standards.
Full story: Solving the Ashby Paradox
Source: neoHOUSTON, August 26, 2009
Comments
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said:
Howdy Andrew,
Congratulations—your blog was listed first on the webpage for Houston Tomorrow that deals with the Texas Triangle conference! Your Smart Code idea is, I think, a good one for Houston.
Posted on Sep 18, 09 at 4:07 pm
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.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said:
I must disagree with the Smart Code idea. Planners like the Smart Code because it is based in Smart Growth. Developers like it because they assume it would make the City much more predictable in which projects it fights. But while the SmartCode would have helped in the Ashby High Rise case, it would not address the greater problem of development in Houston.
The SmartCode is a form-based code. It differs from traditional zoning because it does not concentrate on land use. Form was the fundamental problem with the Ashby High Rise, so it’s easy to see how the idea came up. But not all development is unwanted because of its form. The Magnolia Glen Homeless shelter would have been acceptable to the SmartCode – despite serious neighborhood concerns. In that case, neighborhood concerns were not about the form of the building, but its use.
Traditional zoning would be more effective than the SmartCode in situations like the Magnolia Glen, because it governs land use as well as form. But a zoning ordinance is a non-starter in Houston. The absence of zoning has helped make this an affordable place to live and do business, not to mention property rights lobbyists and political opposition to zoning.
Fortunately there is a simple alternative. We could require public hearings for certain types of projects, like high rises, hazardous occupancy buildings, and large residential developments. Non-binding hearings would allow neighbors to speak and be heard, and developers to gage public sentiment on their projects. The City should not decide to issue or deny permits based solely on these hearings, but developers could use them to help decide to go through with projects. If the hearings were held early enough, neighborhood concerns could be taken into consideration during the design process, and developers would face only minimal losses if they backed out.
There is precedent for this kind of hearing. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) holds hearings to help decide who gets tax grants for low cost housing. The benefits are numerous. Neighbors feel satisfied that their concerns are heard. Developers are not blindsided by eleventh hour opposition. If we brought hearings like these to more types of development, fights like the Ashby High Rise AND Magnolia Glen could be a thing of the past.
Posted on Sep 07, 09 at 8:33 pm