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WRITES Columbia Pike ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA, I1d5 seen explosive development along the Metro (subway) corridors over the past 30 years, while Columbia Pilce, the 3.5-mile (5.6-Icm) "Main StreeY' for the southem portion of the county, has languished. Although it is a historic thoroughfare running from the Pentagon to the Arling- ton/Fairfax County line, its current form resembles strip commercial zones every- where: an arterial that carries approxi- mately 30,00o vehicles a day, varying in width from four to six lanes and lined pri- marily with parlcing lots and low buildings. Columbia Pilce was the most underde- veloped area in a county that is otherwise built out. County leaders wanted to encour- age economic development and also create a mixed-use pedestrian environment that would allow for future light rail or bus rapid transit. During an intensive finro-year visioning process, the county recognized that its reg- ulations would never produce the desired results, a traditional Main Street. The effort led to the adoption of a form-based code in Zoo3. The Columbia Pilce code is optional— all e�cisting zoning remains in place—with incentives such as expedited review to encourage its use. Since passage, the vast majority of development proposals have opted to use the new form-based code. ' . � ��'.4 �' "��rY+� , a• � � �^ 7 �"�e .�. �.-= �, �. ' , � �e�� i a ° °�� w � � � �§' �' ��Ta e a'��r5 ��a � �:�, r.� _, `r'?� , ; � �{.w �� . :� ...... Y., . ��Y° � r � *�:�:� ..�.; `�. � ►�: �4...+.�._5" -`� 'r• ��1s� ��_�__�---�---�� ` �- - - �� _ - — � �• - f —... �" i" , l � �� > �°� °i� �� �r In the wal<e of Hurricane Katrina, many coastal communities are discovering that their historic cores cannot be rebuilt after disaster stril<es. The magnitude of the recovery effort �%B URBAN LAND SEPTEMBER 2006 has led many of them to explore a model form-based code I<nown as the SmartCode to sidestep the need for customized codes for each communiry. The goal is to re-create the historic form of the older sections of town, rather than the sprawl around the edge, and to rebuild "better than before:' The next frontier for form-based codes is to carry out regional planning. By extending the tools used to regulate urban form in small areas, regional development patterns can also be coded (for instance, laying out intercon- nected road networlcs and allowing for re- gional stormwater management). It is no longer credible to believe that incremental development decisions are sufficient to shape regional growth patterns. Form-based codes focus on end results— the creation of desirable physical places. They are ideal for jurisdictions seeldng a funda- mental change in urban form and character— for instance, when redeveloping areas that have become obsolete or which were poorly planned at the outset. Whether it is a gre�eld conversion of a dead mall or revitalization of an aging com- mercial corridor, a shared physical vision for the desired character is the essential first step. Form-based codes quantify that vision into physical parameters that replace the pre- existing zoning standards. Typically, the result is the regulation of pri- vate and public development to create valu- able public spaces that did not exist before. For instance, overly wide streets can be con- verted into places where pedestrians and com- merce can meet to their mutual benefit; new public spaces such as plazas can create cen- ters of attention in homogeneous subdivisions. Form-based codes can also be used for finer-grained projects, such as infill redevelop- ment downtown or in bypassed ciry neighbor- hoods, or as a tool for regulating new con- struction in historic districts. These codes can be written to protect the existing urban fabric, or they can serve to transform it. National Trends Cities and counties across the country are replacing parts oftheir conventional zoningwith form-based codes, to enable local governments to carry outvisionary place-mal<ing plans. One prominent example is in unincorpo- rated Dade Counry, Florida, where land around the Dadeland Mall, a regional shopping attrac- tion, is being converted into a downtown for the sprawling communiry of Kendall.