Form-Based Codes for Zoning Reform to Promote Sustainable Development: Insights From Cities in Southern California

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Advocates of form-based codes contend that these zoning regulations go beyond conventional zoning regulations in promoting sustainable development. We examine the extent to which form-based codes adopted by California cities differ from conventional zoning regulations in integrating 41 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development sustainability criteria (measured by the total number of criteria and the strength of each criterion included in regulations) using a multiple-case study of 26 cities in Southern California. We examine whether and how form-based codes adopted for specific development areas differ from the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and from the current conventional zoning regulations of matched cities. We find considerable variation among cities: Not all form-based codes in our study include more sustainability criteria to a stronger degree than conventional zoning regulations, but a) most form-based codes include more sustainability criteria than the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and those of matched cities, and b) the strongest form-based codes include more sustainability criteria to a stronger degree than the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and those of matched cities. We lack sufficient information to generalize; California, moreover, has many state laws requiring sustainable development. Our findings provide valuable insight for cities considering zoning reform to increase the sustainability of development.

Takeaway for practice: Our findings suggest that form-based and conventional zoning regulations can each help cities integrate sustainability criteria into their development regulations. Our research offers positive examples of best practice in zoning reform and highlights missed opportunities for creating more sustainable communities. Cities considering zoning reform can consider these opportunities when reforming their codes to be more supportive of sustainable development.

Keywords:

• form-based codes
• sustainable development
• zoning reform

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Andrea Hoff, Asiya Natekal, and Oscar Tsai for coding regulations analytically, to Tiffany Ho for tabulating the coded data, and to Megan Smith and Michael Phelan for statistical analysis of the data.

Research Support

This research was funded, in part, by a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, Los Angeles (CA).

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

1. Cities are adopting form-based codes or new conventional zoning regulations (for parts of the city or for the entire city) that replace their existing zoning regulations; we refer to this as zoning reform.

2. A specific plan could be a detailed policy plan or regulation that guides future physical development within a specifically defined area of the city.

3. Some of these form-based codes and conventional zoning regulations are adopted as specific plans to implement the local general plan for a portion of the city. We call these form-based codes or conventional zoning regulations to differentiate between them based on the type of regulations.

4.  In some target cities, the form-based codes replaced the conventional zoning regulations included in the city’s municipal code previously applicable to the area; in these cases, to identify pertinent conventional regulations for analysis, we considered only those sections of the city’s municipal code that were previously applicable to the area covered by form-based codes.

5. We used this approach because Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties are coastal counties that developed earlier and have higher median household incomes and higher population densities compared with that of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which are located further inland and were developed later.

6 The rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism (U.S. Green Building Council, 2013).

7. Instead of onsite parking, shared parking is provided in an adjoining garage that was previously underused (New Urban News, 2010).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded, in part, by a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, Los Angeles (CA).

Notes on contributors

Ajay Garde

Ajay Garde ([email protected]) is an associate professor

Cecilia Kim

Cecilia Kim ([email protected]) is a doctoral candidate, in the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine.