SPRINGDALE -- City leaders believe new design standards will reshape the downtown area.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday will vote on whether to recommend the changes -- called form-based code -- for City Council approval.
Web watch
The first draft of the form-based code for Downtown Springdale can be found http://bit.ly/2lSoY…">here.
Meeting times
Anyone with concerns about the form-based code can attend Tuesday’s public hearing. Another code work session will be held today following the 5:30 p.m. City Council Committee meeting, which is held in the City Administration Building’s Multipurpose Room. That meeting is open to the public as well.
The public hearing where the vote will take place will happen during Tuesday’s 5 p.m. Planning Commission meeting in the City Council Chambers of the City Administration Building, 201 Spring St.
Source: Staff report
Form-based code
A form-based code is a way to regulate development that controls building form first and building use second, with the purpose of achieving a particular type of “place” or built environment based on a community vision.
The code functions as zoning by regulating land use and placement of buildings on logs. Unlike conventional zoning, the focus of a form-based code is on how buildings relate to the adjoining street, not on what uses occur inside them.
Source: Staff report
The code is more focused on exterior aesthetics than the use of structures in the downtown area, said Misty Murphy, director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance.
"If your building meets the form that we ask it to be then the use isn't that important," she said.
The area impacted by the new code includes all homes, businesses and municipal buildings between Huntsville and Caudle avenues, and Thompson Street and Old Missouri Road, said Melissa Reeves, public affairs director for the city.
Patsy Christie, director of planning and community development, said existing structures would be grandfathered in. However, Murphy said if a business or homeowner makes a change to an existing structure they must conform to the code.
The city commissioned H3 Studios, a St. Louis architectural firm, to develop the code, which a city task force helped to shape. The firm also developed the city's Downtown Master Plan.
The draft states form-based code is "designed to foster a setting for economic growth and development in a sustainable mixed-use pattern integrating residential with employment and commercial uses as well as civic and recreational opportunities."
"This will be very good for mixed-use development with commercial and residential," said Kevin Parsley, chairman of the Planning Commission. "We want to have a mixed concept, especially in the downtown area. You don't want a downtown area that is just a place to work, but a place to live as well."
The proposed code requires all new developments on Emma Avenue be at least two stories tall.
Murphy said square footage and land is going to be at a premium.
"We want to maximize our space out there, so we want to build up instead of building out," she said. "It's a smarter way to grow."
All new buildings on Emma Avenue within the area designated in the code as Neighborhood Center Type 1, which for Emma goes from Shiloh Street to Berry Street, are not allowed to have a first floor residence. For those new buildings, a commercial space must be on the first floor.
Building a residence on Emma would not jibe with the purpose of the area, Parsley said.
"You want to make a destination people go to for entertainment or offices. Having a residential in that would create an inconsistency of the type of development that's in there," Parsley said.
Mayor Doug Sprouse said the code requires new developments and changes to existing buildings to conform to a higher caliber.
"It creates standards that would not allow cheaply built developments or commercial or residential buildings that could over time detract from surrounding property values. It's an assurance of quality," Sprouse said. "People who are investing in downtown need to have those assurances, so their investment is protected."
Jesse Core, owner of Core Public House, a pub located at 101 W. Johnson Ave., said setting design standards will help prevent downtown property values from being diminished.
"As long as the design standards are to create a better environment down here, I'm totally good with that," Core said. "I like the idea of setting the bar high and watching Springdale flourish."
Dr. Carol Kendrick lives in the 600 block of Shiloh Street and is weary of how code regulations would affect downtown residences.
"As a long-term resident in downtown Springdale who has gone to considerable labor and expense to make our property in downtown Springdale attractive, extra regulations would be a disincentive for me," Kendrick said. "I'm more motivated by my own sense of beauty than regulations crafted by an architectural firm in St. Louis."
The code's purpose is to provide guidance for development, not restriction, and its formation was driven by the Downtown Springdale Alliance, not the city, Parsley said. The code is a continuation of the Downtown Master Plan, approved more than a year ago, he said.
Murphy said the code is the first step in moving toward infrastructure development downtown in accordance with the master plan.
A 15-member task force made up of downtown residents, downtown business owners and people involved in downtown real estate met over the course of six months last year and reviewed the code, Murphy said.
NW News on 03/06/2017