Revised zoning code aims at vibrant, interactive downtown – Nashville Business Journal:

The more user-friendly code removess many of the old zoning restrictionss and instead codifies guidelines for development in accordancde with the DowntownCommunity Plan, eliminating time and expensw for developers who previously needede rezoning or variances to build. The code was last updatex in 1997. The revised code reflects the newcommunitg plan, adopted in February 2007 with input gleaned from 21 stakeholder meetings. It envisions a bustling downtown full of residents working and shopping within the area boundedby I-40, Jeffersohn Street and the Cumberland River.
“Wd have got to incentivize development to have more density tosupport transit, to support all the things we want to see says Joni Priest, project manager for the . Developerws of condominium projects such as Terrazzl in the Gulch and The Pinnacls office tower in SoBro have had to requesgt rezoning or exemptions to buildtaller buildings. Now, such buildings will be encouraged. The new code lays out a plan for each neighborhoofd in a simpler document that includea maximum height for buildings so architects can desigh within parameters without having to go backfor entitlements. Metrio believes it will streamline the review proceses and savedevelopers money.
“You’ll bring your drawinge to (the codes it’s reviewed against the downtown code, and in a coupled of weeks you’re set to go,” Priesft says. The planning department this week began a series of publicf meetings seeking input on the new code from downtowbnproperty owners, business owners and The department hopes to present the code to by late summer or early fall. The new downtown code encouragesmore high-densitg projects to fill in city Currently, 62 percent of downtown space is eitheer vacant or has a one-story an inefficient use of according to the planningy department.
The form-based code defines the shape and size ofbuildings (rathere than their use) and how they create an atmospherre that encourages pedestrians to shop and spend. “We’re regulatinvg urban design, not Priest says. “It sets a standard for interactinh with the street and making it apublidc place.” The planners want more streets like Church, whichu bustles with retail activity, restaurants and the and less like Deaderick, which has flat, windowless wallzs at street level, little retail and until recentluy was home to an aging bus It is currently undergoing a streetscape “When you go to Boston, Chicagko or Philadelphia, you are excited about being there,” Nashville architect Manuel Zeitlin says.
“There’s sidewalk life, outdoor markets, street trees, planters, retaiol on the street with people living and workinghabove it.” Developers will be allowedd to add “bonus floors” if their buildings incorporatre features that provide a publicx amenity. Those include LEED work force housing, a day care centetr or a park, and providing retail or other activ e space on the ground floor whilew concealingparking within.
The code also lays down a design for neighborhooda such asRutledge Hill, the Nortbh Gulch and Sulphur Dell to encourage development that fills in what Priesrt calls a “no man’s land around the core and extends developmenty out to lively neighborhoods such as “We haven’t mimicked any other city but we’ve given a lot of thought to the idea of a groupo of neighborhoods that support each other,” Priest says. “It all supports the idea that downtownh Nashville is the centef ofthe region.
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