Open Letter to Mayor + Council re: Groveway Code

Below is an open letter to the city council articulating my views as well as those of a number of individuals who live in Roswell on the proposed Groveway Hybrid Form-Based Code.  If you support this new zoning, please be sure to let your mayor and city council know before Monday evening as they will be voting on it.  You can email them at RoswellMayorandCouncil@roswellgov.com.  

Dear Mayor and Council,

First, I would like to thank you for the time and consideration that each of you has invested in the Groveway Hybrid Form-Based Code. As you know, the code has gone through extensive review and community involvement.  The assertions by other Roswell citizens that it is being fast tracked is incorrect.  You are also aware that several residents have voiced concern about the unintended consequences of the code.  My initial concerns with the East Roswell Forum email were that the facts were grossly inaccurate.  However, those have now been debunked by the city.  There are 'unintended consequences' of every action. I decided to write you to ensure that both sides of the community are heard and I feel there several additional items that need to be voiced:

• Our existing zoning is outdated and dysfunctional.  It is critical that we have an updated code particularly in the Groveway area.  We need this to encourage development in the heart of our city.  Otherwise, most of what the Groveway Community wants and needs will require time consuming variances and that will likely never happen.
• Now is the time to act.  Our neighbors, Alpharetta and Sandy Springs, are moving forward on development and job growth.  Our tax rolls are not growing while theirs are.  If we do not act soon, we will miss the generational shift that is creating a significant demand for walkable urbanism as Gen Y joins the workforce and as the Baby Boomers become empty nesters and find that they don’t need the large house, that they would like to walk to many of their daily needs and also drive less.
• We must continue to revitalize our town center. Form based codes focus on the creation, revitalization and preservation of vibrant, walkable urban places.  The center of our city should be just that while enabling people of all walks of life to live there.  They help accomplish the following:

• Encourage Placemaking - They can do this because the are prescriptive thus achieving a more predictable physical result.
• Encourage Public Participation - Citizens can see and understand what will be built which engages them more.
• Encourage Independent Development - Independent developers can build on smaller lots knowing that what eventually gets built next to their lot will not adversely impact their building and/or business.
• Create Diversity of Development - Because smaller independent developers have certainty, many more of them build which creates diverse development rather than what happens when one large developer owns all the land.
• Retain History - FBCs work well in existing areas because they retain and codify the best of what is already there and build upon that to create a place unique to the area instead of a cookie cutter design
• Foster Transparency - Non-professionals find them to be shorter, more readable and easier to understand which makes it easier to determine if the code is being followed.
• Provide Developer Certainty and Reduce Risk - They give developers the certainty they need to encourage large investments of their own capital.

There is much to be excited about in Roswell today.  As you saw in Greenville, it takes bold action to build a great place.  Numerous other cities are already ahead of the curve with creating 21st century zoning codes (Denver, Miami, Nashville, El Paso, San Antonio, Montgomery, Sarasota).  One of the most famous towns in the south, Seaside, was built using a Form Based Code.  

I am are asking that you vote YES for the Groveway Hybrid Form-Based Code.  Please don’t let the short-term view of a few who have fed misinformation to many further delay the progress of our great city.  It would be a shame to waste this opportunity and see jobs and development continue to flow to our neighboring cities.

Sincerely,


Michael Hadden | CNU-a | New Urban Roswell 

Roswell 40U40
712 Creek View Lane | Roswell, GA 30075

The Phony Groveway Controversy

It has come to our attention that a group of citizens are raising a signficant amount of opposition to the proposed Groveway Hybrid Form Based Code.  We have written about this code previously (here and here) and support the effort to revitalize one of the most neglected parts of our city by engaging the community, updating the zoning into the 21st century and giving those citizens the neighborhood design they desire.

The opposition is making false claims about the potential for large numbers of apartments and retail space.  The claim is that through hyper development in this area, our city will suffer reduced quality of life, more traffic congestion, degrading school quality and several other social ills.  Additionally, there is concern that this is being fast tracked by council.

The facts show that these claims just aren't true.  The city made an official response, posted below, to the initial email that addresses the claims very well.  We have chosen to not post the original email as it contains several factual inaccuracies that could further confuse the public.  Please consider sending an email to the mayor city council voicing your support. 

• mayorwood@roswellgov.com  
• ndiamond@roswellgov.com
• rdippolito@roswellgov.com
• kigleheart@roswellgov.com
• Jorlans@roswellgov.com
• bprice@roswellgov.com
• bwynn@roswellgov.com

If you can, please try to come out to the City Council Meeting Monday evening (4/9) at City Hall and show your support.  Here's the city's response:  

You recently received an email containing a letter written by ........ concerning the Groveway Community project. There are many inaccuracies in this letter pertaining to this project, and the City of Roswell would like to give you the correct information. 

Groveway Project Process

This project is not being fast tracked. It has gone through a thorough, painstaking process which began back in 2008 with the City receiving a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission to study the area for redevelopment.  From 2008 until today, the City has involved the community and stakeholders from day one. The Groveway project has been a community-driven effort with multiple meetings for citizen input. The City has held a two-day charrette with citizens, four community meetings and 17 Groveway Stakeholder committee meetings following the charrette. The result is a community vision and comprehensive plan for Groveway: A mixed-use zoning code overlay that will re-create the area, making it a vibrant part of our city. Please visit the timeline for this project to see how it has progressed over the years.http://www.roswellgov.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2351

Apartments

The maximum number of apartments that could be built in Groveway is 2,800 but realistically that number is not likely to exceed 1,500. The Groveway project is a mixed-used development which means there will be single family homes, multi-family homes (apartments/townhomes), commercial and retail. To achieve 4,000 apartments, every piece of land in Groveway would need to be developed into five-story apartment complexes. That would include the City Hall property, the Cultural Arts Center, the Police Department, the Library, the Child Development Association, Pleasant Hill Church, the AT&T building, the cemetery and Waller Park. That is just not going to happen.

In addition, the Groveway hybrid form-based code does not allow for five-story buildings everywhere. Five-story buildings are allowed only on the primary streets of Atlanta, Oak, Hill, Norcross, and Frazier. Secondary streets in the community are allowed only three-story buildings. Currently there are approximately 400 apartments in the GrovewayCommunity. Realistically Groveway will be redeveloped into a community with homes, townhomes, apartments, retail and commercial…a balanced approach. 

Retail

There will not be 1,782,000 square-feet of retail space developed in the Groveway Community. Again to achieve this level of retail, every parcel in Groveway would need to be retail, and that is not realistic. That would include the City Hall property, the Cultural Arts Center, the Police Department, the Library, the Child Development Association, Pleasant Hill Church, the AT&T building, the cemetery and Waller Park. Again, that is just not going to happen. In addition, the Groveway Community is on a grid system and the size of the land parcels does not allow an assemblage of land large enough to support that much retail. This is a mixed-use development not solely a retail development.

Transferable to other areas of Roswell 

 The Groveway Community Hybrid Form-Based Code Regulations have been created through a community effort for theGroveway Community and nowhere else. If other communities in our wonderful City would like to redevelop their areas, a similar process would need to take place. The residents and stakeholders of the community would need to be engaged and drive the process from the very beginning to its fruition, and Roswell’s Mayor and Council would need to approve the final plan.

Infrastructure Improvements

Necessary infrastructure improvements would be required through the redevelopment of the properties in addition to developers paying impact fees for improvements. This is a live, work, play, walkable community where people will walk to the stores, restaurants and parks similar to those who live in the Canton Street area.

The Groveway project is a community vision of what this area of our city could be – a thriving, vibrant neighborhood for our community. To read more about the Groveway project, we encourage you to visit http://www.roswellgov.com/index.aspx?NID=1435.

Thought of the Week: On Groveway Form Based Code

If the City is striving for Urban Ecology, then it should strive to create a human scaled streetscape and sense of place.  You can still be progressive without sacrificing the small town village vibe.  Call it nostalgia with an edge.  Great design cannot be distilled to a bucketful of rules and numbers only.  The City needs to think in terms of the contextual cohesiveness of Charleston or Annapolis, not Atlantic Station.  Well illustrated and designed guidelines as well as incentives to control utilities will assist the city of Roswell, stakeholders, and developers achieve a specific district or neighborhood feel that reflects the very wonderful essence of Roswell.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  This was excerpted from an independent Review of the Groveway code that has been presented to the City Council by Community Concepts of Marietta, Studio 4 Design of Knoxville and Chapman, Coyle, Chapman of Marietta.  They do feel that this is a good first step. The problems they outline are mostly of a design nature and the document not being detailed enough.  The document is 24 pages with several illustrations and images.  I believe, at this point, that the council will send the code back tomorrow night for some additional tinkering.

Groveway Hybrid Form-Based Code - Draft Review

 

I had some time this week to take a look at the draft copy of the Groveway Hybrid Form-Based Code that is being reviewed by the city for approval.  At first glance, it's revolutionary for Roswell.  In 20 years, the Groveway Community as we know it will be almost unrecognizable and that's not a bad thing.  The reason I say that is this... What we will get is just plain better than the current mish mash of old houses, public housing and light industrial buildings that is currently there today.  

Overview

• 2 districts - The area is divided into two distinct district types.  Those are Neighborhood Mixed-Use (NMU, red) and Neighborhood Residential (NR, blue).
• Different Building Requiements and Approved Uses - Each area NMU and NR has a different mix of what can go there.
• Intersection Focal Points - 6 High Visibility Intersections are to be focal points of development.
• Maximum Heights - Maximum building height of 5 stories or 66 feet.

Let's start off with the few bad things that I could find...

Accessory Dwellings - This code doesn't seem to specificially permit Accessory Dwellings (granny flats) in either the NMU or NR.  I could be missing something but I couldn't find any mention of them in the permitted use section.  I think this may be an oversight becuase they are discussed in other sections such as the NMU Building Orientation section.  However, I think it would be best to define them outright in the building types section.  There's only one area in Roswell that I've seen that does these well and that is the Legacy Village subdivision off Woodstock.  If you want to see them put to much better use, you need to drive up to Vickery Village.  These should be standard development tools for single family lots in the Historic District.

Parking Minimums - It doesn't go far enough to reduce parking minimums.  In a truly walkable community, you just don't need them.  Nashville has gone as far as removing parking minimums in its downtown zoning code. If Nashville can get away with it, surely Roswell can.

Municipal Complex Grounds - This code doesn't really address the void that the inward facing City Hall and municpal complex create.  It does nothing with the grounds around City Hall... I think there is something creative that can be done to further engage City Hall and the municipal complex with the rest of the community.  I'm not referring to the area between the butt of City Hall and Atlanta Street wherethe new Walk of Valor will be.  Rather, I'm referring to the area along Hill Street and Forest Street that could undoubtedly be better used.  Additionally, instead of a big giant roundabout infront of the steps, that area could be turned into a plaza to be used more effectively for special functions and eventually become a central gathering place for the community.

Historic District vs Groveway District? - There seems to be some confusion as to what district a developer would be developing in.  This is a problem and is inherently confusing.  Why are we overlaying complexity.. We have existing codes overlapped by this code overlapped by the historic district.  If we were thinking holistically, the entire historic district from the River to Woodstock Rd would be part of the same code with slightly different architectural nuances for the different sections of the district.

What is Historic? - I think this is a question that many people have been asking.  How much are historic buildings protected and what exactly is historic? Is the AT&T building historic?  Should it be protected?  We need to better define what buildings NEED TO GO eventually and which ones should stay.  Don't preserve a shack just because it's old.  Think Spiced Right.. Love the food! Hate the building.  Should we be preserving those types of buildings?

Now, here's what I love about it...

Placemaking - This code really makes an attempt to create a place for people.  In turn, community and business will thrive.  This is ground up through a community charrette process rather than top down through a major developer (i.e. Avalon in Alpharetta).  The drawing below is just one of the visions that are detailed in the draft document.

Simplicity - It might be a little long but the key parts are simple.  Anyone can read it and figure out building requirements and really get a vision of what the area might look like in 10-20 years.  If all other codes were thrown away and this one were the only one that was applicable to the area, it would be a great step in the right direction.

Consistency - Buildings will be consistent but not identical.  This uniformity creates a sense of place.  Compare Canton Street to Alpharetta Hwy and you will see what consistent building typology and hodgepodge really does to an environment.  

Mixed-Use - The Mixed-Use district is huge.. wow!  This could truly be the heart of the historic district one day.  This only makes sense since it is the only area with a moderately functional networked road system.  One small concern is that too many uses have been labeled as conditional or prohibited.  This is especially true in the purely residential area which might be better with a few more uses permitted and a little bigger mix of single family and townhomes together rather than being segregated out.

Storefronts - Great care is taken in describing how stores and buildings should address the street.  Storefronts are required to have at least 60% transparency making them feel permeable.  This helps create a comfortable envirnment for walking.  If you've ever walked past the AT&T building or the Jail, you'll know what I mean.  Now compare that to walking in front of Roswell Provisions along Canton Street.  There is no comparison.  Those are two extremes of the spectrum but this code will prevent the negative side of the spectrum from invading the public realm.

Prohibited Materials - There's a place for industrial materials.  That place is not the heart of a city.  This code prohibits certain building materials in new construction such as mirrored glass, chain link fence and back-lit vinyl awnings.

Blank Walls are Prohibited - Again, think AT&T building.  There's nothing less interesting to walk by than a solid blank wall.  This code does a good job preventing that from happening.

There is still time to voice your opinion.  So, I suggest you contact the city council if you feel strongly about this.  To sum it up, there are a few things that I hope get worked out.  However, I would love to see this pass and it will be a great step in the right direction for Roswell. 

All Images from the Groveway FBC Draft via RoswellGov.com

Dirt Lots, Economic Development and Holcomb Bridge

Roswell

Roswell OKs Economic Development Contract - AJC

City Council voted recetly to approve a $103,775 contract to develop a strategic economic plan. The plan has been signed with RKG Associates. RKG is based out of New Hampshire but has consulted many local and regional muicipalities. One of the most notable to me is Greenville, SC which has done a fantastic job rejuvinating its downtown.

New Study will Pinpoint Ways to Improve Traffic on Holcomb Bridge - Alpharetta Neighbor

The study will look at the 1.5 miles between Warsaw Rd and Holcomb Woods Pkwy. The total cost of the study should not exceed $463k and Roswell's share will be just under $100k. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

Big Creek Wetlands Workday - RoswellGov.com

The city is holding a work day for wetlants restoration, plantings, and litter removal at Big Creek on March 5th.

Region

Developer Promises No Dirt Lot at Mixed-Use Site Near GA 400 - Alpharetta-Milton Patch

There has been a lot of talk about the proposed development at the MetLife/Peridot campus in Alpharetta. Naysayers complain that Alpharetta doesn't need more mixed-use and are requesting a moratorium on approvals of proposals. Proponents say there is nothing even close to similar in N Fulton and that Alpharetta should encourage this type of development because demographic trends show that it is becoming more ad more desirable. We can all agree that another dirt lot similar to Prospect Park is undesirable.

Public Concerns Spur Alpharetta to Reconsider MetLife Project - AJC

The city council has tabled this until the February meeting. I hope they are not persuaded by the naysayers who are using faulty statistics and clinging to a 1990's land development model.

Tough Questions for Mayor of Johns Creek - CBS Atlanta

My only question is this: $400k for 9 Electric Bikes???

MARTA to Spend $117M on Train Control Technology - AJC

At first glance, this seems staggering but according to MARTA has been planned for some time. However, it was plainly obvious after the DC Metro crash in 2009 that MARTA would be spending some money since our systems are essentially identical (except that DC decided to build neighborhoods around their stations and we decided to build parking lots, that's another story though)

Beyond

Miami21 Wins National Planning Excellence Award - CEOs for Cities The form based code that has been adopted in Miami is a model for the 21st century. I would love to see something like this adopted here in Roswell and in the larger metro area. We're a long way off.

Are Cities Any Place for Children - Shareable

This is an interesting piece on why cities are percieved (in some cases rightly so) as bad places for children.

Survey Finds "Buy Local" Message Beneffiting Independent Business - NewRules.org

Notable Quote:

For the fourth year in a row, a national survey of independent businesses has found that those in communities with an active "buy local" campaign have experienced markedly stronger revenue growth compared to those located in areas without such a campaign.

I wonder how Roswell's buy local campaign Find it All Roswell is doing.