The second draft of the proposed Fitchburg SmartCode is available for online review. Download the 3.3mb .pdf file here.

This step puts us one step closer to adopting a new approach to zoning standards for future growth. To catch up on all the hard work that’s come before, start with the overview column to the immediate right. Then, scroll down the posts that precede this one. They’re in chronological order, beginning with the most recent… [cont.]

Building on the work completed during our planning charrette, the PlaceMakers consulting team and staff have since been working together to fine-tune the proposed new zoning option. Get a look at the first draft — dated March 22, 2010 — by downloading this 4.7mb .pdf… [cont.]

Fitchburg has the unique advantage of lying between the time-tested urbanity of Madison and the inspiring landscape of the rural countryside. Citizens have access to either in a matter of minutes.

“But here is what’s missing,” said PlaceMakers project manager Susan Henderson to an audience of local residents and community leaders on Friday night… [cont.]

It’s a dilemma faced by rural communities throughout the United States, especially when those rural areas are threatened by sprawling suburbs: How do you juggle what seem to be competing goals?

Communities want to retain their rural character, both as productive agricultural land and as scenic landscape. Farmers need access to at least some of the cash they’d get for developing their land. And counties and municipalities want to minimize cost-per-household expenses of extending services deep into the countryside. [cont.]

Just like the song: Tonight’s the night. After a week of sorting through ideas and testing them in collaboration with Fitchburg citizens, the PlaceMakers project team presents key components tonight of a zoning approach that will add alternative options to future development and redevelopment. [cont.]

Charrettes are designed to test ideas, sorting through them till the best ones emerge. The process requires give and take from citizens and consultants alike, so reality-tested concepts are the ones that can survive rigorous discussion.

During Wednesday night’s “pin-up”, PlaceMakers consultants tried out potential SmartCode standards—rules for everything from set-backs to special industrial districts to architecture—which stimulated plenty of comments. [cont.]

It’s literally a “pin-up.”

After more than two days of tours and meetings, the PlaceMakers consulting team took to the drawing board to sketch ideas. Then, they pinned sketches on the Community Center walls for a Wednesday night open house and citizen critique. [cont.]

Before exploring what a Fitchburg zoning update will do to shape the future of the City, it’s important to clarify what it will not do to existing neighborhoods and businesses. That was one theme of Tuesday meetings with developers, business people, neighborhood groups, and others. [cont.]

Monday night provided a great start for our zoning update “charrette”. More than 70 citizens showed up to help kick-off the four days of meetings and planning.

Introduced by Mayor Jay Allen, Susan Henderson, project manager for the PlaceMakers consulting team, provided a 20-minute introduction (3.2mb .pdf) to the regulatory approach the team will use. Then, Jennifer Hurley, also on the consulting team, led the group through a table exercise designed to help citizens test some of what they heard in Henderson’s presentation. [cont.]