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Day Three: Idea Testing

Feb 10, 2010

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.

[Catch up on what happened, and get a guided tour through work-in-progress, with this video. Story continues below:]

On the walls were sample sections of the SmartCode as they might apply to areas in Fitchburg and sample site plans for existing parcels. The sites were volunteered as exploratory models by local developers and property owners. Nothing formal; just an opportunity to test concepts in real places.

Also displayed: A plan for a small cluster of homes appropriate for a rural hamlet (See an explanation of the goal by PlaceMakers team consultant Andrew von Maur in this earlier post).

The pin-up served two purposes. Residents, developers, and other elected officials got a look at how SmartCode ideas might play out in places they were familiar with. And by engaging directly with the people who will have to live with and do business under the SmartCode, the PlaceMakers team got valuable feedback on their work in progress.

So what did they hear?

Reactions were generally favorable. Some folks were downright excited, since the Smart Growth concepts behind the SmartCode are becoming increasingly popular with citizens who want to protect what they like best about a community and encourage new development in more sustainable ways. Others – particularly developers with long experience and significant investments in the current ways of planning and building in Fitchburg – want to see more before they buy into this new zoning approach.

PlaceMakers planners, who count among their North American clients developers as well as municipalities, are confident they can demonstrate the bottom line potential of the SmartCode. That’s because the code enables a development pattern – walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods – in short supply in Fitchburg. A good start in that demonstration strategy is the modeling of SmartCode ideas in the sample projects.

By Friday night, when the team makes its concluding presentation, planners and designers will have taken the Wednesday night feedback into consideration and refined their ideas into an early draft of the proposals they’ll submit to the City.

So plan to attend that Friday presentation at 6 p.m. at the Community Center. If you can’t make it, check back on these Web pages. We’ll post reports, images, and documents here so you will always be in the loop.

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← Day Two: Listening, Clarifying
Rethinking, Refining Define
Charrette’s Final Stretch →

  • Our Task: To Code for Growth
    In Line with our Values

    We need rules that ensure our future growth is as inspired as the goals we've set out.

    That’s the simplest way to explain our ambitions to augment Fitchburg’s current zoning code to bring it in line with the City’s new Comprehensive Plan. That 2009 Plan is based on core principles of Smart Growth and on long-term sustainability on three levels – economic, environmental, and social. And the fact is, says Fitchburg Mayor Jay Allen, “our current zoning code does not adequately accommodate the values we want to shape our future.”

    Old-style zoning, created in an era when the object was to protect neighborhoods from dangerous industrial practices, focused on segregating building uses – offices, retail and residences – to keep people safe from noxious industry. But with the rise of the automobile, this seemingly practical approach began to super-size, devouring land out of proportion to our rate of population growth and creating ever-greater separation between the things we do and need.

    That’s taken its toll on our environment, our budget, our free time and our ability to be a real community. But now we have the chance to do something about it.

    Icon of Streetscape      

    Over the coming months, we’ll be exploring a new approach to zoning – one that focuses more on how buildings are arranged and less on how they’re used – to broaden our existing code to better foster the kind of growth envisioned in our Comprehensive Plan. We’ll look at setbacks and building frontages, the widths of streets and sidewalks, the interplay between private space and public space and the appropriate mixes of use in selected spots – all with an eye towards neighborhoods where residents can, if they choose, accomplish many daily tasks on foot.

    Through all of it, we’ll be customizing the code addition to the things we value. So the process will involve a lot of discussion about achieving the right look and feel in the right place.

    That means the process is committed to the same sort of public involvement as the process that created the Comprehensive Plan. At the heart of this effort is a public “charrette,” a multi-day collaborative workshop in which everyone is invited to join with a team of expert consultants to establish key components of any new zoning designation.

    That workshop will take place February 8-12. “All issues,” says the mayor, “are on the table, and anyone who wishes to participate in the process will have that opportunity. Together, we’ll look at ideas, ask questions, develop answers, come up with options, and choose the best direction. By the final night we will have a consensus on the first draft of this new addition to our code.”

    It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says the mayor, “to create the tools we need to handle new growth without over-extending City services.”

    Check this site often to keep up with the process. Not only will you find an ongoing overview of where we are, you’ll also have opportunity to weigh in on the different issues being discussed.