Robin van Werkhoven is excited about plans to reimagine how Arlington's downtown looks and how it's used.
A project manager for local developer The Nehemiah Company, van Werkhoven went to a public input session March 6 for Arlington’s form-based code planning already familiar with the concepts city leaders and consultants wanted to discuss.
Form-based code is a different way of planning for development in a city. A deviation from traditional use-based zoning, form-based code looks at how communities and city planners want an area to look and function.
It’s a method for zoning that, if done right, UT Arlington professor Hannah Lebovits previously told KERA News, can be simultaneously less restrictive for developers while giving more control to the communities that live there.
And with a project like form-based code, van Werkhoven said knowing what the community wants is especially important, for developers as much as the city.
Thursday night was the first event in a three-day design workshop, where planners are encouraging Arlington residents, business owners and developers to share their vision for the future of the city’s downtown area, where the pilot program is intended.
Residents, business owners, developers, city staff and some council members gathered in the lobby at the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library to share what they want to see in the code.
They perused four poster boards with design options for different areas that will see form-based code implemented. Using yellow, red, purple and orange dot stickers, they marked building types they would like to see allowed for each neighborhood.
Public input is vital
For a portion of the area the city is calling the “Entertainment Connector,” a portion of East Division and East Abram Streets, high-rise mixed-use, mid-rise mixed-use and adaptive reuse were popular options. In the “Downtown Core” portion of the area, adaptive reuse and high-rise mixed-use gained favor from the public.
It’s all information Jay Narayana said will be vital as planners write form-based code for four areas. Narayana is principal of Livable Plans and Codes, a consulting firm that specializes in walkable mixed-use development and form-based code.
Her firm has been hired to help the city bring its vision for form-based code to life. Narayana said public input is one of the most important steps in developing a code that will succeed.
“We’re asking the public for some input on the preferences for the types of development they want to see in downtown,” Narayana told KERA News at the event. “We know that all of downtown is not the same, so we’re looking at different areas in downtown. There may be different densities of development, we want to look at what people want to see.”
Consultants can provide guidance on the best ways to implement a plan using pre-existing data and similar projects in the past, but Narayana said what the people want to see in their own community is often the most valuable input on projects like this.
“Different locations may be suitable for different development,” she said. “We have to look at the context and that’s what we want to get people’s preferences about."
There was no shortage of people at the event looking to share their opinions. Before the end of the night, each board had a smattering of dot stickers identifying the development types residents like to see in the four downtown sections the city plans to reimagine.
Like in downtown and the connection to the Arlington Entertainment District saw high favorability for bigger buildings and denser development, the area along West Division and West Abram Streets saw popularity in adaptive reuse, where an existing building is repurposed, and low- to high-rise mixed use.
The trend was different for downtown neighborhoods like The Hill and Old Town, already largely developed for single-family housing, lower density was an obvious preference. Attendees marked cottage court and single family detached styles as their heavy favorites in those neighborhoods.
Not a hard sell
Tharani Devi Palma said stakeholders in the area have shown approval for form-based code in the area. Palma is a principal planner for Arlington who told KERA News that successes in revitalizing downtown have given residents confidence in the city’s plans.
The city began redeveloping downtown for years, and the Downtown Arlington Corporation has helped lead those efforts. In recent years, the city has seen the area grow in density with apartments, shops and public spaces.
The success of those efforts show that city planners know what they’re doing, Palma said.
“They do see the development in downtown happening, so they are welcoming that,” Palma said.
The nature of form-based code can speak for itself, too. Lebovits previously told KERA News that a well-written code gives communities more hyper-local control over what their neighborhoods look like and how they function.
Public input can guide an area to be dense with a cohesive theme or a quiet residential area with a more eclectic feel, or anything in between.
For developers, form-based code makes it clear what residents, business owners and city planners want in an area, reducing the time and effort that goes into planned development proposals and zoning changes.
While it might allow for a broader range of uses, form-based code also makes it clear when certain developments or uses aren’t wanted.
More walkability is also a common consequence of form-based code. In areas destined for higher density, the city can plan infrastructure like wider sidewalks and more interesting walks for residents, shoppers and visitors.
Some redevelopments are already underway – like the Caravan Court Hotel.
A landmark or an eyesore for the city, depending on who you ask, the motor inn was vacant for years before developers decided to revive it, tearing down the old structure with a new, taller hotel going up in its place. The design – interior and exterior – will pay homage to the original hotel with retro design elements.
Implementing suggestions and preferences
The design workshop continued Friday afternoon, when city planners and consultants gathered on the second floor of the downtown library.
Looking over the results of the previous night’s survey and welcoming the occasional resident or curious library-goer, the team started looking at how to implement those preferences.
The conference room was cluttered maps strewn across tables, renderings and photos on walls and the poster boards from Thursday’s event.
John Chapman, the city’s long-range planning manager, said they’ve created aerial illustrations to explore how the recommendations might become reality in the downtown area.
The process also requires them to look at street networks and existing building designs, Chapman said. Maps on the walls and tables had different networks highlighted in different colors while others looked at the sizes of existing structures.
While the planners and consultants said they were pleased with the turnout and amount of feedback they received Thursday night, Palma said they aren’t done getting input from the public.
Palma expects to deliver proposed codes to the city council by late September or early October. She said between now and then the city will host more events looking for feedback and suggestions and hosting more events for education and public input.
Documents, presentations, recordings of previous events and a schedule of future events are all available at ArlingtonListens.com.
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org. You can follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
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