Rick Geller on Law and Local Government: Code Fixes Could Salvage Hope for Horizon West

Rick Geller on Law and Local Government

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Code Fixes Could Salvage Hope for Horizon West

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at 2:54 PM

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Labels: Horizon West, New Urbanism, Orlando Sentinel op-ed

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About this Blog

I converted my old campaign website into this blog. After Commissioner Boyd appointed me to the Orange County Planning and Zoning Board, I decided to use this blog to discuss issues of importance affecting local government, and to expound on ideas for improving our built environment.

At community meeting after community meeting, citizens express outrage and opposition to new development proposals. Citizens appear before the Planning and Zoning Board, fearful that approval will enable another McDonald's with cartoon architecture or another strip shopping center with a massive, half-empty parking lot in front. Attitudes toward our built environment range mostly from dislike to indifference.

The 1960s-era suburban sprawl model causes traffic congestion, traps our children, the disabled, and elderly in subdivisions without transportation, and produces strip commercial development of poor aesthetic quality. We build sidewalks without shade trees despite Florida's oppresive summer heat. We build subdivisions with 60% or more of each house front devoted to a blank garage. Having turned our roadways into highways, our kids can no longer walk to school.

There is a better way. We are fortunate to have real-world models in Central Florida founded on principles of New (and traditional) Urbanism--Baldwin Park, Celebration, Avalon Park, and Winter Park's Park Avenue--for all to experience. However, our zoning codes make walkable communities illegal (without jumping through innmerable hoops).

I am hopeful this blog will help educate about the benefits of form-based zoning reforms enacted in 2010 in Miami and Denver and under consideration in other cities. The new codes, over the course of decades, can change development configurations from suburban sprawl to walkable urbanism. I compiled the links below to provide you with a multitude of sources. I am hopeful you will join me in advocating a better way.

Rick

"The Legality of Form-Based Zoning Codes," Journal of Land Use... (FL State Univ School of Law)

Legality of Form-Based Zoning Codes

Published Op-eds

Reform Parking Rules to Cut Costs, Boost Property Values
Turn Florida's Deadly Roads Into Safe Ones
Walkable Schools Trim Childhood Obesity
Roundabouts: An Alternative to Road Widening
Change Zoning Laws for Safer Roads
Re-imagining Our Roads
Code Changes Could Salvage Hope for Horizon West
Campaign Finance Reform Needs State Help

Presentation to the Pine Hills Task Force

Presentation to the Pine Hills Task Force

"Walkable Schools" Presentation to the Orange County School Board

Walkable Schools: How Smart Growth Principles Can Help School Districts and Kids

What is New Urbanism?

CNN: Hempstead (Montgomery), Alabama
Glenwood Park: New Urbanism in "Sprawlanta"
CBS Sunday Morning Segment
News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS)
New Urbanism: Emulating What People Like

Roundabout Presentation

Presentation to Orange County Staff by Billy Hattaway, PE (VHB Director of Transportation Planning--Florida), Jurgen Duncan (Canin Transportation Planner), and Rick Geller (March 11, 2010)
Roundabout Safety Advantages - Video
Federal Highway Administration: Roundabouts--A Safer Choice
Video on Multi-Lane Roundabouts
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Video
Multi-lane Roundabout Simulation
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety--Report

Solutions

Study: Neighborhood Planning Can Help Kids Avoid Obesity
Backyard Cottages
Boulevards (Sarasota Form-Based Code Graphic)
Boulevards (European Style)
Cul-de-sacs Redesigned
Gridded Street Networks
Live-Work Units
Mobility Fees Report to Florida Legislature
Multi-Modal Vision for Central Florida's Future
Parking Strategies
Reclaiming Space for Pedestrians and Bicycles
Road Diet--Edgewater Drive Results
Roundabouts (Federal Highway Admin.)
Roundabouts (traffic and pedestrian movement simulation)
Shared Parking
Street Configuration to Improve Emergency Response
Town Centers (Transformed From Major Arterial Intersections)
Two-Way Streets
Windows--Not Blank Walls--Facing the Street
Institute for Transportation Engineers: Context Sensitive Solutions for Major Thoroughfares

Improving Aesthetics

Miami's Vision (graphics may take time to load)
Transforming Neighborhood Commercial
Lining Neighborhood Streets with Trees
Improving Environment for Chain Restaurant
Freight Rail to Rail Transit
Adding Bike Lanes, Transit & Residences
Drive-only Sprawl to Mixed Use
Improving Gas Stations
Kendall, Florida

Efforts to Replace Sprawl-Inducing Zoning Codes

Video Lecture on Form-Based Codes
Form-Based Codes Could Accommodate Frank Lloyd Wright
Albuquerque, NM
Andover, NJ I-93 Interchange
Arlington, VA
Austin, TX
Baltimore
Bellevue, KY
Bradenton, FL
Buffalo, NY
Cincinnati
Cincinnati--Former Mayor Roxanne Qualls
Dallas, TX
Denver
El Paso, TX
Dover, NH
Flagstaff, AZ
Fort Myers Downtown SmartCode
Lee County, FL
Miami
Mesa, AZ
Panama City, FL
Peoria, IL
Phoenix
Sarasota County
Sarasota--Form-Based Code Graphic Examples

The Cost of Drive-Only Sprawl

Florida's Front Page New York Times Embarrassment
Cost of Obesity Care
Vigil Held for Winter Park High School Teen Killed Crossing Aloma
Another Child Killed by Vehicle on Daytona Beach
DeBary Girl, 12, Killed After Stepping Off School Bus
Geographic Sprawl with Population Decline Causing Urban Core Disinvestment
Study Finds Link Between Drive-Only Sprawl and Obesity
Memorial Service for Orlando School Crossing Guard
Suburban Slums
More Than a Half Billion for Several Miles of Highway in Tampa
6 year old Clinging to Life After Struck Walking Home from School
Texas Transportation Institute: Orlando Congestion & Mobility Data
Dangerous by Design: The Report
AARP Poll: 50% of Seniors Can't Cross Main Road Close to Home
American Academy of Pediatrics: Built Environment Contributing to Pediatric Obesity
Metro Orlando Most Dangerous for Pedestrians in Nation
USAToday: Florida's Roads Deadly for Walkers
Noted Cardiologist Killed Crossing Sand Lake Road
Mourning Clermont Child Killed Walking to Church Halloween Party
Florida Dept. of Transportation: Generic Roadway Construction Costs Per Mile

Public Opinion

Mass Transit Survey
Strong Majority Favor Increased Share of Transportation Dollars to High Speed Rail
National Association of Realtors Poll

SunRail and Florida High Speed Rail Links

Winter Park and ORMC Station Video Renderings

Mass Transit: Answering the Critics

Job Creation Analysis
Highway Construction Can't Keep Pace with Demand
All Transportation is Subsidized--Including Highways
A Conservative Critique
Charlotte's Light Rail--What We Gave Away
How Much Could You Save Taking SunRail?
Rep. John Mica (R-FL): Mass Transit More Cost Effective Than Roads
Center for Transportation Excellence
Portland: Misleading Criticisms

Rail Transit Ridership Surging

Albuquerque
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
Phoenix
Phoenix--NY Times Article
Salt Lake City
Seattle
South Florida Tri-Rail
St. Louis
Vancouver

About Rick

Rick Geller: Windermere, FL, United States; I am a partner with Fishback Dominick in Winter Park, a law firm founded in 1935, where I practice in the areas of business and commercial litigation and, on a selective basis, land use law. I taught Land Use Law as an adjunct professor in the Master of Planning in Civic Urbanism program at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida for three years. I previously served as an Orange County Planning and Zoning Commissioner, appointed by District 1 Commissioner Scott Boyd. I reside in Winter Park with my wife, Gabriela, and four terrific kids.

View my complete profile

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Blog and Web Feeds

Below you'll find links to interesting blogs and websites relating to transportation, the law, and the built environment. I don't necessarily agree with all positions taken by the blogging authors, but generally find them well-informed and thoughtful.

Pedestrian Observations

Center for Public Transportation

Market Urbanism

Strong Towns Blog

Commute Orlando

Switchboard, from NRDC › Kaid Benfield's Blog

Land Use Prof Blog

Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network

Transportation Nation

"Walk Score"

Type Your Address to Get Your "Walk Score"

Recommended Reading

Amazon.com Widgets

PBS Special Report: Dangerous Crossing

CBS: New Urbanism

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