https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com


Urban Revitalization: Site plan point system helps standardize review process

Urban Revitalization: Site plan point system helps standardize review process

Site plan approval is sometimes a highly subjective process, one in which politics can come into play.In an effort to standardize the process and help
  • Written by American City & County Administrator
  • 1st May 1997

Site plan approval is sometimes a highly subjective process, one in which politics can come into play.

In an effort to standardize the process and help ensure a stable urban growth pattern, Colleyville, Texas has adopted a scoring system for its commercial building district.

Colleyville, a suburb in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area, is a primarily residential community developed in heavily landscaped subdivisions with homes ranging in value from $300,000 to over $1 million. Its residents enjoy one of the lowest tax rates in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Because Colleyville is surrounded by other cities, space available for development is scarce, leaving little room for trial and error.

So, rather than depend on the commercial real estate market to build asset value into development sites, the council studied the capital improvement and growth management needs of the State Highway 26 corridor where most of the commercial and industrial properties are located.

According to Doug Henderson, Colleyville’s community development manager, the city strove to prevent words like appropriate, harmonious, compatible and attractive from getting into its draft ordinance.

Rather, the city decided it needed an ordinance incorporating architectural standards written in concrete algebraic terms. This is because front yards, lot sizes, floor area ratios, the percentage of masonry construction and various other measurable zoning standards have been in place in American cities for decades and rarely face court challenges.

Moreover, Colleyville has had measurable tree preservation, site planning and landscaping ordinances on the books for years with no major problems.

The city council acknowledged in adopting its ordinance that it is difficult to quantify or regulate some subjective design aspects such as color or the “look” of a building. However, other design features with general community acceptance can be defined so as to discourage a “featureless redundancy,” says Henderson.

The council determined that future maintenance will require a stable tax base resulting from the preservation of high property values in every commercial and residential neighborhood. With that in mind, the council adopted its Design District Worksheet as part of the site plan application package submitted along with landscaping, parking and civil engineering drawings for review by city staff prior to issuance of building permits.

In the design model, points are given for horizontal and vertical changes in a building fa‡ade, for use of projections or other features that create shade, and for providing interesting design features, roof slopes or wall openings.

Architectural designers can generate points in any of the five categories, and even ignore some of the categories if they wish. Each project requires a minimum number of total points for approval, but there is no point minimum for any one of the five factors.

This performance-based system allows more creative freedom than systems that require committee review, says Henderson. Builders also appreciate the fact that there is no architectural review board to slow down the process.

The practical objective of the ordinance is to enhance visual interest in a building’s appearance from the street as well as to encourage more aesthetically pleasing designs.

Enforcement of the Design District ordinance means property owners in both residential and commercial districts need not worry about what vacant lots will look like in a few years, says Henderson. Fifteen projects have been approved since adoption of the ordinance.

For more information, contact Colleyville Community Development Manager Doug Henderson, (817) 577-7587.

Tags:

Most Recent


  • Report: Reforming emergency dispatch won't be easy, but it's necessary
    Over the last several years, reforming law enforcement has been a primary topic of discussion in communities across the nation. Discourse has mostly centered around the challenges agencies face in addressing the complex needs of those in mental health crisis, and the disparity of experience among community members depending on their race. But in this […]
  • Bloomberg
    Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change
    Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced that seven global cities, including three in the United States, will be adopting Stockholm’s Biochar Project, which turns plant waste from parks and homes into a charcoal-like substance that residents can use in their yards to help combat climate change. The project was the winner of the 2014 Bloomberg Philanthropies European […]
  • 10 cities ideal for hybrid or full-time telecommuters seeking an outdoor lifestyle
    When the pandemic was first realized, cities emptied out, highways were suddenly devoid of cars and storefronts shuttered overnight. The assumption in many communities was that it would last for a few months and then everything would return to normal—those who’d left would return to their office jobs and apartments.  But these two years later, […]
  • Urban Revitalization: Site plan point system helps standardize review process
    Take American City & County's budgeting survey
    With the recently passed infrastructure-related legislation by the federal government, local administrators across the United States are poised to make historic investments into their communities.  Given the generational precedence of this action, we’re curious about the state of local budgets—what expense lines are increasing the fastest year-over-year? In what area has federal funding been the […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Public procurement can be transformative for stakeholders in a community
  • The 10 Most Sustainable Large U.S. Cities
  • How local governments can get ahead of the infrastructure wave: Strategies to mitigate risk
  • Rebounding from Message Fatigue: Emergency Alerting in a Post COVID World

White papers


How to Assemble a Rockstar Website Redesign Steering Committee

7th June 2022

Hand Hygiene: Compliance Matters

23rd May 2022

What it Takes to Build a Winning Esports Program

23rd May 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

We want to hear from you! Please take this brief survey and let us know how your organization is managing your budg… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Reforming emergency dispatch won’t be easy, but it’s necessary dlvr.it/ST7kQ5

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change dlvr.it/ST4bjk

29th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 cities ideal for hybrid or full-time telecommuters seeking an outdoor lifestyle dlvr.it/ST4T5g

29th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Take American City & County’s budgeting survey dlvr.it/ST0qQP

28th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Six cities and counties will take stock of underutilized assets in Rethinking Revenue incubator dlvr.it/ST0ZVp

28th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Seamless Cooperative Experience Saves Indiana City Exponentially in Time and Money dlvr.it/SSxp95

27th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 best large cities for fishing dlvr.it/SSxbSZ

27th June 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X