Malta planners are hoping years of debate over the shape of the town’s burgeoning downtown area will be much simpler in the future through a new system of zoning.
Form-based code zoning (FBCZ) has been on the rise and has been adopted by many communities nationwide over the past decade, but it’s still a fairly new idea for the Capital District. Consultants and town planners will be rolling the idea out in a series of public workshops in the coming week.
Form-based code zoning goes beyond traditional zoning practicesby going into more detail and incorporating actual building design, placementof buildings on sites, and the proximity of buildings to other uses. Inessence, this gives more control of visual impacts.
FBCZ involves more planning work than the typical zoning codes and is used for specific areas, and therefore allows for more detailed planning and works especially well in downtowns. Variances would still work the same wayin the event that there is something unique about a site that wouldn’t quite fit rules of FBCZ.
“For form-based code zoning to work we needed to get more information about it and wanted to provide more refinement to the plan, and we wanted to know what the community wants. …It’s cutting edge and we’re pretty excited about it,” said Anthony Tozzi, Malta’s building and planning director.
Development in downtown Malta is defined by the Downtown Overlay Zone and Commercial Downtown 1 (C-1) zoning district. This includes the area along Route 9 from Cramer Road to Knabner Road.
The parameters of the town’s zoning restrictions for the downtown area, including at exactly what height buildings should be capped, have been a source of contention in the past. With the arrival of the GlobalFoundries plant and ancillary businesses, the downtown area is poised for considerable growth.
To facilitate a transition to FBCZ from traditional zoning, which was recommended by the town’s 2011 Downtown Plan, a project funded by the town and the Capital District Transportation Committee will include a charrette week from March 24 to 28. Public input for the project is being sought.
Members of the town’s Planning Board, and many professionals will be on hand for the weeklong charrette, including representatives from theChazen Companies and The Code Studio, which based in Texas. In all, there will be eight consultants in attendance for the charrette. Planners, urban designers and landscape architects will be among the consulting team.
A charrette is a brainstorming and design session among parties involved for a specific project. This is an intense period where planning and design work is done and all parties can collaborate. The process of creating aplace or developing and refining an idea is heightened during a charrette.
“What we do is work with the public to get an understanding to see how they want an area built in terms of how high buildings are and where they sit on a lot, whether they’re pulled up to the sidewalk or set back with parking in front,” said Colin Scarff, a principal with The Code Studio.
“Because of the size of downtown, it allows us to do some detailed planning work with the public. Out of that work we’ll develop a form based code. When we go to Malta, we have no preconceived idea of what we’re going to do. We could have five different zoning districts or we could have three, it really depends on what comes out of this weeklong charrette. The hands on design session will be where we invite the public to help us refine the downtown plan and they will help us determine the future form and character ofdowntown which will enable us to write the form based code,” said Scarff.
Public events are scheduled throughout the charrette week. Unless otherwise stated, all public events will be held at the Malta Community Center at One Bayberry Drive.
For more information on the project, visit malta.code-studio.com
A schedule for the week is as follows:
Walking Tour with Consultants: Friday, March 23, 4 p.m. to 6p.m., starting at Malta Town Hall, 2540 Route 9.
Open Design Studio
Come to the Malta Community Center to discuss coding ideas with the charrette team. Sunday, March 25, through Tuesday, March 27: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., daily.
Monday Night Open House
Stop by the Malta Community Center at any time between 6 and 8 p.m. for an informal review of the work in progress on Monday, March 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday Night Final Presentation
Come to the Malta Community Center for a presentation of the week’s work on Wednesday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m.