What’s Changing: The Big Ideas

Here are the main ideas behind the new code. Each is a standard a building must meet.

Buildings scaled to the street

illustration of typical street cross section and the relationship between building height and width

The code keeps a building’s height in proportion to the width of the street in front of it, so downtown feels comfortable and human-scaled. Think of a street as an outdoor room, shaped by the buildings that line it. Where a building would sit tall relative to its street, the building is built further back from the street, or the upper floors step back.

Read the details: Section 604.E.1 / 608.E.1 of the draft code

A diagram showing complaint building and another contrasting buildings that do not meet the street room standard with several ways to comply. On the left, tall buildings built right at the street edge are shown as not allowed. On the right, options for compliance are shown, including stepping the upper floors back, setting the building back from the street, or adding a pedestrian-oriented frontage, so the portion of the building along the street stays in scale. — A tall building built right up to a narrow street (left) can feel overwhelming. The code offers flexible ways to meet the standard, most commonly by stepping the upper floors back so the street-facing portion stays in scale, or by setting the building back from the sidewalk.

Gentler edges next to existing homes

Where taller buildings sit next to lower residential neighborhoods, the code requires bigger setbacks and landscaped buffers, so added height is felt less at the edges of established neighborhoods.

Section 604 and 608.D is drafted to say: “Where the difference between a new development’s proposed building height and the maximum building height of the abutting residential district is four (4) or more stories, the required setback shall be increased to 30 feet, and a landscaped buffer shall be provided along the shared property line.”

Read the details: Section 604.D.3 / 608.D.3 of the draft code

Buildings that frame the street

illustration of a blank wall compard with four permited frontage types with windows, doors and connection between the building and streetscape

The code encourages storefronts, doors, and windows along sidewalks and discourages blank walls and parking lots facing the street. Different “frontage types” set clear expectations for how a building meets the sidewalk.

Read the details: Section 604.E.2 / 608.E.2 of the draft code

A greener, more walkable downtown

The code emphasizes street trees, landscaping, and pedestrian amenities, and uses a points-based system to score landscaping plans, rewarding tree canopy and green infrastructure.

Read the details: Section 604.H / 608.H of the draft code

These are the ideas most likely to shape what you’ll see and experience downtown. The full code includes additional detail, and there are other, more technical changes to the Land Development Code as well (described in the staff memos linked on the main page).

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