The Downtown Plan: Getting Schooled on the Code Redux

(reposted from February 26, 2008)

One of the most compelling and important aspects of Richmond's proposed Downtown Plan is a recommendation that the city adopt a form-based code process in lieu of the old school zoning approach. It's the sort of thing policy geeks absorb through their skin -- like osmosis.

On Wednesday, March 12, the Richmond Planning Commission will host a public seminar on form-based code, which regulates development primarily by how buildings look and relate to their neighbors, not by the function of the building. The seminar will include presentations on form-based code by Dan Sloane of McGuire Woods and Geoffrey Ferrell of Ferrell Madden Lewis.

The seminar will be held on Wednesday, March 12, at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor of City Hall. You can download a copy of the plan at the Department of Community Development's website or delve into Buttermilk & Molasses' comprehensive archive of posts o Richmond's Downtown Plan.