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Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations Update
Project Overview
The City of Arlington has begun the process to update the zoning
ordinance and subdivision regulations. The current versions of
the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations were adopted in
1994 and 1987, respectively. The zoning ordinance has been
amended over 60 times since its adoption, and the subdivision
regulations had a significant revision in 2003. These changes
have resulted in ordinances that are complex and contain a number of
redundancies and inconsistencies. The City has not engaged in
a comprehensive evaluation or revision to the ordinances in almost
15 years.
On December 4, 2007, the City Council approved a contract
with Clarion Associates to undertake the project. This
consultant team has extensive planning and code writing experience
both within the state of Texas and nationally.
The update will address mixed use zoning districts and land uses,
focus on a high-quality built and sustainable natural environment,
and provide a written code that is understandable to readers and
promotes well-designed neighborhoods and places.
The project is divided into two phases. Phase 1 will
include the following revisions:
- "Housekeeping" Revisions. Identification and
redrafting of provision that are confusing and/or difficult to
interpret; a major reorganization and reformatting of the
ordinances to make them more user-friendly, and the addition of
illustration, cross-references, flow charts, table, and
matrices.
- Substantive Revisions. A variety of major
substantive addition may be necessary, such as the procedures by
which development activity is approved, the types of zoning
districts in Arlington; the land uses allowed in those
districts, and the development standards that affect the quality
of the new development (e.g., parking and landscaping
standards).
- Legal Revisions. We will revise the ordinances
as needed to comply with Texas and federal laws involving
religious land uses, due process, the First Amendment, taking,
and other issues.
For planning purposes, additional tasks will be considered in a
Phase 2 component of the project. Phase 2 consists of creating
a visual interactive code for the website, revising the sign
regulations, creating special zoning districts, and assisting with
rezoning and mapping. Phase 2 will be considered under a
separate scope of services and contract after completion of Phase 1.
Steps in the Process
The project includes several tasks. The first task,
an assessment report and annotated outline fort he new zoning and
subdivision ordinances, began shortly after the project kick-off
meetings in January 2008. The substantive rewrite of the
ordinance and subdivision regulations will begin in May 2008
following the completion of the report. The major steps in the
process are:
- Assessment and Annotated Outline
- Drafting of Ordinance and Subdivision Regulation in three
"modules"
- Public Hearing and Adoption Process
- Information and Training Sessions
A Zoning Advisory Committee made up of representatives from
neighborhoods, the development community and other interested
stakeholders has been established. The Committee will provide
input on the code rewrite and act as liaisons to various interest
and groups in Arlington. The Committee is a sounding board,
providing input at key milestone stages throughout the project, but
has no official positions or voting. Approximately six to
eight meeting will be held over the 18-month project to hear
presentation on the new draft code, review new portions of the code,
and offer detailed feedback.
List of Zoning Advisory
Committee members
Agenda from January 23, 2008 meeting
Presentation from January 23, 2008 meeting
Questionnaire
The first step of this project is to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the current Arlington zoning and subdivision
ordinances. The questionnaire below is a tool for seeking
initial input on ordinance issues from a variety of stakeholders.
Additional opportunities for input will be provided at key stages of
the process through stakeholder interview, public meetings, and
advisory committee meeting.
If you have responses to any or all of the question listed in the
questionnaire, please submit your responses in writing to Clayton
Husband at the contact information listed below.
questionnaire
For more information, please contact
Clayton Husband
at 817-459-6668.
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