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Communities within the Valley of the Sun and the Regional Public Transit Authority are planning and engineering a light rail system connecting Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa - the Central Phoenix/East Valley (CP/EV) light rail corridor. To complement these efforts, Community Design + Architecture worked with the three cities and the transit authority to develop a model overlay zoning ordinance to guide them in formulating policies and regulations to encourage transit-oriented development (TOD) around the rail stations. The document balances public policy and regulation with market and community perspectives, which the cities can customize for their individual implementation processes.
The document encompassed six chapters beginning with a brief introduction to TOD. The second chapter describes the benefits of TOD. Case studies are presented in the third chapter, which illustrates implementation experience of public agencies and private interests in developing TOD, providing lessons for the Valley communities to consider as they move forward. The following three chapters impart the qualities that make a neighborhood transit- and pedestrian-friendly by offering quantitative measures for development and the qualitative rationale behind them. The model overlay ordinance is a template for communities to tailor to the unique context of each light rail station. The ordinance is accompanied by a set of TOD Discussion Points which describe the rationale and trade-offs that must be considered in drafting prescriptive regulations. To complement these, a chapter offers standards and guidelines which describe the design qualities desired of site plans and building designs within TODs. Extensive primary and secondary research was conducted in order to create a comprehensive document that allows the reader to understand the qualities of and the process by which successful TODs can be created.
Since the completion of the model ordinance the three cities, Phoenix in particular, have been working to integrate TOD into their planning policies and ordinances. Following the completion of their General Plan update, Phoenix will begin work on developing an overlay ordinance while they also start station area planning efforts around specific stations. CD+A in conjunction with Economic and Planning Systems has also been working with the three communities to define the market-supported potential for TOD around the approximately 26 stations on the CP/EV Corridor.
The Model Transit-Oriented Development District Overlay Zoning Ordinance received a Transportation Planning Excellence Award for 2004 as part of the larger Comprehensive Program on Transit Supportive Land Use being administered by Valley Metro Rail. The award is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, and co-sponsored by the American Planning Association.
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