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From YouTube: Open Space Zoning Regulations
Description
Vaidila Satvika, Urban Planner II with the City of Asheville's Planning and Urban Design Department, presents information on the City's proposed zoning updates.
A
This
is
a
presentation
on
the
city's
proposed
amendments
to
the
open
space
zoning
regulations.
My
name
is
vydella
satvika
and
I
am
a
staff
member
with
the
department
of
planning
and
urban
design.
What
is
open
space
in
asheville's
zoning
code.
Open
space
refers
to
land
that
is
set
aside
for
certain
residential
and
commercial
developments.
A
This
development
standard
aims
to
support
a
resilient
and
livable
city
by
providing
open
spaces
in
the
outdoors
for
recreation
and
appreciation
of
nature
for
residents,
employees
or
customers
of
private
development.
The
zoning
requirements
for
open
space
provide
open
spaces
that
differ
from
city
parks,
which
are
shared
public
property.
A
In
total,
asheville
maintains
54
public
parks
that
provide
about
18
acres
of
park,
land
per
thousand
residents,
nearly
double
the
national
parks
and
recreation
association
target.
To
learn
more
about
planning
related
to
city
parks,
you
can
visit
the
city's
department
of
parks
and
recreation
website.
A
These
open
spaces
can
include
naturally
occurring
resources
such
as
open
water
streams,
riparian
areas,
wetlands,
forested
areas,
tree
canopy,
preservation,
areas,
aquatic
buffers,
flood
plains
and
designated
steep
slope
areas
which
properties
are
required
to
provide
open
space
in
asheville.
Any
residential
project
that
includes
eight
or
more
housing
units
is
required
to
provide
open
space
for
the
project.
A
A
Asheville
stands
out
in
this
area,
as
most
cities
in
north
carolina
do
not
require
open
space
for
commercial
development.
So
what
are
the
standard
requirements
for
open
space?
First,
let's
review
the
open
space
requirements
for
residential
development.
This
chart
shows
how
asheville
compares
to
other
north
carolina
cities
on
the
left
side
of
the
chart.
A
You
will
see
the
percentage
requirement
for
open
space
and
on
the
bottom,
the
various
cities
in
north
carolina,
the
blue
bars,
represent
the
low
end
and
the
red
bars
represent
the
high
end
of
open
space
requirements
as
a
percentage
of
any
development
parcel
on
the
far
right.
You
can
see
two
different
standards
for
asheville,
which
shows
the
current
standard
today
versus
the
proposed
code.
A
A
The
second
thing
to
note
is
that
the
higher
limit
in
asheville's
current
regulations,
which
is
outlined
here
in
a
darker
line,
is
significantly
higher
than
all
other
cities.
This
is
a
key
limiting
factor
for
small-scale
infill
housing
to
see
what
this
means
in
the
real
world.
Let's
take
a
look
at
an
actual
property.
A
A
This
structure
was
built
before
open
space
regulations
were
first
adopted
in
1997,
but
if
current
open
space
regulations
had
been
applied,
what
would
the
result
be?
The
image
on
the
left
highlights
the
amount
of
land
required
for
open
space
under
the
current
standards.
This
equates
to
over
three
quarters
of
the
property.
A
This
project
could
not
be
built
under
the
current
standards.
The
image
to
the
right
shows
the
amount
of
land
required
for
open
space
under
the
proposed
standards,
which
is
between
10
to
15
percent.
Depending
on
the
quality
of
open
space,
provided
the
proposed
open
space
regulations
allow
for
the
quantity
of
open
space
to
be
reduced
for
any
project
when
certain
design
elements
are
met.
Let's
look
at
those
design
elements
now.
A
A
The
four
standards
are
that
seventy
percent
of
open
space
is
contiguous,
that
the
spaces
are
generally
rectangular
in
shape
that
fifty
percent
of
open
space
is
at
a
five
percent
slope
or
less,
and
that
seating
is
provided
at
a
rate
of
one
linear
foot
of
seating
per
250
square
feet
of
open
space.
This
incentive
will
help
to
make
open
spaces
more
people
friendly
without
impacting
projects
that
are
unable
to
meet
these
higher
standards.
A
These
images
demonstrate
the
expected
outcome
from
open
spaces
designed
with
a
more
pedestrian
oriented
intention
note
that
these
spaces
tend
to
have
a
lot
of
shrubs
and
trees,
but
they
may
have
hardscape
surfaces
as
well.
Trees
are
not
required
in
any
designated
open
space.
In
fact,
trees
are
regulated
by
asheville's
tree
canopy,
preservation,
ordinance,
which
is
a
separate
minimum
requirement
for
all
development
projects,
though,
in
many
cases
trees
can
be
preserved
and
integrated
into
the
design
of
open
spaces.
A
Now,
let's
look
at
open
space
requirements
for
commercial
development.
Asheville's
standard
for
open
space
varies
between
5
to
15,
depending
on
the
type
of
development.
Under
the
proposed
code,
the
range
varies
from
5
to
50
percent.
This
higher
range
is
important
to
explain
as
it
was
created
in
order
to
incentivize
stormwater
compliance.
A
A
Fifty
percent
of
the
project
site
must
be
set
aside
as
open
space
unless
the
project
incorporates
city
stormwater
management
measures
which
in
some
cases
are
not
required.
Projects
to
integrate
stormwater
management
control
measures
may
reduce
their
open
space
requirements
to
the
lower
amounts
shown
in
the
chart.
A
A
Stormwater
challenges
have
been
identified
in
the
city's
comprehensive
plan,
as
well
as
most
recently
through
a
stormwater
task
force.
To
respond
to
these
needs.
We
have
developed
a
creative,
open
space
code
that
incentivizes
development
toward
stormwater
best
practices
that,
in
the
long
run,
we
believe
will
help
to
mitigate
nuisance
flooding.
A
A
The
primary
goal
in
having
these
eight
groups
work
together
to
refine
the
open
space
code
was
to
balance
the
various
perspectives
and
city
interests.
The
task
force
agreed
upon
a
consensus-based
decision-making
process
which
led
to
every
substantive
issue
to
be
reviewed
and
worked
through
together.
This
process
led
to
more
time
consuming
work,
but
ultimately
a
better
result.
A
A
The
group
agreed
to
count
planted
property
buffers
as
open
space
if
they
provide
pedestrian
access
in
our
less
than
15
percent
slope.
The
group
agreed
to
continue
the
previous
regulation
of
allowing
natural
areas
such
as
stream
buffers
to
count
up
to
half
of
the
designated
open
space
as
long
as
they
provide
minimal
pedestrian
amenities.
A
The
task
force
created
a
subcommittee
to
improve
tree
planting
standards
and
processes
in
exchange
for
requiring
new
open
space
standards
to
be
applied
to
the
downtown.
The
idea
was
that,
since
street
trees
function
as
a
type
of
public
realm
enhancement,
improving
tree
planting
conditions
will
enhance
the
shared
open
space
of
the
public
realm.
A
This
chart
presents
a
summary
of
the
open
space
zoning
requirements
and
compares
the
current
standards
which
are
shown
in
the
center
column,
with
the
proposed
standards
shown
in
the
right
column
for
residential
development.
The
current
standards
are
governed
by
the
requirement
of
500
square
feet
of
open
space
per
housing
unit.
A
The
proposed
regulations
provide
a
tiered
standard
so
that
smaller
projects,
which
tend
to
be
located
on
smaller
parcels,
are
given
more
flexibility
than
larger
projects
with
more
than
50
housing
units,
which
tend
to
have
more
available
space
for
subdivisions.
The
proposed
code
is
suggesting
to
reduce
the
amount
of
required
open
space.
A
This
language
is
the
same
between
the
current
and
the
proposed
code
fee
in
lieu
is
only
allowed
for
smaller
projects
that
are
required
to
provide
less
than
five
thousand
square
feet
of
open
space
to
stay
up
to
date.
With
this
topic,
please
visit
the
project
website
located
under
the
current
project,
tab
on
the
department
of
planning
and
urban
designs
website.