Zoning = Determining What Will Be
Zoning is the process of determining what will be in a given community. As a place making tool, zoning is best used when preceded by the Market result of what could be that has been refined into a plan preference for what should be. When a community has decided what should be, then the Zoning process ensures the plan will be implemented by setting up the regulatory framework for what will be.
M+M Zoning
Market + Main has established a unique approach to zoning that integrates Place-based uses and scales, Form-based civic design, and Legally-sound regulations and ordinances.
Place-based zoning delineates appropriate uses, densities and scales based on the hierarchy of streets and districts that exist within any given community. From hamlets to downtowns, lanes to highways, or villages to corridors, Place-based zoning shifts zoning away from the antiquated view of zoning districts as being purely about uses. Instead, it creates a framework for zoning tools that create distinct and unique kinds of places. Form-based civic design standards form the foundation for all development within a community and ensure that a sustainable and attractive community infrastructure is created. Legally-sound regulations and ordinances are achieved by providing a legal review and analysis to all zoning work. This legal foundation ensures our clients that their zoning is sound, defensible, and based on the most up-to-date zoning and land use law.
M+M Zoning services and products include:
M+M Zoning Check
The M+M Zoning Check is an overview and assessment of a zoning ordinance, including all of its sections, chapters, and districts. This can be an appropriate first step for communities that want to gain a high-level understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their current zoning. The M+M Zoning Check inspects the existing zoning framework for modern planning concepts, legal lapses, inconsistencies, contradictions, or any other glaring omissions. The M+ M Zoning Check can also be utilized to analyze a zoning ordinance for its ability or inability to implement community planning initiatives.
M+M Zoning Sync
The M+M Zoning Sync is a service unique to Market + Main that provides a simultaneous update to a zoning ordinance and a comprehensive plan. It ensures that both of these vital documents are fully in support and agreement with each other. It is critical for a comprehensive plan to fully support and agree with a zoning ordinance and for a zoning ordinance to have the necessary details and provisions to implement the comprehensive plan. The M+M Zoning Sync ensures just that.
M+M Zoning Districts
M+M Zoning Districts are individual or multiple districts written for a particular community based on the Market + Main process of Place-based, Form-based, and Legally-sound principles. M+M Zoning Districts include both overlying and underlying districts delineating urban design, uses, densities, building form, lot dimensions, yards, streetscapes, parking, loading, signage, and other district details.
M+M Zoning Ordinances
Many communities are finding that their current codes are outdated and inconsistent as a result of years, and often times decades, of gradual revision and evolution. M+M Zoning Ordinances overhaul and re-write entire zoning ordinances providing the community with our M+M branded process of new Place-based, Form-based, and Legally-sound zoning ordinances that replace the inconsistencies, contradictions, and faulty regulations and procedures of the older code. M+M Zoning Ordinances also include all sections and chapters of a Zoning Ordinance, including Administrative Procedures, Definitions, Districts, Open Space, Parking, Signage, and other desired provisions. The M+M Zoning Ordinances process also includes the M+M Zoning Check, the M+M Zoning Sync, and the M+M Zoning Districts work.
M+M Zoning Guide
The M+M Zoning Guide is a graphic and illustrative companion to any of our M+M Zoning Districts or M+M Zoning Ordinances. The M+M Zoning Guide leverages state-of-the-art drawings, illustrations, renderings, photos, diagrams, and text to convey the essence and concept of the respective zoning regulations. M+M Zoning Guides include documents, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, boards, and/or posters to enable any community to successfully aid in the facilitation and administration of new and improved zoning regulations.