New Urbanism in Practice

Jim Earnhardt

Jji the past 1 years. New Urbanism (also known as Introduction

traditional neighborhood development or neo-
traditional planning) has emerged as an important It would be difficult to imagine that anyone
philosophy of land use planning. Correspondingly, involved in the planning profession has not seen, read
numerous articles in industry-specific publications about, or discussed one of the "marquee" New Urban
such as Planning, Urban Land, and Landscape developments and their high profile designers. In fact,
Architecture as well as mass audience publications the two story walls of the sales office at Seaside (the
Jike Newsweek and Consumer Reports, have extolled most heralded New Urban project) are covered like
the virtues and flaws of New Urbanism. This article wallpaper with articles about the community, photos
assumes the reader understands the basic tenets of of landmark buildings, and countless rendered plan
New Urbanism and has already formed an opinion views. Additionally, there are pictures of the husband
on its effectiveness as a land planning model. Instead and wife architecture/planning team, Andres Duany
of introducing the concepts, this article focuses on and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, who have attained
putting the philosophy into practice through a review popular fame during the course of their relentless
of a specific New Urban community currently under promotion of New Urbanism as a better way of
development from the perspective of a member of planning. On the other side of the country, Peter
the development team. This review includes a Calthorpe has enjoyed great notoriety as a designer
description of the evolution of the project from the of numerous New Urban projects that include a focus
original idea conception, through the entitlement on public transportation. The new Disney project.
process, up to the building of the initial phases of the Celebration, has received intense scrutiny in its short
development. In the course of the review, the author life of construction. Because of the high profile nature
identifies both positive and negative consequences of its developer. Celebration will likely dominate the
resulting from the public and private interaction that coverage of New Urban development over the coming
is an important and unavoidable part of the years — either to the benefit or the detriment of the
development process. philosophy.
There are many other New Urban communities
across the country, however, that have not received
the same national media coverage but are just as
important as laboratories for the practice of the
planning philosophy. Examples include projects such
Jim Earnhardt received a dual Master 's in Regional as Haile Plantation in Gainesville, Florida, where a
Planning and Master 's in Business Administration vibrant town center is taking shape in the middle of a
from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1994. Since graduation, more conventional suburban development and Port
he has worked for Bryan Properties, Inc. as Project Royal, South Carolina, which integrates affordable
Manager of Southern Village, a New Urban housing into the re-establishment of an urban center
community under development in Chapel Hill. He of a neglected town. Just down the road from the
can be reached at (919) 933-2422. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, another
 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2
21

New Urban community, known as Southern Village, into Tovm as road improvements took place.
isunder development. This project is far enough along
that it is worthwhile to examine its progress while Project Goals
identifying both positive and negative impacts
resulting from the public/private planning process. The Small Area Planning committee set limited
goals for the area of concentrated development which
Project Evolution they referred to as the "Southern Village." They hoped
for a place that would be pedestrian and transit
Small Area Plan friendly, would provide ample open space and
recreation space, and that might eventually have a
The early seeds of Southern Village were planted commercial component that could serve the needs of
in the late 1980s when the Town of Chapel Hill the Village residents. In essence, the committee
undertook the creation of a Small Area Plan for the described a place that had many of the characteristics
2700 acre area within the extraterritorial planning espoused by a growing number of planners who
jurisdiction immediately south of the existing town referred to this philosophy as New Urbanism.
limits. The creation of this plan involved a committee

consisting of members of the Town staff, public The Private Sector Steps In
officials and local citizens. The plan evolved out of
specific goals that the committee established for the In June of 1992, the Chapel Hill Town Council
area based on its existing form and expected growth adopted the Small Area Plan for the southern area.
patterns. By early 1992, the committee had created a The general notion was that the actual implementation
plan which sought to protect the rural character of of the Plan would take place over an extended period
the area as well as prevent traffic congestion, but of time. The development of the Southern Village,
which also could accommodate the unavoidable which was the cornerstone of the Plan, would occur
growth expected over the coming years. These when a private developer stepped forward who was
seemingly contradictory goals were met through a willing to incorporate the key components of
re-allocation of densities. Instead of zoning the area traditional neighborhood development. Probably to
with uniform densities, the committee proposed a the surprise of local officials and citizens, not long
zoning scheme that concentrated development within after the adoption of the Small Area Plan, a developer
a designated portion of the area through up-zoning stepped forward who was eager to put the ideas into
and protected the rural character of the remaining practice.
acreage by down-zoning. This developer, D.R. Bryan, had originally read
about neotraditional planning and its application by
The Site Duany and Plater-Zyberk at Seaside in an Atlantic
Monthly article published in 1987. At the time, he
The committee designated for the
site the was involved in residential development ranging from
concentrated development was selected primarily small infill projects to conventional suburban
because of its prime location (near a major neighborhoods. Though he was intrigued with the
intersection and close to Chapel Hill), as well as the ideas presented in the article, he was not sure of its
fact that it was one of the largest undeveloped tracts acceptance by the market on a broad level, particularly
(about 300 acres) in the study area. The fact that the in the suburban areas he was developing. He
tract was for sale also contributed to its feasibility recognized, however, that there were aspects of the
for development in the near future. The property, philosophy, such as interconnected street networks
located along the existing southern boundary of the and continuous sidewalks, that made sense and could
Town limits, is only slightly more than a mile away be incorporated into most plans.
from the University of North Carolina hospital In 1992, a land broker informed Bryan of a tract
complex and just two miles away from the Town's of land for sale in Chapel Hill that had been designated
central business district. The committee recognized for development as a "village." Bryan was attracted
that this proximity could allow for the efficient to the prime location of the site though still skeptical
transmission of urban services like water and sewer of the universal appeal of neotraditional planning.
as well as public transportation and also provided an Nonetheless, he studied the Small Area Plan and
opportunity for an eventual bike and pedestrian link spoke with Town officials about their vision for the
 —

22
CAROLINA PLANNING

Southern Village. He also researched other guaranteed. Additionally, the citizenry had a
neotraditional developments that, unlike Seaside, reputation of being generally opposed to growth and
were marketed as primary home communities. He tended to elect officials havi'ig similar sentiments.
visited two of these —
Kentlands in Gaithersburg, The positive aspect of the difficult approval process
Maryland, and Harbortown in Memphis, Tennessee —
was more strategic in nature due to restricted
and liked what he saw. More importantly, he competition (since most developers chose to avoid
recognized that the plans of these new communities the entitlement risk), the local market was somewhat
did not represent a radical change in development insulated from the swings of the business cycle that
patterns, but instead, simply emulated the land plans could have a major detrimental impact on a long term
developed in the early twentieth century that now project. Bryan also wagered that Southern Village
often represented the most desirable places to live in would have an easier route through the approval
many cities. There were many local models of these process since the idea was really the result of the
older neighborhoods to pattern a new community Small Area Plan committee which consisted of many
after —places like Cameron Park in Raleigh, West of the stakeholders who would review and judge the
End in Winston-Salem, and Dilworth in Charlotte. project.
Each of these communities, which were the suburbs Having gotten comfortable with the project,
of their day, represented very strong markets forBryan put the land under contract, and during the last
prospective buyers. half of 1992, he and his design team worked with the
Bryan's marketing study for Southern Village Town staff to create a masterplan for Southern
consisted basically of a Village. This planning
gut feel that if people stage included design
were willing to pay top The
plans these of new
charettes in which many
dollar to live in houses alternative plans were
with substandard communities
did not critiqued and adjusted.
plumbing and electrical Upon agreement with
systems and out-dated represent a radical in change
the framework of the
floorplans, then there masterplan, Bryan's
was a good chance
development
patterns, but design team begin to
homebuyers would be work through the details
willing to consider new
instead, simply emulated the of the plan with the
communities with homes Town staff. Recognizing
built to meet modern
land plans developed in the many of the design
that
demands but that have components of the plan
early twentieth century.
similar land patterns as had not been employed
these earlier neighbor- locally for almost 50
hoods — especially if the location was right. Though years, Bryan hosted visits to new traditional
it would take awhile for a new community to establish neighborhoods under development, such as
the feel of an old neighborhood that only time and Kentlands, as well as older communities, such as West
maturity can provide, he hoped that this gap could be End, which had similar topographical conditions to
bridged by the modem conveniences provided by new the Southern Village site. Bryan hoped many potential

homes. points of conflict would be eliminated before going

In the case of Southern Village, the location was too far into the design process.
right. As mentioned earlier, the Village site was
door to the University and just down
virtually next The Approval Process
the road from probably the State's most vibrant
downtown. The Town's permitting process presented The masterplan as well as a specific application
a double-edged sword. Over the years, Chapel Hill for development of the first residential phase were
had distinguished itself as one of the most difficult presented to the various advisory boards and Town
places to develop property on the East coast, much Council during the first half of 1993. During the
less North Carolina. This difficulty was evidenced course of these presentations, there was generally
by a lengthy, time- and money-consuming review unanimous support of the plans. Because of the size
process, in which approval was by no means of the project (at the time, the largest proposal
 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2
23

established.
Given the long lead times created by the extended
It is critical to involve all
approval process in Chapel Hill, preparation of plans

for the remaining acreage within the masterplan was

stakeholders in establishing started in early 1995. These plans, which included 4

the foundations of New more single family neighborhoods (including about

550 homesites), another multi-family project (with
about 120 units), and a recreation complex, were
Urban communities. submitted to the Town of 1995.
in the first quarter
first

The staff review of these plans was complicated

considered in Chapel Hill), the Council reviewed the primarily by the design details of a state-mandated
plans over a four month though there was
period, water quality facility instituted by a recently approved
virtually no public opposition during the hearings. watershed protection ordinance. Another large project
The only speakers against the project were concerned was also tracking through the Town review process
about the amount of environmental disturbance concurrently and thereby made scheduling for Town
necessary to build an urban village and the inclusion Council meetings difficult. After several resubmittals
of office space in the commercial center (the Small (reflecting slight modifications), the applications were
Area Plan had envisioned only retail space). In the presented to the Council in May of 1996.
end, the project was approved unanimously by the Unlike the first Public Hearings in 1993, this
Town Council. round of Hearings was contentious. Numerous
The approval of the construction documents did citizens spoke against the project. Most of the
not go as smoothly. Whereas in most municipalities, opponents felt that the density was too high. Others
approval of such documents takes 30-60 days, it took argued that the site was not the best place for the
about 9 months for Southern Village to gain the Village because of its hilly terrain. A few opponents
grading permits necessary to begin development. This argued against proposed stub-outs that would connect
delay was partially the result of not fully resolving the Village to other presently undeveloped tracts of
the details of the plan during the initial review by the land. Finally, other opponents were concerned about
Town staff. During the construction approval process, the project's traffic impact on outlying roads. It is

it became apparent that some Town departments did worth noting that the density presented in the second
not share the same enthusiasm about the project as round of hearings was actually lower than that
other departments. These divergent views and originally approved in the masterplan process. Also,
resulting internal conflicts served to further the same hilly terrain was illustrated in the initial
complicate the review and timely approval of the public hearings and multiple stub-outs to outlying
plans. properties had always been shown on masterplan
Consequently, construction of the infrastructure drawings. The concern about traffic impact was
finally began middle of 1994. Construction of
in the somewhat ironic since one of the central themes of
the first homes and in 1995,
started later that year, the original plan was providing legitimate means of
the first residents of the Village began moving in. As reducing auto trips by incorporating a park and ride
a demonstration of the direction of the new lot into the design, as well as providing an eventual
community, a comer store and cafe with offices on pedestrian and bike link into town and a commercial
the second floor were constructed in the first center that could allow residents to walk to shopping
residential phase. The first of 250 muhi-family homes and work.
were started in 1995 and were ready for occupancy In analyzing the opposition, it became apparent
in 1996. A Park and Ride lot near the commercial that only a few individuals were driving the process,
area was opened in 1995. An existing daycare primarily because these individuals owned property
provider bought a parcel near the Park and Ride to that backed up to the planned future phases.
build their new home and opened for business in 1 996. Nonetheless, slight modifications were made to the
The first of several office buildings was built in late plans.These changes dealt with proposed densities
1 996 at the entrance to the commercial area. To date, along the periphery of the site near existing
about 120 of the 200 planned homes for the first neighborhoods. Specifically, townhomes that were
neighborhood have been completed. However, no originally scattered throughout the site (including the
specific plans for the retail component have been periphery) were confined to a more central area within
24
CAROLINA PLANNING

the Village allowing for a tapering of density along the School Board was in the middle of constructing a
the edges of the site. The slightly modified plan was new elementary school in another area and did not
approved in November of 1 996 —about a year and a foresee the need for another elementary school in the
half after the original submittal for these phases. The near future. This assumption proved inaccurate a few
Town staff is currently reviewing the construction when growth pressures pushed the brand
years later
drawings created for these plans. These final drawing new school to full capacity. As talk of the need for a
approvals should be in place by mid-1997. new elementary school emerged, the Southern Village
Construction of the project is expected to continue development approached the School authorities once
through 2002. more. Again, the prospects looked dim because the
School Board had a state- imposed requirement that
the site had to have at least 1 5 acres of land. Such a
Successes suburban configuration would not meet the needs of
a compact, walkable community like Southern
Given that the planning aspect of Southern Village.
Village is largely completed, it is appropriate and A couple of Town Council members refused to
constructive to assess both the positive and negative let They saw an opportunity for the Town,
the idea die.
results of this planning process, Hopefiilly, the lessons the County (which funds construction of schools), the
learned can be applied to other new developments so School Board, and the developer to work together to
that these projects can continue to improve the quality create a win-win situation for all the stakeholders.
of the built environment. The Town already owned a 70-acre tract of land on
the south boundary of Southern Village. This land
Small Area Planning had been purchased with the intention of building a
community park with ballfields, tennis courts and
A major success that laid the foundation for other amenities. A plan had even been created but
Southern Village was the creation of the Small Area was discarded when it proved to be economically
Plan for the southern area of Chapel Hill. The Town unjustifiable. The Council members suggested
should be commended for having the foresight to combining some of the land that was intended for a
recognize the need for such a Plan. By focusing on a park with land within Southern Village so that the
relatively small geographic area, the members of the state requirements could be met. To make the
committee were able to develop effective strategies proposition especially attractive to the School Board,
to meet specific goals. Though the design of the the land would be donated from the Town and
Village was left somewhat open-ended, there was Southern Village. After working through the details
enough detail to establish a framework that could of such a transaction, all the parties agreed to the
serve as a starting point. Furthermore, involving proposal. In return for giving up about 9 acres, the
stakeholders in the decision-making process created Town will get a ballfield that can be shared with the
a plan that had the general support of the neighboring school, as well as a shared parking lot. In return for
community and allowed for a constructive initial its donation of 6 acres, Southern Village gained a
round of public hearings. school that on schedule to open its doors by the
is

—
1999 school year a major sales incentive for
School Siting

Another positive experience that utilized a

The principle design
cooperative effort on the part of the public and private
was the establishment of the future Southern
components of New
sectors
Village Elementary. Early in the planning stages of Urbanism do not fit the
the Village, the advantages of having an elementary
school within walking distance were recognized. Such templates that have guided
a situation would allow a child living in Southern
Village to walk to school from kindergarten through street design since World
eighth grade (an existing middle school is located on
the northern border of the project). Unfortunately, at War 11.
the time Southern Village was originally proposed.
 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2
25

potential buyers.
New Urbanism/Neotraditional Planning Web
Sites
Zoning

http://citysearchll.eom/E A^/RDUNC/1001/15/40
Yet another example of positive
public/private interaction and problem
Southern Village's home page includes maps of the
solving concerned zoning. Many of the
development, an overview of the development's philosophy,
zoning regulations that have been written
and information about the houses and apartments.
over the past 50 years actually forbid many
of the land use patterns that are critical

—
components of New Urbanism including
http://www.builderonline.coni/buiIder/monthIy/jul96/
suburb.htm
set-back requirements and restrictions on
accessory dwellings and integrated
The July 1 996 issue of Builder Online has an article describing
mixtures of land uses. Because Chapel Hill
traditional neighborhood development. The case studies
already had a form of Planned Unit
accompanying the article include a case study of Southern
Development zoning in its development
Village and an interview with its developer.
ordinance, many of the potential problems
such as minimum lot size, building
http://www.dpz-architects.com/
setbacks, and internal buffers, were easily
overcome since the PUD zoning provided
The home page for the firm of Andres Duany and Elizabeth
effective flexibility. The Town also has an
Plater-Zyberk includes an index of the firm's projects; a brief
"overlay" zoning which allows some
description of towns with their projects, including Seaside,
conditional uses within standard zones.
and directions to those towns; information on principles,
Such conditional uses include accessory
techniques, and implementation of neotraditionalism; and
dwellings, such as garage apartments that
information on ordering the Instimte for Traffic Engineering's
can be rented out or serve as "mother-in-
guidelines, "Traffic Engineering for Neotraditional
law" apartments. The conditional uses also
Neighborhood Design."
allow for small scale retail (like a comer
store) and offices co-existing with
http://www.civano.com/
surrounding residences.
A bigger problem that required more
The web site for Civano, a neotraditional development in
creativity involved zoning for the Village
Tucson, Arizona, includes a brief history of the project, an
Core, which is proposed as the
explanation of neotraditional concepts and principles, and
"downtown" of the Village with shops and
maps and renderings of the project. The one drawback to the
offices as well as higher density housing.
site is that the mottled background makes the text difficult to
The Town had zoning in place that would
read.
fit the proposed type and scale of

commercial and offices uses proposed for

http://www.architecture.auckland.ac.nz/internal/FYI/-
the Core. However, this zoning
articles/nurb.html
classification actually was set up to
discourage residential uses. This situation
The web site run by the University of Auckland School of
was evidenced by a high requirement for
Architecture Property and Planning has a database of articles
open space and recreational improvements
related to architecture and planning, including this New York
that would prohibit the establishment of a
Times article from June 1996 providing an overview of the
more urban setting in the Village Core. The
Congress for New Urbanism.
Town recognized this disincentive and
worked with the development team to craft
http://www.art.bilkent.edu.tr/iaed/cb/Kaleli.html
a modified version of the zoning
classification that used commercial land
This site provides an overview of basic principles and
use intensities and applied those same
criticisms of New Urbanism.
ratios to residential uses. There is now an
opportunity to build relatively dense
26
CAROLINA PLANNING

residential units within the Village Core (including eventually provide a link into Town. Because the
dwellings above shops and offices) that will create a greenway will be public, the To\vn required that the
more urban-like vitality. path meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards,
creating initial design challenges due to difficult
Disappointments terrain conditions. To meet these standards,
significant clearing and grading was required.
As is the case with many projects, there are some Fortunately, a large portion of the path followed a
disappointments that go along with the successes. For sanitary sewer easement that also required clearing,
Southern Village, most of the disappointments arose thereby eliminating the need to clear two swaths
from struggles with the Town's Engineering through the natural area. Easing the slope of the path
Department and to a lesser degree, its Public Works is definitely a benefit to those with handicaps, as well

Department. In other New Urban developments being as other users such as parents pushing strollers and
built across the country, it is typically the same young children on bikes. This benefit outweighs the
challenge in terms of dealing with local engineering negative aspect of having to clear a larger area
and public works departments because many of the especially since re-planting will restore the natural
principle design components of New Urbanism do feel of the area.
not fit the templates that have guided street design However, the enforcement of certain standards
since World War II. by the Town's engineering staff were not as
understandable. Specifically, the Town required that
Street Widths the path have verv' long curves to allow for design
speeds of up to 35 miles per hour along the steepest
A continuing battle has been waged over street (5-8% slope) sections of the path. This requirement
widths with the Town's Engineering Department. produces two negative consequences. First, the long,
Typically, traffic engineers look at street systems as drawn out cur\es leave little flexibilit>' in designing
a series of collector streets and local streets designed with the natural terrain and thereby necessitate more
to move cars as efficiently as possible. This clearing and grading. Second, such geometry
philosophy often requires wide streets with broad encourages and allows for faster speeds for users such
turning radii. Conversely, New Urbanism design as bicyclists and roUerbladers which, in turn, creates
principles focus on making the pedestrian experience an unfi-iendly environment for walkers and other more
as positive as possible. One means of improving the passive users.
pedestrian experience is to lay out and design streets

insuch a way that they slow cars down and thereby Alleys
reduce potentially hazardous situations when cars and
people inevitably interact. Such designs usually call Another point of conflict occurred with the
for narrower streets with multiple, tight intersections. Town's Public Works Department over the design
Despite persistent attempts, the Town's and use of rear alleys, which are an important design
Engineering Department would not fully adopt New feature of New Urban communities. Alleys can
Urbanist design principles on streets. Unfortunately, —
provide several benefits ^the most obvious is moving
wider streets in the first phase of the development automobile access to the rear of the garage instead of
have promoted faster than desirable vehicular speeds. the front, thereby removing the visibility of
Residents have already begun to complain about this unattractive garage doors from the streetscape and
condition. Because of this, the development team is providing uninterrupted sidewalks for pedestrians.
exploring several traffic calming techniques that Another positive attribute of alleys is that they provide
might be implemented to restore the pedestrian as a corridor for utility lines (gas, electric, phone and
the primary focus of design. cable) and thus remove unsightly above-ground
devices from the streetscape. Finally, alleys provide
Bicycle Path an efficient means of providing services, such as mail
delivery and trash/recycling collections. Southern
Another discouraging outcome due to existing Village enjoys all of these benefits except trash and
engineering standards was the design of the first phase recycling collection. The Town's Public Works
of a paved bicycle and pedestrian path along a natural, Department will not allow their collection vehicles
greenway corridor that bisects the Village and will to travel on alleys unless they are constructed to Town
 VOLUME 22, NUMBER 2
27

standards.
Building the alleys to Town standards would in

effect require another street behind the houses. The

Town's standards would require a paved area 33%
wider than the existing alleys and in some areas, curbs
and gutters. Experience has shown that wider travel
lanes equate to faster vehicular speeds. For alleys to
function properly as service lanes and not
thoroughfares, design speeds must be kept to a
minimum. By constructing alleys to public standards,
it would create an unappealing situation in which

residences are in effect sandwiched between two

streets. In response to this potential situation, the
development team opted to use private alleys that are
narrower than Town standards and thereby sacrifice
the seemingly logical collection of refuse along the
alleys. After annexation by the Town (expected in 2-
4 years), residents will be required to push roll-cart
containers to the street in front of their home on
specified days. Currently, a private contractor is

collecting trash from the rear alleys; no problems have

been reported to date.

Conclusion

Planning jurisdictions wishing to put the

philosophy of New Urbanism into practice can take
away several important lessons from the experiences
of Southern Village. First, it is critical to involve all

stakeholders in establishing the foundations of New

Urban communities by setting realistic goals and even
identifying the most suitable sites —
as was the case
with Chapel Hill's Small Area Planning process.
Second, it is very important that all Town departments
"buy into" the idea and adopt design criteria that
enhance the plan. Such commitment may help to
prevent a situation where design requirements like
wide streets conflict with one of the most important
principles of New Urbanism —
pedestrian friendliness.
Finally, the spirit of public and private partnership
should be promoted to the fullest extent possible. It
must be remembered that development is an
interactive process, and in order to make great places,
it is critical to maximize the resources and abilities

of all the stakeholders involved. <ii>