Intro | Agenda

Agenda:

9:00 ­ 9:15 AM
Welcome/Introductions

Speaker: Roger Snoble, Chief Executive Officer, LACMTA

9:15 ­ 9:30 AM
Overview

Speaker: Paul Zykofsky, Local Government Commission
Mr. Zykofsky will provide an overview on the Ahwahnee Principles, smart growth and how code reform can help get the type of neighborhoods that residents tell us they'd like to live in.

9:30 ­ 10:30 AM
The Why, What, When and How of Zoning for Smart Growth

Speaker: Paul Crawford, Crawford Multari & Clark Associates
This session provides an overview on the problems with conventional zoning codes and the innovative responses developed in recent years by new urbanist/smart growth practitioners. Paul Crawford, whose firm has worked on dozens of code reform efforts, will discuss different approaches to code revision, quick fixes that can be used and will provide some clear guidelines for working on a new smart growth code. Mr. Crawford will illustrate these principles with examples from several California cities that he has worked with.

10:30 ­ 10:45 AM: BREAK

10:45 AM ­ 11:30
Getting Street Designs that Support Walkable, Livable Communities

Speaker: Paul Zykofsky, AICP, Local Government Commission
Street design is key to creating livable communities in which residents are encouraged to walk, bicycle and use transit. However the street standards used by many jurisdictions often get in the way of narrow, slow, safe, tree-lined streets. Paul Zykofsky will discuss the problems with conventional street design and how to design a street system that supports livable communities based on "Street Design Guidelines for Healthy Communities" written by Dan Burden of Walkable Communities and published by the Local Government Commission in 1999.

11:30 ­ NOON
Reforming Parking Requirements: Less Traffic, Better Places

Speaker: Patrick Siegman, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates
By reforming parking requirements - which often dictate the shape of buildings, the financial feasibility of projects, and the beauty of a place - a group of leading American cities, from large to small, are proving that they can reduce traffic, increase economic performance and protect the environment. By carefully regulating parking design, they have also shown how to provide enough parking, while still building walkable, beautiful places.

NOON ­ 1:15 PM: Lunch

12:45 ­ 1:15 PM
Lunchtime Presentation: Does Sprawl Kill? Why Public Health Professionals Care About Community Design

Speaker: Dr. Deborah Cohen, Rand Corporation
In recent years public health professionals have joined the discussion about smart growth and community design. Dr. Cohen will discuss some of the ways in which public health is focusing more attention on how our communities are planned, designed and built.

1:15 ­ 1:45 PM
The Devil is in the Details: Administering a Smart Growth Code

Speaker: Steve Tracy, Local Government Commission
Mr. Tracy will describe the LGC's Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide and how communities can use it to revise their codes. He will discuss some of the problems encountered while reviewing over 250 codes from across the nation, including how undemocratic our codes are, with such obscure and befuddling formats. He will also touch on the importance of insuring that the code can be administered in a simple, straightforward manner.

1:45 ­ 2:15 PM
Case Study: Petaluma Wins Support for Infill through a Form-Based Code

Speaker: Laura Hall, Fisher & Hall Urban Design
Petaluma has recently taken on the challenge of planning, designing and building a new urbanist neighborhood, using the SmartCode developed by Duany-Plater Zyberk to overcome years of controversy and adopt a plan for an infill site in its town center. Laura Hall, the urban designer who worked with the city, will share with participants how this community developed their new code and how well it is working.

2:15 ­ 3:30 PM
Case Studies: Azusa and South Pasadena

Moderator: Gay Forbes, Assistant City Manager, South Pasadena
Speakers: Stefanos Polyzoides, Moule & Polyzoides, Others Not Confirmed
This session will focus on projects in the Los Angeles County area. Stefanos Polyzoides will describe some of the challenges that conventional zoning creates for designing transit-oriented, new urbanist projects in locations like South Pasadena and Azusa.

3:30 PM: Adjourn