Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

TO:	Mayor and City Commissioners
FROM:	Planning Staff
CC:	Dave L. Corliss, Acting City Manager Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager
Date:	5/10/06
RE:	Community Design Committee Request

The Community Design Committee has been working for a number of months to gather community support for a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) parallel code.  Such a code would be an optional parallel code to the newly adopted Development Code. 

The new TND Code will encourage more compact, transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use, diverse and sustainable neighborhoods.  The Code should include the focused design of the public realm, a mix of supportable land uses, a density that encourages pedestrian activity and easy access to mass transit. 

In particular, a TND Code will:

• Focus on the form of development rather than use.
• Promote user friendliness and enforce urban standards.
• Enable innovative and creative site planning, building design and development.
• Clarify expectations by communicating requirements to all stakeholders.
• Contribute to a more efficient design review and entitlement process.

We hope to be able to hire a consultant that will assist the community in its efforts to write and adopt the TND Code.  The consultant will help direct a charette with community stakeholders to help define the vision for the TND Code.  Our goal is to have the parallel code in place in time to help developers have the option to build these kinds of projects as soon as possible.

Attached to this memo is an example of a TND Code from Wyandotte County.