How can updated codes help a small city achieve higher standards and encourage new investment?

SUMMARY

After voting to unanimously adopt czb’s All Together Altoona Comprehensive Plan in July 2024, the City of Altoona retained czb to immediately begin implementation by updating the city’s development regulations: the zoning ordinance and the subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO). The work is scheduled to be completed during summer 2025.

A key goal of the project is to thread the needle between two imperatives. The first is to codify the comprehensive plan’s vision for a community with stronger public spaces and healthier neighborhoods—something the codes can assist by requiring good urban form and by making mixed-use development and different housing types possible in more areas of the city. The second is to ensure that the new codes provide a level of clarity and predictability that will make it easier for businesses and developers to invest in Altoona because they will know what the community says “yes” to.  

By establishing higher standards and greater flexibility for new development, the updated ordinances will ensure that every new investment in the city is contributing to the community’s vision for the future. And by communicating that Altoona is serious about cultivating value and a high quality of life, the ordinances will work hand in hand with investments in parks, streets, downtown, and other amenities to send strong positive signals to potential households and businesses. 

Engaging the community

During the process behind the All Together Altoona Comprehensive Plan, czb used several methods to learn from and inform the community—including open house roadshows, an online survey, and smaIl focus groups convened and hosted by the project’s steering committee.

The code updates will make use of everything gathered from the comprehensive planning process while drilling down into the codes and the overall land development process with regional developers, design professionals, engineers, and others who work with the codes on a regular basis.  The process will also reach out to the public to build an understanding of what the codes do and what they don’t do, and to get feedback on potential changes to the codes.