what kind of development code is necessary to implement a city's brand new vision?

SUMMARY

In 2019 and 2020, czb partnered with Greenville to create the city's new comprehensive plan, GVL2040. By prioritizing open space and the environment, affordable housing opportunities, economic development, and transportation and mobility, GVL2040 provides a blueprint for Greenville's future. Following the adoption of GVL2040, czb was retained to rewrite Greenville's development code, bringing it into alignment with the new comprehensive plan and legally implementing the community's vision for growth and development. 

The new development code, which was unanimously adopted in June 2023, provides a totally new set of zoning tools to bring to life GVL2040's node-corridor-neighborhood framework and the new code will increase predictability of process and outcomes for homeowners, contractors, professional builders, designers, and other community stakeholders affected by development.

Along with the new development code, a new Engineering, Design, and Specifications Manual (EDSM) was developed to define technical standards and best practices aligned with the new development code. The manual will assist developers, engineers, design professionals, and contractors in the best technical approaches to development and redevelopment activities.

Multiple in-person open houses across different areas of Greenville. Face-to-face meetings with community members, city staff, and the consultant team is a tried-and-true method to build trust and invite learning.

Monthly Code Connection online sessions invited two-way conversations with members of the Greenville community, city staff, and the consultant team. Meetings were recorded and made available on the city's project website.

The Code Preview was created to give the Greenville community a sense of what to expect from the new development code. The document helped readers understand how the GVL2040 comprehensive plan required a new development pattern and introduced key concepts that would become integral to Greenville's new development code.

Five Character Development Plans were created for additional visioning work and testing of potential new code tools. Areas were chosen as representative examples because they featured common issues found throughout the city. Local representatives helped guide visioning and code testing efforts in these areas.