Conventional zoning codes can be notoriously tedious and difficult to understand. Alternatively, Form-Based Codes (FBCs) allow you to use pictures and diagrams to easily describe the types of development, redevelopment, parking, buildings, streets, open space, and so on that are acceptable in your community. FBCs use simple, everyday language and can cut up to sixty percent out of the length of the code.
Form-Based Codes: A Primer for Delaware Municipalities, developed by the Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination and the Institute for Public Administration, describes the four common factors of Form-Based Codes:
- Regulating plan (zoning map),
- Building type and location,
- Open space considerations, and
- Design and function of streets.
For a brief overview, please see A Delaware Guide to Form-Based Codes.