URBAN DESIGN AND HORIZON PLAN | URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES
IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES

URBAN DESIGN DISTRICTS AND URBAN DESIGN OVERLAY DISTRICTS
Urban Design Districts and Urban Design Overlay Districts  

Baton Rouge Urban Design Handbook
Information Bulletin 32:  Design
Information Bulletin 59:  Urban Design District
 

BACKGROUND

Baton Rouge, like most communities in America, coordinates development through zoning regulations which separate uses of land into separate zones with specific activities permitted within each zone. These local laws grew out of the social reform and public health movements at the turn of the 20th century with the intention of protecting public health and safety from unsafe and overcrowded living conditions common at the time. By defining allowable property uses and thus constraining the intrusion of incompatible activities into residential and other areas, zoning laws have also proven useful as a means of protecting private property investment.

However, simply zoning individual parcels has proven to be inadequate for building liveable communities and many communities have adopted plans to coordinate growth and development in their areas. The citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish recognized this inadequacy and in 1992, adopted the Horizon Plan as the comprehensive land use and development plan of the City-Parish. The Horizon Plan reflects our community's consensus of goals and objectives that maintain and promote a high quality of life for its citizens.

URBAN DESIGN AND HORIZON PLAN

In particular, specific goals and objectives in the Horizon Plan provide for protection and enhancement of the character of existing business, commercial and residential areas, as well as the visual and aesthetic character of the Parish. Neighborhoods are recognized building blocks of the community and many Action Items or strategies in the Horizon Plan call for citizen participation in order to maintain or establish neighborhood identity.

In recent years, many communities have looked at ways to address quality of life issues which together create a viable and livable community. Urban design has great potential for enhancing the visual image and quality of neighborhoods. Urban design standards promoting excellence in development through architectural design and landscaping can create or renew a sense of local pride and identity. Urban design enhances the economic and physical characteristics of a neighborhood. Baton Rouge, through the implementation of the Horizon Plan has taken some bold steps to preserve and enhance the appearance of the community. These steps include the adoption of sign and landscape ordinances, for example.

The Horizon Plan acknowledges that public and private development can improve the character of existing neighborhoods and enhance the sense of neighborhood identity. Urban design issues can be found in almost one-third of the Action Items of the Horizon Plan. There are 74 Action Items which call for specific activities relating to an Urban Design Program: 25 in the Land Use Element, 18 in the Transportation Element, two in the Wastewater, Solid Waste and Drainage Element, seven in the Conservation and Environmental Resources Element, 10 in the Recreation and Open Space Element, three in the Housing Element, and nine in the Public Services, Public Buildings, and Health and Human Services Element.

URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM

Neighborhoods, districts, corridors, and special use areas are, in part, defined by their identifiable and memorable centers and edges. The image of gateways, natural and physical features, and transportation corridors can define the perception of a place. Physical design can help establish vitality in centers of activity by grouping public services, retail establishments and other amenities around a neighborhood focal point with a distinguishable identity.

An Urban Design Program providing guidelines for development activity in clearly defined special design areas, or design districts, can strengthen the physical and economic character of each neighborhood by mitigating or avoiding functional and architectural incompatibility of buildings or services. These design districts include growth centers, major transportation corridors, historic districts and other unique community areas as identified in the Horizon Plan.

URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES

Design guidelines are a voluntary supplement to general zoning regulations, designed to provide a framework for the protection and enhancement of the aesthetic, economic and environmental quality of the Parish by addressing development issues as related to neighborhood character and economic diversity. The Horizon Plan places special emphasis upon the implementation of a Subarea/Neighborhood Planning Process as a means of encouraging citizen participation in the planning of their neighborhoods including the identification and enhancement of quality of life issues and aesthetics that create a sense of place.

Urban Design Districts

An Urban Design Overlay District is similar to the Urban Design District, as it pertains to design guidelines in a specific area. However, the Urban Design Overlay District does not change existing zoning of a property, rather it pertains to design elements of existing property within the Urban Design Overlay District.

Urban Design Overlay Districts

An Urban Design Overlay District is similar to the Urban Design District, as it pertains to design guidelines in a specific area. However, the Urban Design Overlay District does not change existing zoning of a property, rather it pertains to design elements of existing property within the Urban Design Overlay District.