Traditional Neighborhood Design Ordinance: Covington, Georgia
This ordinance is a suitable model for small to medium size municipalities that want to take a comprehensive approach to implementing Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) principles throughout their jurisdiction. The City of Covington updated its entire zoning ordinance to implement TND principles throughout the entire city. The new ordinance designates place-based zoning districts based on designations of neighborhoods, corridors and centers, while also establishing city-wide urban design regulations to implement quality urban design throughout the city.
The new Covington zoning ordinance is a place-based zoning ordinance that establishes new zoning districts based on three primary place types: neighborhoods, corridors and centers. The zoning districts are organized by residential and mixed-use districts: Neighborhood Residential, Corridor Residential, Town Center Residential, Neighborhood Mixed Use, Corridor Mixed Use and Town Center Mixed Use. A Civic Design chapter regulates design standards throughout the city regardless of zoning district.
The City of Covington replaced its existing PUD/TND approach to creating traditional neighborhood development patterns in favor of reorganizing the entire zoning ordinance to implement these principles city-wide. The ordinance therefore has no specific TND district, as the entire city is in essence a collection of TND districts and principles. The ordinance created new districts that allow for a range of single-family neighborhood, multi-family, mixed use, commercial and industrial uses depending on whether the property is in a neighborhood, on a corridor or in the town center. These uses are allowed at varying intensity, size, scale and bulk depending on the location. The city also created new city-wide urban design standards to ensure quality single family, multi-family, mixed use, commercial and industrial development designs regardless of which zoning district they are located in, as well as the necessary street, block and sidewalk treatments.
A term typically applied to real estate development projects that combine residential and commercial or retail components.
