26 Distillation Guidebook Co-Lab • 9.18–9.19 2025 been rendered incompatible by decades of use-based zoning. At the same time, the city was careful not to treat the focus on “compatibility” as a deterrence to new types of development. The building type study allowed for planners to design regulations based on continuing the desirable existing conditions in the city – many of which are the more compact, walkable urban forms of the city’s prezoning fabric – while also making space for aspirational development types that do not yet exist in the city, but could advance broader community and economic development goals. Iterative Code Design The zoning code was, therefore, designed outward from the study, integrating additional context, rather than translating it directly into a final regulatory product. Consultants drafted the initial versions of the zoning code, translating building types into specific regulations. “Initially, the draft regulations felt very true to the building type study,” Jennifer explains. “I think it needed a lot more refinement to better reflect both the city’s capacity, the city’s goals, and the unique elements from the city.” Those early drafts were a starting point – very accurate to the building type study, but required adjustment to accommodate the city’s housing goals and the places that resisted easy “typing.” Trevor describes how staff layered in additional context, including existing district boundaries, overlays, and corridors. “We leaned pretty heavily on the current zoning district boundaries, particularly commercial or mixed-use districts,” he explains, “defining where our corridors could extend. Then we looked at other overlays, like the –Jennifer Gomez While we did decrease the intensity of some allowable uses within neighborhoods, we also created more consistency...
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