City of Roswell Unified Development Code

Details:

  • City of Roswell

  • Roswell, Georgia

Highlights:

  • Unified Development Code to support the vision of the City’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan and Economic Development Strategic Plan concepts
  • Diagnostic Report examined and analyzed existing plans and ordinances and determined inconsistencies and potential policy changes
  • Code expanded urban design standards citywide, provided new housing tools, and created a more user-friendly document

Description:

In 2012, TSW, as part of a team led by Code Studio, was retained by the City of Roswell to prepare its new Unified Development Code (UDC). The UDC is intended to guide and support the vision of the recently adopted 2030 Comprehensive Plan, which described the city’s future as a community of choice to live, work, and visit.

Key elements of the UDC include:

  • Creating regulations that implement the 2030 Comprehensive Plan
  • Creating regulations that address market trends, incorporate best practices, and address contextual issues throughout the city
  • Incorporating regulatory recommendations that came out of the recently adopted
  • Strategic Economic Development Plan
  • Removing or amending outdated standards
  • Removing redundancies and conflicts
  • Consolidating uses or use groups
  • Creating clear definitions and terminology
  • Providing graphics and illustrations to supplement written regulations
  • Crafting regulations that provide for effective administration enforcement

The process began with the Diagnostic Report that reviewed and analyzed existing plans. Key findings from the analysis included the need for a number of changes to better accommodate infill and redevelopment and to make Roswell more economically competitive as well as more attractive to a broader range of new employees and residents.

Following affirmation of the direction provided by the Diagnostic Report by City Council, the team drafted the code. As part of this, TSW focused on the code’s urban design provisions, district metrics, landscaping standards, and a review for usability and clarify.