Plan Implementation (12%) Flashcards
What are the two different types of policy analysis/policy impact analysis/policy evaluation/policy assessment?
- Descriptive Policy Analysis
- Predictive Policy Analysis
What is a community benefits agreement?
an approach to plan implementation
What is capital improvements programming (CIP)?
an approach to plan implementation
I. Includes a multiyear schedule of public physical improvements
II. Includes a capital improvements budget that are programmed for the next fiscal year
III. Dates back to the 1909 Plan of Chicago
IV. Includes collected impact fees
When can policy analysis take place in relation to policy implementation?
Policy analysis can take place before or after its implementation!
It can be conducted to anticipate results of alternative policies in order to choose among them or to describe the consequences of a policy.
What is descriptive policy analysis?
Policy analysis that is evaluative and takes place after it has been implemented to describe the consequences of it.
Or it is the interpretation of past policies.
What is predictive policy analysis?
Policy analysis that takes place before it has been implemented to anticipate the potential results of implementing the policy and choose among the best of alternative policies.
What are the 6 steps of basic policy analysis?
- Define the problem
- Determine evaluation criteria
- Identify alternative policies
- Evaluate alternative policies
- Compare them
- Assess the outcomes
How do you define the problem in order to conduct policy analysis?
Understand the positions and influence of various people.
-who is concerned about the issue?
-why?
-what are their stakes in the issue/what power do they have to affect a policy decision?
A lot of policy analysis involves…
DATA, data analysis, and accumulating data.
What are the “Big Three” data agencies?
- Census Bureau
- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
BEA and BLS provide statistics and counts on employment.
What is empirical data?
A lot of the intelligence collected about a public policy issue is empirical data.
Graphic presentation of this data is essential to make it palatable and capture the meaning of the data (eg. bar chart, histogram)
quantities and proportions
Often what is collected when evaluating a public policy issue.
What types of graphs are used to present empirical data?
- Bar Chart
- Histogram
What is the difference between a bar chart and histogram?
A bar chart has distinct groups (eg. race) while a histogram has continuous categories (eg. income)
What are costs and benefits as an economic concept?
Cost = use of resources (eg. tax dollars) diverted from other uses
Benefits = “negative costs”
-can be direct or indirect
-can be tangible or not
-monetizable or not
-short-term or long-term
What is standing as an economic concept?
refers to who is to be considered when costs and benefits are being computed.
who is being counted when the pros and cons of alternatives are being estimated?
What is externality as an economic concept?
a phenomenon or effect external to a producer or consumer but that affects a producer or consumer (eg. breathing bad air)
Externalities can be positive (eg. community college trains people in IT and they are hired by a local industry)
What is elasticity as an economic concept?
a concept important to policy analysis because government speculate about what the response will be to different price points.
For example, what municipal price of water will encourage/impact water conservation.
elasticity is used to measure the change in the aggregate quantity demanded of a good or service in relation to price movements of that good or service.
What is marginal analysis as an economic concept?
a principle from microeconomics
if marginal costs = marginal revenue then it creates an equilibrium condition
What is marginal analysis as an economic concept?
a principle from microeconomics
if marginal costs = marginal revenue then it creates an equilibrium condition
What is equity and sustainability as an economic concept?
Efficiency and equity criteria are difficult to (and are seldom both) maximize in the same program.
Programs that provide a lot of efficiency might be inequitable or unsustainable.
What are __ types of commonly used evaluation criteria?
- Technical feasibility criteria
- Economic and financial feasibility criteria
- Political viability criteria
What is technical feasibility as commonly used policy evaluation criteria?
Examples include: will the bridge carry the expected traffic? will the water be treated to the quality level sought?
What is economic and financial feasibility as commonly used policy evaluation criteria?
Measures what the program costs are against the benefits that the policy produces.
Economic and fiscal impacts of a policy are not the same thing.
What is political viability as commonly used policy evaluation criteria?
Measures policy or program outcomes in terms of impact on relevant power groups.
What is administrative operability as commonly used policy evaluation criteria?
Measures how possible it is to actually implement the policy or program.
Eg: Is staffing available? Will employees cooperate? Can it be done on time?
What is a fiscal impact analysis?
Fiscal impact analysis IS NOT economic impact analysis.
Fiscal impact analysis calculates the total cost to the city of new development, as well as the tax revenue that is generated from the development.
Fiscal impact analysis generally refers to efforts to estimate the budgetary effects of various types of land uses on local governmental jurisdictions or other local service providers.
Used to estimate the impact of a development, land use change, or plan on the cost and revenues of governmental units.
Fiscal Impact Analysis involves estimating the net impact of a particular project on government and seeks to connect planning and local economics by estimating the public costs and revenues that result from property investments.
Eg. looking at a city’s tax rate and the average cost of educating a child in the local school system (education cost), or the average cost of constructing a public building (facility cost)
The method you would use to study the fiscal impacts of the proposed annexation.
What is economic impact analysis?
Focuses on the cash flow to the private sector measured in income, jobs, output, or indirect impacts.
What is the difference between building codes, subdivision regulation, and zoning?
What are building codes?
Building codes are based on health and safety standards.
Building codes control design, construction, and materials used in construction.
What are subdivision regulations?
Subdivision regulations control the manner in which blocks of land over a certain size can be converted into building lots.
What is a subdivision plat? What does it look like?
What kinds of characteristics are included in a subdivision plat?
-site features (topography, flood hazard areas)
-lot dimensions & layout
-street rights-of-way
-type and dimensions of streets
-type, size, and placement of utilities
surveyor precisely prepares final plat map
What do zoning ordinances specify?
-what can be constructed in each zone
-what uses are allowable
What is the Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R)?
FAR is the amount of floor area on a parcel to the amount of land on parcel.
Calculations of this ratio are used to determine floor space in relation to the lot size.
For example:
If FAR=3, it can be a 3-story building completely covering a parcel of land (3:1) ratio
FAR=3 could also be a 6-story building covering half of a parcel of land. 6*.05=3/1=3
What is Gross Leasable Area (GLA)?
GLA is a measure of floor space used to estimate the number of parking spaces required (depending on use).
How do you calculate the Floor Area Ratio (FAR)?
You obtain FAR by dividing the gross (total) floor area of a building by the total area of the lot
FAR is usually expressed as a decimal fraction (eg. 0.5)
What is the difference between a preliminary plat and a final plat?
A final plat is prepared by a surveyor.
FAR is the ratio of what to what?
Gross floor area to total lot size(area)
When is a variance to zoning granted?
A variance is granted because of specific characteristics of a particular property
Might allow deviation from dimensional requirements (like setbacks and heights)
A variance might alter the allowable use of a parcel.
_________ typically deals with approving or denying variances/site-specific modifications of local zoning regulations.
Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)
(or Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) - as in Pgh)
What is a Conditional Use/Special Use Permit?
allows land uses in zones where the use isn’t currently allowed
eg. special use permit for a residence to be constructed in an industrial zone (like Chateau)
What is overlay zoning?
This type of zoning allows a mixture of uses and promotes flexibility and design in density.
Commonly used, overlay zoning allows a community’s functional concerns to cut across existing zoning designations.
You apply the overlay zone over one or more previously established zoning districts to establish additional standards for properties in addition to the requirements in the existing district.
Used for a historic or downtown district or flood control district, for example.
What is a floating zone?
Floating zone districts are described in a zoning ordinance but haven’t been included on the zoning map.
Delineates conditions that have to be met before zoning can be approved.
Floating zoning implements concepts like the Planned Unit Development (PUD), or cluster development
What is a Planned Unit Development (PUD)?
a PUD is a floating zone intended to create a mix of uses, density and infrastructure standards, to allow flexibility in the development standards for specific uses on the subject site.
Once approved, and the PUD is attached to a specific piece of land, the zone becomes added to the official zoning map and is no longer “floating” as a concept.
a land use tool you would use if you wanted to reduce lot sizes in exchange for open space concessions.
kind of like where GM lives - a community of single-family homes, and sometimes condos or townhomes, where every homeowner belongs to a homeowners association (HOA) but has church, grocery store, etc.. usually
ADVANTAGES:
Allows greater flexibility in site design
Allows zoning through negotiation
Allows differing densities throughout the development
A term used to describe a housing development not subject to standard zoning requirements for the area.
What is the key difference between a variance and special/conditional use permit?
Both are limited exceptions to the zoning ordinance; however:
A variance is granted because of the specific physical conditions of a particular property (eg. setbacks or building height), while the special use permit is granted to allow land uses in zones where the use isn’t allowed.
How is an overlay zone different from a floating zone?
A floating zone doesn’t appear on the zoning map, but is a type of zone that can be applied in a proposed location.
An overlay zone applies rules to a specific area.
What is form-based code/zoning?
Focuses on the form of the built environment. Use is incorporated but isn’t the main driver.
Design-based regulations NOT guidelines.
Form-based codes are meant to be visual, easy to understand and clearly show the community’s vision.
Focuses on building form as it relates to streetscape and adjacent uses. Encourages mixed use. Relies on design.
Creating a form-based code begins with:
Asking a community to envision its future.
Form-Based Codes are composed of two types of standards:
- Building Form Standards
- Public Space Standards
both of which are mapped into a regulating plan
What are Building Form Standards?
Building Form Standards regulate:
-setbacks (how far buildings are from sidewalks)
-how much window area a building must have
-how tall a building is in relation to width of the street
-how accessible and welcoming front entrances are
-where a building’s parking goes
What are Public Space Standards?
Regulate:
-individuals streets
-how individual streets connect and function
eg. walkable interconnected street system vs. contemporary car-oriented street system (cal-de-sacs)
What is a regulating plan and what does it look like?
The regulating plan is the controlling document and tool for implementing form-based code.
It maps the locations where the building form standards and public space standards are being implemented.
What is transect-based coding/planning?
It is a subcategory/type of a form-based code that applies the idea of a rural to urban transect/line where you might have developments that are more vs. less rural or urban.
The “transect” is a land-use term that describes a location based on its relative density, natural and/or built form characteristics
What is transect planning based on?
A long history of human settlements.
Patrick Geddes came up with a similar “valley section” idea
Transect code is implemented through ______.
The SmartCode
What is the SmartCode?
A continuum of transect zones from rural to urban. SmartCode is a transect-code that is also a form-based code.
Miami 21 was one of the first to adopt this transect-based form-based zoning code.
There are 6 transect zones plus one special district. There are many adaptations of the basic SmartCode template, and locally calibrated codes can have more zones than 6.
Denver Form-Based Zoning Code
considers zoning based on an area’s existing or desired future character.
it is context-based and takes into consideration existing block patterns, lot shapes, building forms, transportation, and parking.
What is the difference between form-based codes and design guidelines?
Form-based code is regulatory/required, it is not a guideline.
How is land use dealt with in a form-based code?
The regulation of land use is included in a form-based code but it is a secondary concern to the regulation of form.
What is Performance Zoning?
An alternative to zoning whereby performance standards regulate development by setting desired goals (eg. no negative impact on the watershed)
provides flexibility but it is not that common because it’s difficult to administer since someone has to determine what the performance measures are and whether or not developments are achieving them.
What are the 3 recommendations for managing zoning non-conformities?
- Rezone to minimize nonconformities
- Sanction benign nonconformities
- Phase out detrimental nonconformities
What is a design review board?
Popular, designed to implement urban design guidelines.
They don’t have to operate only in historic districts - they can deal with purely aesthetic issues like color.
Design review boards can exercise discretionary review.
They MUST have standards as a basis for decisions. Ideally, defined standards or an adopted comprehensive plan.
Why is performance zoning not more common?
It is more difficult to administer and costly because it requires you to establish performance measures and then monitor/evaluate developments to make sure they are achieving performance outcomes.
What can be done about zoning nonconformities?
- Rezone to minimize them
- Sanction benign ones
- Phase out detrimental ones
What are 8 different types of Revenue?
- Regressive Taxes
- Progressive Taxes
- User Fees
- Intergovernmental Transfers
- Property Taxes
- Local-Option Taxes
- Regulatory Fees
- Development Exactions/Special Assessments/Impact Fees
What are regressive taxes?
A type of revenue - Regressive taxes take a larger percentage of income from low-income earners than high-income earners.
Under a regressive tax system (e.g., sales tax), individuals and entities with low incomes pay a higher amount of that income in taxes compared to high-income earners.
APA does NOT prefer this.
What are progressive taxes?
Taxes that take a larger percentage of income from high-income earners than low-income earners.
A type of revenue - Progressive tax increases the tax rate as the tax base increases (i.e., the tax rate, along with tax liability, increases as an individual or entity’s wealth increases).
APA advocates for this over regressive taxes.
What are user fees?
A type of revenue that local governments can generate from a range of provider services, utilities, parking fees, fees for using municipal services…etc.
What are Intergovernmental Transfers?
A type of revenue where state taxes can be shared with local governments.
What are property taxes?
A primary mechanism/type of revenue from which local governments have generated a majority of their revenue.
What are Local-Option Taxes?
A type of revenue where in addition to property taxes, local governments can levy a local-option SALES TAX or individual and corporate income taxes.
What are regulatory fees?
A type of revenue local governments can generate through their regulatory powers (eg. fees to cover a cost for administering a business license, inspection, or code enforcement…etc)
What are Development Exactions and Special Assessments?
A type of revenue local governments can generate.
Impact fee - fee charged by local governments to developers as reimbursement of the cost to provide additional services for new development (eg. putting in a wider road or new sewer)
What are two examples of local-option taxes that are not property tax?
In addition to property tax, local government can levy local sales tax or individual income taxes.
What are the effects of a sales tax revenue structure on land development?
Could affect a lot of retail locating near the boundaries of your jurisdiction because it allows them to generate tax revenue and minimize expenditure on infrastructure and services for non-resident shoppers.
What are the effects of a income tax revenue structure on land development?
This might encourage employment-intensive uses such as office park development.
What are the effects of no sales or income tax on land development?
This might create a problem if you have a lot of vacant land. Prioritize policies that maximize property value and incentivize development of vacant land.
What are Community Benefits Agreements?
Address a lot of different issues relating to how the surrounding community is benefited.
Demand things like:
-local hiring
-job training programs
-having affordable housing nearby
-providing community facilities
Effective at addressing site-specific development impacts, but don’t easily get through politically bc of resistance from developers.
