Zoneless Relic of the Past or Prototype of the Future?

HOUSTON:

2012 Community Planning Class, UH Hilo

Presenter: Michael Edmund Malulani Kamehameha Odegaard, BA (UC Irvine), MBA (Keller GSM), Certicate (UH Mnoa)

Stop the Genocide.

causes.com/h2o

Genocide: Physical and/or Cultural

Raphael LEMKIN (1900-1959)
Co-authored United Nations 1951 Convention on The Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in response to WWII Holocaust, coined the term for nation-killing in 1944. His early drafts discussed cultural genocide, but opponents excluded the term in the final draft. Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. Techniques include Cultural (primarily linguicide: requirement of licenses for persons engaged in urban arts, media, architecture, etc.) in addition to Physical.

You cry when you get here, and you cry when you leave. (Anonymous) [Houston is] a textbook example of the sprawl and hopscotch growth that comes with. . . a laissez faire business climate. (a former president of the Urban Land Institute) The Bayou City today is the World Energy Capital as well as the home of more Fortune 500 corporate headquarters than any other American city outside of New York!

INTRODUCTION
Houstonians like to say Dont tell me what to do with my property! In land use patterns (and in the predictability of those patterns) zoned central cities and Houston are more alike than pro-zoners admit. The difference is that Houstonians successfully internalize risks that zoning attempts to control elsewhere by managing the property rights of citizens. In this time of economic contraction, many are debating whether Houston without zoning is a relic of the past of land use, or the wave of the future. By contemporary standards it could be said today that Houston planners do indeed zone, but without Euclidean zones. Houston is a sprawling & complicated city that may pose challenges for the newcomer to read spatially. Its suburbs are criticized as being endless beige McMansions and WalMarts, but central Houston has an thriving contemporary arts scene, including the worlds largest art car parade.Areas of central Houston are approaching European density and higher. While most town homes in London have small back yards, the new ultra-dense central Houston neighborhoods have either zero or nearly-zero yard setbacks, with two-car garages that comprise the entire first floor. Some Houstonians fancy that you can see a church, a bar, a strip club, and a warehouse along the same block, and that with children playing in the street! While Houston has no zoning, per se, its development code does have strict minimum parking and lot size regulations, wide streets and long blocks. On the negative side, the city does have restraints that limit density, discouraging both walkability and feasibility of mass transit. Most residential areas in Houston use deed restrictions to make up for the lack of zoning standards. Setback requirements and minimum lot sizes were all repealed within the I-610 Loop 12 years ago, which is why theyre now building 3-to-6 story town homes on lots that formerly held SFD homes. Libertarians would have you believe that things like zoning result in fewer freedoms, but in reality that isnt the case.

HOUSTON COUNTY
1858 Pop. 4,815 (City Incorporated1837)

HOUSTON FIELD MAP

1873, Pop. 18,000 - Cotton Port & Railroad Hub

HOUSTON FIELD MAP

1891, Pop. 27,557 - Railroad Center of Texas: Distribution

HOUSTON BIRDSEYE PLAN

1910, Pop. 78,800 - 9 Years After Oil Discovery; Rice Univ. 1912

HOUSTON MAP
1920 Pop. 138,276 (175%) - Oil Industry, Manufacturing, Port

N.E. HOUSTON MAP

1922 - Suburbanization, First Motorized Fire Engines

HOUSTON STREET PLAN

1940 Pop. 384,514 (278%) - Petrochemical Boom, Subdivision Code Regulates Minimum Lot Sizes

N.E. HOUSTON MAP

1946, Zoning First Denied 1947: Port Activities & Banking Grow

HOUSTON MAP
1956 Ashburns City Map, Pop. 596,163 (1950, 14th): Aerospace

HOUSTON REGION
1965 Pop. 1,396,000 (234%, 7th) - 1st Freeways Built (enables sprawl); Zoning Denied 1962

HOUSTON REGION
1973 - I-610 Loop; Arab Oil Embargo Boon & Population Boom

2ND LOOP PLAN: TOLLWAY

1980 Pop. 1,595,138 (114%, 5th) - Zoning Defeated 3rd Time in 1993, Min. SFD & Town Home Lot Size Reduced Inside Loop

GRAND PARKWAY: 3RD LOOP

2000 Pop. 1,953,631 (4th), Lot Size & Yard Setbacks Repealed Inside the Loop

TROPICAL STORM ALLISON

2001 - Houstons Biggest Problem

HOUSTON TODAY
2010 Pop. 2,099,451 - 7% growth, Unincorp. Pop. 1.5M 50%, High Urban Ofce/Commercial Vacancy: 1/4 Vacant! Adopted Sound Ordinance in 2011.

CENTRAL HOUSTON DISTRICTS

WS STREE T

SON STRE ET

TINE STREET

G STREET

SM

BR AZ OS ST

!
!

!
!

!
!

LO UIS I

VICTOR STREET

ST RE ET

WEST PIERCE STRE ET

AN A

HE LE NA

PEDE N STRE ET

MIL AM ST RE ET

WEST WEBSTER STREET

BOMAR STRE ET

ST RE ET

NS TR EE T

ST RE ET

BOMAR STREET

BA LD WI

ST RE ET

ST RE ET

BA GB YS TR EE T

BR AN CH ST RE ET

NS TR EE T

FARGO STRE ET

!
!

CA RO L

ST RE ET
!
!

!
!

HE LE NA

AU ST IN

ST RE ET

DR EW

AL BA NY

!
!

INE

!
!

SA NJ

WEST DREW STREET

ST RE ET

EN ST RE ET

ST RE ET

TR EE T
!
!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

FA NN IN

WELCH STREET

WELCH STREE T

ST RE ET

Mc GO W

BR EM ON D

HE NN YS

AC INT OS TR EE T

Mc IL

ST RE ET

TR EE T
!
!

MA IN

WILLARD STREET

WILLARD STREET

DE NN IS

SUTTON STREE T
!

OAK COURT

HA DL EY S

TR AV IS

ST RE ET

BA LD WI

PACIFIC STREET
STRATFORD STREET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

TU AM S

TR EE T

Mc IL

HE NN Y

BR EM ON D

ST RE ET

BR AZ OS ST RE ET

MA IN

Montrose
CE (PRIVATE) COU RTLANDT PLA

ST RE ET

AVONDALE STREET

Mc GO W
DE NN IS

ST RE ET

EN ST RE ET
!
!
!
!

WESTHEIMER ROAD

WESTHEIMER ROAD

DR EW
TU AM
!

ST RE ET
!

! !

!
!

!
!

ST RE ET

ST RE ET
!

!
!

!
!

LOVETT BOULEVARD

SM ITH

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

ST RE ET
!

! !

AN ITA
!

AN AS TR EE T

!!

LO UIS I

HAROLD STREE T

ST RE ET

WESTMORELAND STREET
!

KIPLING STREET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

MARSHALL STREET

MARSHALL STREET

TR AV IS

CO UR T

ES

RICHMOND STREE T

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

ST RE ET

OAKLEY STREET

RU TH S

ST RE ET

FA NN IN

TR EE T

RIC HM ON D

ST .E MA NU EL ST RE ET

RO SE WO OD

CH EN EV ER TS TR EE T

HA MIL TO NS TR EE T

ST RE ET

BR AN CH ST RE ET

ST RE ET

ST RE ET

AC INT OS TR EE T

59

INE

AU ST IN

CA RO L

ST RE ET

SA NJ

MIL AM ST RE ET

CH AR TR ES

BOULEVARD
PRIVATE DRIVE

PL AC E
!
!
!

ST RE ET

AR BO R
!

LA

Land Uses
Educational Government Hospital Industrial Institutional EAG Mixed-Use

PINEDA LE STREE T
BARKDULL ST

RO SE DA LE
OAKDALE STREET

MA IN

SO

Single Family

NN IS

WI TC HIT AS TR EE PA T LM ST RE ET

ST RE ET

WE NT W

ST RE ET

ST RE

ST RE Multi-Family ET

LE

ST RE E

BL OD GE TT

TR EE T

288

RO SE WO OD

TR EE T

ST RE ET

DE LA NO

ST RE ET

RU TH S

WH EE LE RS

CL EB UR NE

ST RE ET

Parks - Recreation Religious Retail

ST RE ET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

PORTLA ND STREET

WH EE LE RS
RO SE WO OD

Museum District

TR EE T

ST RE ET

ES TR BA EE RB T EE ST RE ET

EA GL

BA RB EE

! ! ! !

ALME DA RO

WOODROW

WOOD ROW STREET

EA ST AL AB AM AS TR EE TR T UX ILL OS TR EE T ISA BE LL AS TR EE T CL EB UR NE ST RE ET

AD

WI NB ER N

BE RR YS TR EE T
ST RE ET
! ! !
!

Light Rail Stops Light Rail Line

! ! !
! ! !

1/4 Mile from Light Rail Stops Increased New Development

! ! ! !
!

EA ST AL A
TR UX IL
ISA BE LLA

BA MA

NU OfficeE
LO ST REParking ET

AV E

ST .C HA RL

ES

TR EE T

ST RE ET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

EA GL

BA ST RO PS TR EE T

COLQUITT STREET

ST RE ET
!

MO SL EY

WEST MAIN STREET

ISA BE LLA

! CL ! EB UR NE

ST RE ET

59

EL GIN

ST RE ET

ST UA RT ST RE ET FR AN CIS ST RE ET HO LM AN ST RE ET

AN ITA

DO WL
ST RE ET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

ST RE ET
! !

ING

BRAN ARD STREET

LO

TR UX IL

Third Ward

ST RE ET

SUL ROSS STREET

527

WI NB ER NS TR EE AL T AB AM AS TR EE T

TR EE T

HU TC HIN S

WEST ALABAMA STREET

ST RE ET

TU AM S

ST RE ET

BA ST RO PS TR EE T

BE RR YS TR EE T

ST RE ET

ST UA RT ST RE ET FR AN CIS ST RE ET HO LM AN ST RE ET

MIL AM ST RE ET

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

EMERSON STREET

EL GIN
!

ST RE ET

HAWTH ORNE STREET

RO SA LIE

288
Mc IL
!

HE NN Y

Mc GO W
DE NN IS

EN ST RE ET

DR EW

ST RE ET

ST. EM AN UE LS TR EE T
ST RE ET

ST RE ET
!

CH EN EV ER T

BO UL

EV AR D

ST RE ET

JA CK SO N

ST RE ET

RD HYDE PARK BOU LEVA

HY DE PA RK

HA DL EY

ST RE ET

TR EE T

CR AW FO RD
!

LA

FAIRVIEW STREET

WE BS TE RS

GR AY ST RE ET
!

ST RE ET

!!

ET
CROCKER STREET CROCKER STREET
ROSELAN D STREET

STANFORD STREET

CL AY ST RE ET BE LL ST RE ET

BAILEY STREE T

WEST GRAY STREET

0'NEIL STREE T

O'NEIL STREET

PIE RC E
GR AY ST RE ET

WE BS TE R

ST RE ET
!

JE FF ER SO N

GILLETTE STR EET

ST . JO SE PH PA RK WA Y
!

ST RE ET

LE EL AN D
PE AS E

!
!

ST RE ET

GENESEE STRE ET

!
!

COOK STREET

ST RE ET

MASON STREET

TAFT STREET

Downtown

MORGA N STREET

!
!

!
!

!
!

!
!
!
!

WHITNEY STREET

STANFORD STREET

!
!
!
!

! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

HOPKIN S STREET

! !
!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!
!

!
!

!
!

FLORA STREET

!
!

! !

AUDUBON PLACE

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

!
!

!
!

!
!
!
!

!
!
!
!
!

BRAN DT STREET

!
!

!
!
! !

!
!
!

GARROTT STREET

BUTE STREET

! ! ! ! !

STANFORD STREET

! !
!
!
!

GREELEY STREET

BRANDT STREE T

! !

! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

JACK STREET

GARROTT STREET

! !
!

!
! !
!
!

DEED RESTRICTIONS
Deed restrictions are restrictive covenants (CC&Rs) that apply to a group of homes or lots, property thats part of a specic development or subdivision. Usually put in place by the developer, theyre different for every subdivision. Deed restrictions give a development a more standard appearance and control some of the activities that happen within its boundaries. Deed restrictions are enforced to protect property values. Restrictive deeds usually stipulate the minimum size residence allowed, how many homes may be built on a lot, and what type of construction the homes must (or must not) be. Other topics found in restrictive covenants include: Clauses that dictate what kind of fencing can be used, or that forbid all types of fencing. Clauses to minimize clutter on lots, such as prohibiting owners from storing an inoperative vehicle within public view, or parking a recreational vehicle on the lot. Easements (such as a pathway for power lines or roads). Fees for road maintenance or amenities. Rules for changing or voiding the covenants. Rules about pets and other animals (for instance: no breeding for prot, no livestock, no unchained pets). Regulations dealing with in-home businesses and home rentals. Rules that limit tree-cutting. Set backs (how far homes must be plotted from streets and interior lot lines).

DEED RESTRICTION VS. ZONE

Euclidean Segregation of Single Use Districts (outdated theory) Performance (Effects-based) Goal-oriented Criteria, Requires Zoning Administrator Incentive (Rewards System) Establishes Baseline and Rewards Scale for Urban Goals Form-based (Flexible Building Uses) Regulates Architectural Form to Make Walkable Urban Spaces Discouraged construction of affordable townhouses.
Development site plans are checked for compliance with regulations that include parking, tree and shrub requirements, setbacks, and access.

Houston Planning Department

HOUSTON ANTIDENSITY REGS

1940: 5,000 s.f. SFD, 2,250 s.f. SFA Discouraged construction of affordable townhouses.
Min. 5,000 s.f. SFD lot sizes only apply to Suburban areas outside the Loop, Urban (Central Houston) SFD Min. 3,500 s.f.; Urban SFA Min. reduced to 1,400 s.f.

1998: New Denitions, Sprawl Continues

Reduced Walkability Minimum lot size requirements: 1) reduce the number of people who can walk to jobs or errands, 2) causes sprawl by encouraging population growth to shift to newer areas, and 3) makes improved public transport impractical

HOUSTON SPRAWL
Gas Addicts! (2005 data):

Average commute was 38 miles. Only 5.9% of adults used public transportation. While Houston housing affordability ranks high, average household spent 20% of income ($9,566) on transportation related expenses. Density was only 3,372 persons/square mile (less than half the density of the three larger cities) Average Texan today is spending $100 per month for obesity-linked healthcare.

NO-ZONERS
1. Fairness / Equity Benets some land owners at the expense of others; excludes certain people, as well as outsider developers, from communities. Critique: Based on controversial notion that property rights are natural, inviolable and pre-political. (NIMBY activism or restrictive covenants are also used in lieu of zoning to exclude.)
Large transaction costs to development decisions outweigh the benets of zoning; land use allocation decisions are distorted toward inefciency (compared to free-market rationalism) and sterility (Jacobs). Critique: Sprawl. Getting all residents of a neighborhood to agree on restrictive covenants is also high. (Anti-zoning critics assent to need for some sort of control of negative externalities.)

2. Economic Efciency

PRO-ZONERS
1. Protect Health: 1916, NYC Prevent encroachment of sunshine rights on land adjacent to high-rise buildings. Critique: Shade perceived to be more healthy than sun in hot climates. 2. Protect Property Values: 1926, Village of Euclid vs. Amber Realty Co.

Enforced a zoning ordinance based upon 6 classes of use, 3 classes of height and 4 classes of area as nuisance control to prevent the growth of industry which might change the character of the village. Critique: Large-scale segregation of land uses decreases health (walkability).

PRO-ZONERS
3. Necessary Tool of Urban Planning: 1987, Malloy, The Political Economy of CoFinancing Americas Urban Renaissance Use of innovative zoning techniques (transferable development rights and planned unit developments, along with special districts, negotiated development, and "linkage" exactions) is one tool, along with co-nancing, grants and tax incentive programs, by which municipalities try to inuence large developments. Critique: Traditional zoning has a minor role in large cities among array of available planning tools, and Houstons successful Planning Department doesnt use zoning.

PRO-ZONERS
4. Prevent Fiscal Freeloading: Some new developments place a greater burden on public services than they contribute in new taxes; zoning is a means by which such developments may be screened out in favor of developments that pay their fair share. Critique: Such exclusionary zoning is unfair to lower-income, and often minority, households, decreasing opportunities for economic advancement while forcing them to travel long distances to work, and also disrupting a natural, and more healthful, community Jobs-Housing Balance.

PRO-ZONERS
5. Necessary to Protect The Neighborhood Commons & Quasi-Commons: Zoning reduces transaction costs for permitted zones while protecting a homeowners consumer surplus in a home and surrounding neighborhood that lies above the market value of the home. (Commons: use-restricted public spaces, incl. streets, on-street parking, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, libraries, schools, recreation & transportation facilities, noise/trafc/air quality levels; Quasi-Commons: restaurants, night-spots, theaters, retail establishments, churches, clubs, & private schools.) Critique: Difcult objective measures: neighborhood values can change over time; current residents should not be rigidly bound by preferences of past generations; zone/density changes subject to political corruption.

PRO-ZONERS SAY:
Central Houston is a mess of adult entertainment shops juxtaposed to the swank homes and handful of commercialized villages filled with chain stores. If you step outside the highland villages or rice villages of the city, you are stuck with dilapidated buildings. Good luck living even in the wealthiest of neighborhoods - from West U to Med Center to Galleria - without having crack or sex thrust onto you. In Central Houston, youll see neighborhoods without homeowners associations, so the houses have disturbing businesses running out of them.The best located neighborhoods are unsafe and usually abutting some cheap 2-story apartment complex.There is no great place to live in Houston even if you have $1.5 million to spend. My junior high school was right next door to a chemical plant, and I remember evacuating one day because there was a spill at the plant. I am grateful that I now live in a city where I can enjoy drinks in a swank lounge without facing the glowing lights of the strip joint across the street. I can now shop in mom & pop stores, see water not filled with ships, enjoy a landscape, view a breathtaking skyline, breathe the air, ride metro, and walk from my home to the grocery store or dinner or shops. Houston needs zoning. Desperately. I would consider moving back if it had proper zoning. I know there are other educated, wealthy professionals like me that went east for college/grad school and refuse to return to that mess of a town. Houston should create zoning areas. Restrict any new business development of a certain nature in certain areas and start to transition out existing businesses to other areas. Let's try to keep all the massage parlors, strip joints, and adult novelty shops away from residential areas, for a start. It also needs an expansive metro system (the light rail is just stupid). And it should try to attract businesses that focus on more than just energy or chemicals. Diversify the economic development by offering tax incentives and cheap land. Get financial services companies, for instance.You could start with commodities firms that would consider being near the energy hub.

NO-ZONERS SAY:
Your pompous attitude reeks of the arrogance and intolerance that underlies the thinking of many of our zoning codes: thank you for sharing and highlighting this so well. While I agree that when safety is an issue, interventions are needed (zoning not being the only and certainly not best solution though), much of what you have advocated for is nothing short of land use censorship based on your moral doctrine. What right do you have to thrust your moral values on others? What gives you the right to sip drinks in a "swank lounge" without looking at the neon lights of a porn shop? Using your standards, whats then to stop me from not allowing your swank lounge in my city because I don't think you should be drinking alcohol? Like it or not, you live in a land of freedom and adult entertainment is part of society and free speech and it is not going away. All zoning can do constitutionally is push it over to the poor side of town that lacks a political voice as annoying as yours to oppose it. And, about those poor people, I would argue we need more of those cheap 2 story apartment houses in all our communities because arrogant people like you have zoned them out and made housing unaffordable.Your lovely DC metro area (I'm assuming you live there since you talk of Metro) is a prime example of un-affordability gone wild and, in fact, many of the other unintended side effects that zoning has created in the name of doing good (e.g. low density, long commutes, increased environmental degradation). We need to put those apartment complexes right next to your million dollar home so that you learn how to live and cope with those who are different from you; your zoned bubble needs a bursting. In fact, liberals in DC and many other places are doing so now with inclusionary housing policies so watch your back. In Houston, inclusionary housing happens naturally and in fact much of what planners are trying to do elsewhere to deal with zoning's negative impacts has already been happening in Houston or never happened in the rst place. Houston is an island of tolerance in a sea of arrogance and intolerance where planning and zoning have been hijacked to protect the values of the powerful and well-connected.

NO-ZONERS SAY: (CONTD)

I lived in Houston for 25 adult years before moving to Dallas. In Houston, you could find just about anything you wanted just about anywhere you tried to find it; normal consumptive goods, not contraband. Thats a benefit of Houstons No-Zoning:You can live near your place of work with suitable housing and shopping nearby, regardless of which diverse area of town you choose. In Dallas you get to pick a standard of living, choose a neighborhood and then find out where you have to go find those goods and services and discover in which part of town.Thanks to no-zoning, I've had similar experience and know from essays in other parts of the country, goods and services grouped by type. Thanks to no-zoning, Houston has grown into the large, dynamic international city it is without the aid of political control over land use; why change that now... political gain? I have lived in Houston since 1973.While there are many gorgeous cities in the world, I doubt few have Houston's attitude or openness to new ideas or it's vitality and energy. We are not Politically Correct, nor backwards right wing good old boys; we ARE the future of the U.S ethnically, and we get along great, unlike the contentious and pretentious cities located on the other coasts. Our recently elected lesbian mayor got there without so much as a hoot from the nut cases found in other regions screaming at each other. It is a beautiful city with storied architecture, boulevards and landscaping along the freeways. It is full of opposing and interesting neighborhoods (inside the Loop) worthy of study. I live in the Heights, close to downtown. A hiking/biking trail skirts my property so I can walk downtown if I wish. I have a taqueria across from my incredible property, a formerly condemned industrial site that now looks like Bali due to our climate here.There are million dollar homes around me, bungalows, coffee and ice houses, a new bakery opening soon across from a little gallery. It has miles to go to improve, but I haven't seen another improve as much as Houston in the past 30 years either.

SUMMARY
Private Property Rights & Zoning continues to be hotly debated! Pro-Zoners believe that zoning: 1) gives the community more control over how land is used, 2) preserves existing neighborhoods, 3) prevents intermingling of incompatible land uses, 4) creates a logical organization for land usage, 5) helps conserve environmentally endangered areas, 6) helps home values by controlling the size & kind of businesses in an area, and 7) provides a citywide planning vehicle. No-zoners want to: 1) protect property rights, 2) preserve owners ability to choose how their land is developed, 3) delimit use of regulation to impose any type of segregation, 4) maximize a propertys potential, 5) keep housing, business & consumer costs down due to availability of developable land, 6) remove strain on taxpayers to pay for costs associated with zoning, 7) allow for mixed use development, putting residences, work & shopping in proximity.

RECOMMEND / PREDICT
Neighborhood Commons Arguments Win, Voters will reward Pro-Zoners with... Hybrid Form-based Zoning Code (Flexible Building Uses) with Design Standards for Each Central Houston District to enhance walkability and facilitate land use efciency while also encouraging provision of higher density affordable housing (60-80 d.u./ac. so that ground oor services may be built.) Redeld-to-Greeneld & Pavement-to-Parks programs can bring equallydistributed urban parks into the city (and address ood mitigation). Current ratio is 15.4 ac./1000 pop. (National av. is 20 ac./1000 pop.)

Many of The Bayou Citys new parks can be coordinated with expanded ood detention area efforts.

OUTDOOR RECREATION!