– Allows for, through steps such permitting taller buildings and requiring outbuildings to be built up to the street, the gradual repair of sprawling retail centers into walkable, mixed-use places (Section 4.4)
– Designates zones for the three basic types of open space (greens/parks, squares, and natural conservation areas), and greatly expands areas in Buffalo which are reserved for open space (Section 4.8, Section 4.9, Section 4.10, Zoning Map)
– Requires a minimum density of 24 dwelling units per acre for new residential construction along the Metro Rail corridor (Section 5.1)
– Reserves rail corridors only for transportation uses, and prevents their use conversion, with the exception of trails (Section 5.2)
– Extends required waterfront setbacks of 25’ (for the most urban/intense zones) and 100’ (for all other zones) along the entire waterfront (Section 5.3.3)
– Strengthens the litmus test for water-dependent uses which may, subject to certain conditions and rigorous review, encroach upon a required waterfront setback (Section 5.3.3)
– Aligns waterfront development with the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) (Section 5.3.3.E)
– Allows for a wider mix of complementary uses in a new set of zones (Table 6A)
– Gives legal clarity to a wide variety of land uses which serve to increase Buffalo’s environmental responsiveness, including:
– The following principle uses: open space (Section 6.1.3.I), artisan industrial (Section 6.1.6.A), community/market garden (Section 6.1.7.A and 6.1.7.B), bicycle parking station (Section 6.1.8.A), district energy system (Section 6.1.9.A), solar farm (Section 6.1.9.B), and wind farm (Section 6.1.9.E)
– The following accessory uses: apiary (Section 6.2.2.B), aquaculture/aquaponics (Section 6.2.2.C), automobile charging station (Section 6.2.2.F), chicken coop (Section 6.2.2.H), compost bin (Section 6.2.2.J), greenhouse (Section 6.2.2.P), home occupation (Section 6.2.2.Q), hoop house (Section 6.2.2.R), market stand (Section 6.2.2.S), rain barrel/cistern (Section 6.2.2.X), recycling collection station (Section 6.2.2.Z), solar energy system (Section 6.2.2.EE), and wind energy system (Section 6.2.2.II)
– Requires a stamp from a licensed landscape architect for new construction on a site of 10,000 square feet or more (Section 7.1.1.B)
– Requires plant materials to be hardy to regional climate conditions per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, as well as site microclimates (Section 7.1.1.D.1)
– Prohibits installation of plant materials which are listed on the New York Invasive Species Council as an invasive species (Section 7.1.1.D.2)
– To help rebuild Buffalo’s tree canopy, requires installation of on-site trees (Section 7.1.2.B), conservation or replacement-in-kind of mature trees (Section 7.1.3), and installation of street trees (Section 7.1.4) in certain cases
– Requires landscaping and screening of parking lots to help reduce the heat island effect and infiltrate stormwater (Section 7.1.5)
– Requires landscape buffers between noxious uses, such as automobile-oriented and heavy industrial uses, and adjacent residential properties (Section 7.1.6)
– Requires on-site stormwater management for new development, with a preference for green infrastructure BMPs (Section 7.3)
– Incorporates outdoor lighting standards derived from the International Dark-Sky Association’s Model Lighting Ordinance, which will help reduce light pollution, reestablish visibility of the night sky, and minimize impacts on migratory birds and other wildlife (Section 7.4)
– Extensively addresses site impacts such as dust/air pollution, noise, odors, and vibration (Section 7.6)
– Includes bicycle parking criteria based on precedents forwarded by GO Bike Buffalo (Section 8.2)
– Eliminates all minimum parking requirements for motor vehicles, allowing the market to determine how much parking is provided on-site (Section 8.3.1.A), giving more flexibility for infill development and adaptive reuse of historic properties
– Regulates the location of parking as it relates to the building on the site, in neighborhood zones requiring parking to typically be located to the side or rear of buildings (Table 8B)
– Includes a recommended minimum Solar Reflectance Index for paving materials in parking lots, which will help reduce the heat island effect (Section 8.3.1.H.3)
– Minimizes required driveway dimensions and allows shared and double-track driveways, allowing for reduced overall imperviousness (Section 8.3.2.B, 8.3.2.C, 8.3.2.D)
– Requires parking lots (Section 8.3.1.C) and rights-of-way (Section 10.2.1.B) to conform with accessibility standards and guidelines established by the United States Access Board
– Requires incorporation of clearly delineated pedestrian walkways in parking lots over a certain size (Section 8.3.3.A)
– Requires ground-floor tenant spaces along structured parking in certain zones such as downtown and neighborhood centers (Section 8.3.4.A.5)
– Minimizes off-street loading area requirements, which in the current zoning ordinance often requires unnecessarily extensive off-street loading facilities that degrade the pedestrian environment (Section 8.3.7)
– Requires a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan for developments over a certain size, requiring the application to propose strategies to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips, vehicle miles travelled by site users, and encourage transportation alternatives such as walking, cycling, transit, and ridesharing (Section 8.4)
– Encourages pedestrian-oriented, rather than automobile-oriented, sign types in neighborhood zones (Article 9)
– Establishes standards for block length and block perimeter to encourage walkability as blocks are introduced or modified (Section 10.1.1), as well as internal and external block connectivity (Section 10.1.2.B)
– Incorporates a complete set of illustrative street design criteria based on complete street principles, derived from the ITE/CNU Walkable Urban Thoroughfares Manual and NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (Section 10.2)
– Introduces an adaptive reuse permit provision which will make it easier to recycle historic building stock (Section 11.3.4), and a thoroughfare plan provision which will require formal public review before the City Planning Board of proposed public right-of-way projects (Section 11.4.5)
– Introduces a provision allowing the City Planning Board to require reservation of parkland as part of subdivision approval (Section 11.5.15)
– Offers user-friendly definitions for terms used throughout the Ordinance, such as BUG rating, ecosystem services, green infrastructure, infiltration, light pollution, and stormwater management (Section 2.2)
Have comments to make on the code, but haven’t been able to make any of the working group sessions since the draft UDO was released on May 3? Write to info@buffalogreencode.com by this Friday, July 11.
Photo: Tassafaronga Village, LEED-ND Pilot Project, Oakland, CA