Performance Zoning

Performance zoning is a land use planning concept that has its roots in building codes that established performance standards as opposed to specification standards. This is the manual that introduced the concept of performance zoning and includes a complete in depth review and analysis model ordinance based on Bucks County. There are advantages to the performance zoning approach. In some ways it requires less administrative involvement, since variances, appeals and re-zonings are not necessary. It also gives more flexibility both to the municipality and to the developer, allowing more of a range of land uses, as long as their impact is not negative....A primary disadvantage of performance zoning is that as a result of its flexibility it is subject to a steeper learning curve. Author Lane Kendig has experience in land use planning, growth management, housing, environmental planning, zoning and land use controls, site and land design, and impact and feasibility analyses. He has worked throughout the United States and in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. His projects include comprehensive plans and implementing regulations; zoning, subdivision, and land development regulations; and impact and management systems. He has written plans and ordinances separately and simultaneously and studied special problems concerning economic development, transportation, growth management, special zoning regulations, and open space programs, among others.