The City of Springfield has entered a contract with the urban planning firm, Multistudio, to facilitate and draft new Development Codes, which will provide the City with the regulatory framework essential to implement many of the recommendations outlined in the Comprehensive Plan that will impact expansion of uses and quality of place enhancements for (re)development projects.

Code consultant, Multistudio, has recently completed the research and analysis phase of the code update process, which included reviewing and studying the City of Springfield’s existing codes, policies, and district standards, as well as conducting interviews. The analysis phase produced the Fiscal Impact Analysis, the Code Review Summaries, and the Development Pattern Analysis documents, all of which can be found below.

After the analysis phase of the code update process was concluded, the consultant began the discussion phase on January 25, 2024 with an initial meeting of the volunteer Place Teams and a public open house. These events were an opportunity for both members of the public and individuals that expressed interest in being involved in the process to learn how the consultant is using the vision of Forward SGF to update the City’s development codes. The Precedent Studies that set the framework for these events and other conversations with the public, can be found by clicking on the image above. In addition, the presentation boards that were at the open house can be found below.

The Place Teams met again with the consultant and city staff on June 4, 2024 to discuss their vision for future development. Based on the three Guiding Principles – “Community Design”, “Development and Design”, and “Site Design” participants were asked to share desired improvement for the four consolidated Placetypes – Neighborhoods, Corridors, Destinations, and Employment Centers and Campuses, as defined by Forward SGF. Below are the notes from the meeting.

Fiscal Impact Analysis

As part of their research and study, the consulting team completed a fiscal impact audit and infrastructure liability analysis. This analysis is used to characterize the economic consequences of Springfield’s existing codes, and inform discussions regarding changes in development patterns, intensities, placetypes and use groups. It is also being used to guide potential codes and standards for development, and the infrastructure needed to support it.

On November 14, 2023 and February 29, 2024 Joe Minicozzi AICP with Urban3 presented a two-part Economics of Community Design series which outlined the influence that growth, infrastructure, and development decisions have on the City’s fiscal future. Highlights of the February 29th presentation can be found below. The final report can be found by clicking on the image above. To view the recordings from these events, navigate to the presentations tab at the top of this page.

Code Review Summaries

Multistudio has recently completed a Code Review Summaries document which provides the assigned Place Teams with a common starting point for their conversations. This includes a brief introduction of each topic, how the topic ties in with Forward SGF‘s goals and Placetypes, an overview of how Springfield’s current code addresses the topic, and suggested discussion questions and summaries of relevant discussion topics. To view the Code Review Summaries document, click on the image.

Development Pattern Analysis

The Development Pattern Analysis, together with Urban3’s Fiscal Impact Analysis, and the Code Review Summaries, will inform the Place Teams’ discussions about the community’s development code priorities. Based on the Code Review Summaries, the Place Teams’ conversations will focus on the four topics of Housing & Neighborhoods, Mixed Use Destinations, Multimodal Transportation, and Natural Features & Environment. All of these topics will be framed through the lens of Quality of Place. Finally, these community conversations will inform the final Community Development Code for the City of Springfield.

Development patterns directly impact how “Quality of Place” is felt throughout a city: affecting how the people of Springfield experience their communities, live in their neighborhoods, and move through the street network. As the Springfield community begins the process of defining the types of places they want to encourage and reinforce through the Community Development Code, this analysis will help stakeholders think about the design elements that are necessary to create and nurture those places. Click on the image to view the Development Pattern Analysis.