Zoning needs to do a much better job of living with non-conformities — buildings and uses that do not match the requirements of the zone district. Euclidean, performance, and form-based zoning all assume that it is only a matter of time until everyone conforms to the pattern — but history shows that it seldom happens. In the meantime, designing zoning around this false assumption can weaken neighborhoods and drive out the very uses and structures that give them vitality.

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The American Planning Association just celebrated its 100th annual national conference in Las Vegas. With over 6,000 attending the conference, planning is obviously alive and well in the U.S. — and zoning is still at the heart of the action. I just returned from the conference and noted that one of the featured tracks was “Zoning, Codes, and Ordinances”. This year APA featured 17 sessions on zoning-related topics.

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