Developers face uphill battle without code

Vince Graham has firsthand knowledge of the negative consequences of attempting a new urbanist development in a town without an ordinance specifically allowing such projects. When proposing I’On, a 243-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in 1995, Graham and his partner, father Tom Graham, had every reason to believe that the project would be welcomed by town officials. Vince Graham had already planned and begun construction of Newpoint, a successful neotraditional development in Beaufort, South Carolina. He hired Duany Plater-Zyberk and Dover, Kohl & Partners to design I’On. “The town had a comprehensive plan that went into great detail promoting TND, and was very critical of conventional suburban development,” Graham recalls. “It went even further in naming specific sites where TND should go, and one of those sites was ours.” Unfortunately, the goals of that comprehensive plan, written in 1992, had never resulted in changes in the town’s zoning code. So, TND still required extensive variances from the town’s standards. “We came in with a plan that was right in line with the master plan, but to implement it, we needed a zoning change from the suburban standards, including 10,000 square foot lot sizes,” Graham says. “When we applied for the change, that’s when the NIMBYs (Not in My Back Yard) came out in force and we ran into a battle.” The same officials that voted for the master plan rejected I’On, 5-4. Eventually the project was approved in 1997, but after the developers were delayed a year at significant cost, and made major concessions. The density of the project was substantially reduced, multifamily units were eliminated, and many connecting streets to outside subdivisions were blocked. The story has a happy ending. Home building in I’On started in the spring of 1998, and 35 are built or under construction. Another 30 homes will be underway by the end of 1998, says Graham. “We’re just struggling to keep up with demand,” he says. However, the current plan for I’On is not everything that the developers and designers originally envisioned. The moral is that the New Urbanism can draw significant opposition from neighbors — particularly the affluent, suburban variety. When the opposition comes, sometimes only a specific code can withstand the pressure. Goals in a comprehensive plan may be quickly forgotten.