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Urban planning hits Tehachapi
City takes lead in determining how it should grow and look to avoid 'Anywhere USA' tag
| Sunday, Sep 30 2007 8:05 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Sep 30 2007 8:10 PM
Tehachapi took a stand against looking like "Anywhere USA" and may be setting design standards for other local cities to follow.
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Last year, the city imposed a moratorium on new home construction, then held community meetings led by an urban planning firm to determine how it should grow and look.
The result was a document with examples of walkable communities with a variety of housing types and public spaces. Streets would be pedestrian-oriented instead of behind walled subdivisions accessible from one or two entry/exit points.
Design standards aren't a new thing. But Tehachapi wants to take the extra step of including them in its general plan so they become requirements.
The City Council recently modified and extended the moratorium on new residential subdivisions through Oct. 1, 2008. But housing projects that comply with the city's interim community design process may proceed.
The architectural guidelines are "going to create some character and give us a different set of parameters to work around," said Dustin Schilling, a community manager for Empire Land, which has built about 1,400 homes in Tehachapi and has 123 in development.
The city doesn't want housing tracts that look like they could be in "Anywhere USA," said Tehachapi City Manager Jason Caudle.
Rapport between the city and public really improved through the design process, said Holly Hart, executive director of the Kern County Smart Growth Coalition.
"The whole process is being able to see what the outcome of what you want is," Hart, who lives in Tehachapi, said. "It removes a lot of the interpretation from the general plan process. It makes it clear for everyone, the developers know what it is a community wants."
What works in Tehachapi may not be as practical for Bakersfield.
Jim Eggert, Bakersfield's assistant planning director, said small cities like Tehachapi often want to keep a certain theme.
But a variety in building styles is already encouraged in Bakersfield, Eggert said. Neighborhoods don't have to be consistent with one another, and attitudes about what's a desirable architectural style rise and fall in popularity.
Bakersfield has done "charrettes" -- a collaborative design and planning process -- for certain areas, such as the downtown district. Planning staff recommend smart-growth principles be incorporated into city ordinances, too.
Keith Jajko, who represents the north Los Angeles division of KB Homes, said the moratorium would make "finding and purchasing new land deals in Tehachapi more difficult."
"But we love the market, feel we have a good working relationship with the city and believe it is still a very strong, viable market," he said.