Planning commission weighs design fixes, flexible compliance for form‑based code

South Burlington Planning & Zoning Commission members spent the bulk of their meeting discussing a review of the city’s form‑based code, hearing a presentation from architect Greg Rabadu and staff about potential changes to frontage rules, façade composition and building‑height guidance.

The discussion centered on whether the city should move from narrowly prescriptive numeric requirements toward a “choice‑driven” compliance system that gives applicants multiple ways to achieve the same design outcome while preserving predictable review timelines. “There is clearly an appetite for better, more thoughtful, and more articulate design,” architect Greg Rabadu said. “The best predictor of that outcome is through the clarity of your stated goals and the boldness of your vision expressed in words and in pictures.”

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said form‑based zoning helped produce rapid private investment in the T5 transect, but several members and community commenters criticized a sameness in recent buildings’ facades, rooflines and street presence. The group framed the update as an opportunity to keep the code’s development‑speed benefits while changing the regulations and review tools so new buildings read as more varied and human in scale.

What presenters proposed: Planning staff and Rabadu outlined three primary design…