To view full RFP, please visit https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/bids-proposals

BACKGROUND

The City of Harrisonburg is an independent city located in the central Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. It is the county seat of Rockingham County and encompasses 17.4 square miles, serving a population of approximately 54,000. Harrisonburg is located along Interstate 81 and is only two hours away from both Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Harrisonburg is home to two university campuses — James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University — as well as numerous businesses, non-profit organizations, and a vibrant downtown.

The existing Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances were last thoroughly evaluated and comprehensively re-written in 1997 and 1996, respectively. In the ensuing time, many changes, both major and minor, have been made to the text of the ordinances, including the addition of districts and overlays to the Zoning Ordinance. The results include ordinances containing outdated requirements, internal inconsistencies, and ordinances that can be difficult for community members to comprehend. In recent years, it has become apparent that a significant overhaul of the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances is needed. Additionally, new ways of thinking about planning and zoning combined with new techniques and principles for implementing adopted plans offer ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of City planning and zoning. The adoption of the new Comprehensive Plan in November 2018 also affords the opportunity for taking a holistic approach to developing a new Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance.

In early 2019, the City hired a consultant to conduct a land use policy evaluation of the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances to assess how each of the land use ordinances comply with the requirements of the Code of Virginia. In addition to reviewing these regulations for compliance, a diagnostic matrix was created for each ordinance to analyze and critique their structure, content and focus. This document is provided as Attachment H.

Additional Resources:

• Comprehensive Plan, adopted November 2018, https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/comprehensive-plan
• Zoning information, https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/zoning
• Subdivision information, https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/subdividing-property

SCOPE OF WORK

With assistance from City Staff, the selected Offeror will develop new Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances for the City of Harrisonburg. The scope of work shall consist of, but is not limited to, the following:

• Restructuring/re-writing the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances into streamlined, clear, and user-friendly documents that are easy to navigate and translate by the public, and simple to enforce by the City.
• Updating the ordinances to fully comply with all the Zoning and Subdivision provisions required by the Code of Virginia.
• Updating/re-writing definitions in both the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances to enhance clarity and reduce the need for interpretation. Illustrations should be considered, where appropriate, to add clarification.
• Reviewing the Comprehensive Plan to ensure the new Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances are updated/re-written to reinforce the vision, goals, and objectives of the plan. For example, among other things, the Zoning Ordinance should be updated to:
  • Encourage areas with a mix of uses (residential and nonresidential) and allow different housing types and lot sizes.
  • Promote the development of more single-family detached and duplex housing units.
  • Promote the development of lower cost and affordable housing (both for rental and homeownership).
  • Expand opportunities for infill development, and the reuse and redevelopment of existing and underutilized structures and properties.
  • Promote walkable neighborhoods.
  • Provide off-street parking to adequately meet demand and provide access to key destinations, businesses, and services, without creating oversupply.
  • Adapt to new trends and demands while ensuring that new development and redevelopment of residential, commercial, and industrial properties will be compatible with existing land uses and with planned land uses of surrounding properties.
• Conducting evaluation and analysis of alternatives and recommendations as to the best regulatory methods by which various components of zoning could be addressed including, for example, the following:
  • Whether a system of civil penalties for certain violations is best practice.
  • What impact proposed ordinance provisions have on the form and character of development.
  • The effectiveness of master planned zones and overlay zones have in achieving desired results.
  • Whether the City should initiate a comprehensive rezoning of all property within the City to reflect long-term goals of the Comprehensive Plan.
  • What other concepts, suggestions, or ideas that may arise from public outreach.
• Developing a public outreach strategy in consultation with City staff. The strategy might include, but is not limited to, reaching out to the general public and various stakeholder groups such as City Council, Planning Commission, city staff, residents, business owners, the development community, and other community groups.
• Preparing drafts of the Zoning Ordinance, including illustrations, for review by staff and the Planning Commission, culminating in a final version to be reviewed by the Planning Commission for recommendation to the City Council for final action.
• The ordinances need to function online with Municode.

The City acknowledges that other City regulations and requirements, such as the Building Code and the Design and Construction Standards Manual (DCSM) (https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/dcsm), also influence development. This work should include recommendations for amending other City regulations and requirements to support updates to the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances. However, updating other City regulations and requirements is anticipated to be outside the scope of this work.

The City's new Sign Ordinance was recently adopted on January 14, 2020 and moved from the City's Building Code to a new Article EE within the Zoning Ordinance (https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/sign-ordinance-update). City staff is currently working on updates to Article Y, Floodplain Zoning District of the Zoning Ordinance and zoning regulations associated with short-term rentals. Offerors will not be required to provide significant work to these sections; however, some amendments may be necessary to support updates to other sections of the Zoning Ordinance and for best practice.

Throughout the entire process, interaction is expected with the City, including extensive interaction with the Zoning Administrator, the Senior Planner, the Assistant Director of Community Development, the Director of Community Development, and the Assistant City Attorney. It is anticipated that members of the City's Planning Commission will play a role in the process.

To view full RFP, please visit https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/bids-proposals