Urban Regional Design Award

Name and Address of Submitting Firm:
Nederveld

Name of Owner / Developer:
City of Hudsonville
Ottawa County Planning and Grants Department

As a demonstration project, initiated by the County Planning Department, this project included an Architectural Design Elements Portfolio (ADEP), a form-based city-wide zoning ordinance, an area specific downtown master plan and a city wide master plan. The ADEP and the downtown master plan have been completed and are part of this submission. Both have been adopted into the City’s ordinances and have had a positive impact on development patterns within the City.

The primary components of these planning documents was to develop a highly-visual, graphics based master plan and zoning tool that would improve the ability of an urban community to effectively plan for future growth and development. As a result of this project, the community’s master plan and zoning ordinance have been completely redesigned to include an assortment of images, drawings and renderings. These are intended to make it easier for community leaders to plan for future growth, but also provide developers, business owners and residents with a clear understanding of what the community wants to look like in the future.

These documents were compiled during a two-year timeframe using substantial public input through various work sessions and charrettes that engaged the community in discussions and activities which included visioning sessions and visual preference surveys. During these sessions, the citizens expressed a desire to maintain small town character while creating a vibrant and pedestrian friendly environment composed of multi-story mixed-use downtown buildings, parks, wide sidewalks and street trees. The citizens had strong feelings about what kind of architecture should be used as a basis for their future place-making activities. This ultimately led to a traditionally based building form with subtle contemporary elements and restrained detail, which then had to be coded in the ADEP document by the design team.

The purpose of the ADEP is to rekindle an appreciation for architectural and building tradition and to re-establish the vernacular building convention which represents the rich architectural heritage of small mid-western towns. The ADEP document represents an addition to the City Zoning Ordinance (which in time will be completely redesigned) that governs the architectural elements of all new buildings within the downtown, roughly representing the DDA boundaries. This document regulates mass, form and composition while setting minimum standards for transparency, materials, lighting, and signage in a highly graphic, user-friendly format. While the document intends to guide architectural design, its intention is to allow for a wide range of architectural outcomes and stylistic choices, which will lead to a more vibrant public realm.

In conjunction with the ADEP, a new master plan was created for the City’s downtown to establish an urban structure that will form the foundation for creating the kind of place envisioned by the citizens and to strengthen the sense of place for the downtown. The basic principles of this urban structure included vertically integrated mixed-use, higher density development patterns, compact walkable districts, pedestrian friendly street design, a connected street grid, a coherent block structure and a central public green. This downtown master plan, while creating a new development pattern, had to work within certain existing parameters, which included maintaining a majority of the existing street system, addressing the adjacent state designated highway and train tracks and allowing for a gradual transition from the current layout to the future vision. The highway was addressed using a ”Lake Forest” (based on Lake Forest, Illinois) retail model, which created a central green that opened up to the highway and allowed for both direct access from the highway system and a visual connection between auto traffic and the downtown core. In addition to this, a train station was proposed to help tie the south end of town with the north end of town and to help anchor the town green on the north side. It is intended that this train station could someday allow the city to become a transit-oriented development if / when commuter rail is re-established.

As a result of this project, it is anticipated that the innovative techniques and planning principles developed and implemented will serve as a model for other urban communities that are working to enhance the vibrancy, livability, and aesthetic character of their respective communities.