Background Information
The materials included here have been provided for your use in preparing for the upcoming planning of Downtown Columbia. DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA STUDY AREA
WHAT IS A "CHARRETTE"?
GENERAL PLAN 2000
COLUMBIA CENSUS REPORT
NEW TOWN ZONING AND COVENANTS
GGP:TOWN CENTER DRAFT MASTER PLAN
COLUMBIA ARCHIVES
Centered among a cluster of nine villages, Town Center was designed to be the focal point of Columbia’s community life and has become the County's downtown urban center as well. It accommodates significant amounts of retail, office and residential development as well as many cultural, social and economic resources that serve both residents and visitors throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Town Center has the following facilities:
- Hospital and medical offices
- Howard Community College
- Central Library
- Fire Station
- Columbia Association
- Symphony Woods
- Merriweather Post Pavilion
- Toby’s Dinner Theatre
- Columbia Mall
- Lake Kittamaqundi
- Lakefront recreation area and restaurants
Although mostly built out through phased construction over the past 40 years, Town Center is approximately 570 acres with about 87 acres available for development and redevelopment. The Town Center Charrette will focus on this area throughout the public design workshops held October 15th through October 22nd.
The Primary Study area for the charrette is bounded on the east by Lake Kittamaqundi and US 29, on the south by portions of Broken Land Parkway and Little Patuxent Parkway, on the west by portions of Governor Warfield Parkway, and on the north by the Lake and its Wilde Lake tributary.
A Secondary Study area adds land south of Twin Rivers Road and a portion of Little Patuxent Parkway, to Cedar Lane on the west, and north of Hickory Ridge Road continuing along Broken Land Parkway to US Route 29. This study area also includes the abutting neighborhoods of Vantage Point to the south of MD 175.
“Charrette” is a French word meaning “cart,” historically used to describe an intense work effort by art and architecture students to meet a deadline. More recently the term has been adapted to describe an engaging and interactive community-based planning process held over several days. Planning occurs within a condensed time period with the public participating in a series of design sessions that raise and debate the problems and solutions that will form an implementable plan.
A core interdisciplinary team of designers, planners, and others offers information and expertise throughout the charrette process. Team members work side by side with the public during each design session transforming thought and idea into alternative plans for consideration. Between sessions, the team works to further develop alternative designs in response to information gathered during public review periods. Staged throughout the charrette, these review periods or feedback loops channel the public's input into refinements of the master plan.
The charrette process nurtures creativity and problem-solving to achieve a shared community vision. The many diagrams, sketches, maps, and designs produced from the hands-on work sessions provide feedback and demonstrate progress to all.
Design Collective Inc.
The County's consultant for preparing the Town Center master plan vision is Design Collective, Inc. (DCI), a nationally recognized architectural firm with experience in facilitating professional design charrettes. DCI's offices are located in Baltimore, MD, but the firm was founded in Columbia 26 years ago. Howard County selected DCI via a committee of representatives from the County Executive’s Office, the Economic Development Authority, the Departments of Planning & Zoning and Public Works. For more information on the firm and its experience, visit DCI's web site.
A DCI charrette is an intensive and creative, weeklong planning and design process in which a master plan and design solution is crafted through consensus building.
Design Collective's Charrette Process:
Design Collective's unique public planning and design charrette process facilitates the gathering of consultants, client, stakeholders, elected officials, and the general public for an entire week. During the week, charrette participants are involved in many activities:
1. Collectively identify goals and objectives by participating in an Opening Workshop;
2. Discuss major issues and concerns and help to define potential problems, constraints, and opportunities;
3. Provide input on plan and design alternatives during Evening Pin-Ups;
Through this input, Design Collective's charrette team prepares on the spot master plans, sketches, and artist renderings. The DCI team will include expert traffic, transportation, market and economic consultants to help better address unique project imperatives. The charrette culminates with a Power Point presentation of the week's events, including photographs of public input sessions, illustrative plans, diagrams, artist renderings, illustrations, and a summary of land use, transportation, policy, and economic recommendations.
What is the Opening Workshop?
On the first night of the charrette, participants gather in large groups at tables to identify important goals and objectives, to identify the types of buildings, architecture, and open spaces they prefer, and to begin developing concept plans. Each group is provided a base map of the study area, markers and pens, and a set of picture cards or “Icons” which are photographs of a wide variety of building types, sizes, and styles, greens and squares, streets and sidewalks, and other environmental features. Through use of these "tools" each table presents their unique ideas to the group at the end of the day. The ideas formulated during the Opening Workshop are used by the charrette team as it begins crafting plan solutions and illustrations the remainder of the week.
What is an Evening Pin-Up?
During the day, the charrette team is busy drafting plans, artist renderings, building elevations, and illustrations that help to convey the design intent in response to public input. During the evening, the public is invited to attend Pin-Up sessions that are informal presentations and discussions on what the team produced that day. This is the best opportunity for charrette participants to see how the plan is evolving, to provide critical input, and to make sure the solutions are responding to public input. During this time, expert consultants are on hand to answer specific questions regarding traffic, economic, environmental, or preservation issues.
What a Charrette is Not
A charrette is not a 1-day workshop, nor is it simply a brainstorming session that is focused largely on dialogue. A charrette is not a visual preference analysis and is not intended to only determine what people like or don’t like. A charrette is not a master plan or vision crafted by a select few but, rather, is a plan that has broad authorship and input, even though the charrette team prepares the drawings. A charrette is not utilized to prepare bubble plans or renderings only but, rather, is used to prepare specific and very detailed illustrative plans, transportation, economic, and policy solutions, and artist renderings.
General Plan 2000 is focused around six visions or themes that are the foundation for the document.
Vision 1: Our actions will complement State and regional initiatives in resource and growth management.
Vision 2: Our rural lands will be productive and rural character will be conserved.
Vision 3: Our development will be concentrated within a growth boundary, will be served by adequate public facilities and will encourage economic vitality.
Vision 4: Our communities will be livable, safe and distinctive.
Vision 5: Our environmental resources will be protected, used wisely and restored to health.
Vision 6: Our citizens will take part in the decisions and actions that affect them.
Most pertinent to the charrette planning efforts are: Vision 3, 4, 5 and 6. Excerpts from General Plan 2000 specifically describing community conservation and enhancement policy for Downtown Columbia are included here.
This research report provides statistical information on demographics, socioeconomic and employment trends and patterns for Columbia.
The requirements for the New Town District are found in Section 125 of the Howard County Zoning Regulations.
The Public Service Desk for Planning and Zoning has compiled background information on various aspects of Columbia’s New Town Zoning to help property owners understand what they need to do before developing their property.
Residents and business owners in Columbia must also notify their village office for any exterior alterations made to homes or businesses. Many of the applications for exterior alterations and guidelines are available through the covenant information page.
GGP:TOWN CENTER DRAFT MASTER PLAN
General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the Rouse Company and its assets in 2004. Currently, these assets include aproximately 35% of the land area within the Study Area. In early 2005, GGP retained Baltimore’s Mahan Rykiel Associates and is currently developing a conceptual land use Master Plan focusing on its holdings in Town Center. This plan includes approximately 600,000 square feet of additional commercial space and 1,600 residential units, situated primarily at the Crescent site at the southern interchange entrance to Town Center. In developing a master plan for Town Center, GGP responded to public interest in the future of Town Center and the nature of its development and redevelopment, and held two town hall meetings.
The purpose of the GGP study “is to create a master plan framework that, in the course of the continuing evolution of Town Center, encourages the achievement of the vision in a way that allows ongoing development to respond to the marketplace.” The GGP Town Center Plan is ongoing.
General Growth Properties (previously known as Howard Research Development Corporation) is a key player in the charrette process for Columbia’s Town Center because they hold a significant portion of land that has the potential for development and redevelopment.
Over 40 years have past since James W. Rouse created the vision for Columbia. These critical years in the town’s development produced many images and plans that today continue to shape the role built environments play in the lives of people. The Columbia Archives is a repository for this history and is open to the general public.
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