Performance Zoning

"Performance zoning" is an alternative to traditional land use zoning. Whereas traditional land use zoning specifies what uses land can be put to within specified districts, performance zoning specifies the intensity of land use that is acceptable. In other words, it deals not with the use of a parcel, but the performance of a parcel and how it impacts surrounding areas.

Advantages and disadvantages

There are advantages to the performance zoning approach. In some ways it requires less administrative involvement, since variances, appeals and re-zonings are not necessary. It also gives more flexibility both to the municipality and to the developer, allowing more of a range of land uses, as long as their impact is not negative. This allows for more innovation and the incorporation of new technologies that may not be accommodated in more traditional zoning ordinances. This encourages more communication between the public and private sectors.

Also, performance zoning is more effective in the preservation of natural features, since it evaluates directly the impact, rather than indirectly through lisitng permitted and denied uses.

A primary disadvantage of performance zoning is that as a result of its flexibility it is subject to a steeper learning curve. In traditional ordinances, land uses are listed as absolutes--either allowed or not allowed. Under performance zoning uses are determined through sometimes confusing calculations of a variety of factors. This requires local zoning administrators to be more adept at making appropriate and fair determinations based on sometimes subjective criteria, and can lead to more legal challenges.

What is best?

Studies have indicated perhaps the best approach to zoning is a combination of traditional zoning and performance zoning. Including components of performance zoning could encourage the following:

Establishing a community vision;
Greater involvement and participation of all stakeholders in the community;
Protecting and preserving the environment;
More collaborative rather than confrontational planning processes;
Conditionally approving developments at a higher level;
Reducing the number of districts; and
Re-engineering existing systems to remove obstacles to quick approvals, new designs and building technologies.¹

¹"Performance-Based Zoning Model." http://www.steppingstones.ca/library/pbzone.htm, 29 Sept. 1998.

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