Community Development > Great Neighborhoods Home

On April 12, 2000, the Albany City Council adopted changes to the Development Code relating to the "Great Neighborhoods" project. The adoption was the culmination of a major community planning effort that began in November 1998 and engaged several hundred Albany residents. As a result of the code changes, developers will pay more attention to making their projects compatible with existing neighborhoods, and new development will be designed with greater thought given to the safety and convenience of pedestrians.

The Great Neighborhoods project started as a forum for citizens to voice their hopes and concerns about living in Albany. More than 400 people attended a series of five community meetings in November 1998. A volunteer steering committee met in early 1999 to help create a set of ideas for proposed changes to the Albany Development Code, based on comments from those community meetings. Last summer and fall, City staff worked with the Planning Commission to write the actual code changes. The Planning Commission and City Council reviewed and discussed possible changes at more than 20 meetings last winter and this spring, holding five public hearings. Throughout the process, citizens raised enough issues to fill 85 pages of Development Code changes.

The design of single-family homes prompted a lot of comment. People said that some designs detracted from how comfortable and functional their neighborhoods are. When the front door is not visible from the street, it is inconvenient for visitors, and slows the response time for paramedics. A front door that faces the street is more secure from break-in. Likewise, having enough windows on the front of the home makes it less likely that crime will occur on the street. The new regulations require that the front door face the street or open onto a porch that faces the street, and prescribes a minimum amount of front wall that must be windows.

Among other changes:

• A developer must hold a neighborhood meeting before turning in an application for any major project that would affect established residential areas.

• The Planning Commission will now hear appeals for those major projects.

• It will be more difficult to cut down five or more trees.

• New subdivisions are allowed to have alley access.

• New streets may be narrower.

• Sidewalks will be separated from the street by a planter strip with trees.

• Gated residential streets are prohibited.

• New homes in existing neighborhoods must be consistent with the setbacks and heights of existing homes.

• New design standards for manufactured home parks make the perimeter spaces larger and require more centrally-located open space.

• New apartment buildings must face the street or a central plaza or courtyard, provide a children's play area, and have smaller parking areas.

• On smaller sites, a new retail or office building must be moved up to the street. Parking goes on the side or to the rear. On larger sites, parking lots will have more landscaping and protected sidewalks.

• Billboards will be regulated the same way as on-premise freestanding signs, meaning that they will be smaller in most zoning districts.