Founded in 1869, Riverside, Illinois is the creation of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and is recognized as one of America’s first planned suburban communities. Riverside engaged Camiros to update its original Zoning Ordinance (adopted in 1920). This Ordinance, along with the Olmsted master plan drawing, had served as the Village’s primary land use and regulatory documents for over eighty years.
Camiros facilitated a planning process that included the development of zoning policy, preparation of a conceptual framework plan for the downtown, and ultimately an update of its Zoning Ordinance. As the result, a new downtown Central Business District Form-Based District ensures that new development captures of the essence of Olmsted’s original design and maintains the character-defining elements of the downtown. The resulting form-based code has character-based controls for Riverside that are intended to simultaneously protect the pedestrian scale and architectural character of downtown, while allowing for site assembly and development of contemporary-sized, mixed-use buildings.
Camiros continued to assist Riverside by redrafting its residential zoning districts to assure that “build backs” occurring from teardowns maintain the community’s image and form. The residential district form-based controls ensure that new development fits the established character of this historic village. It won the Illinois APA Gold Award in 2007.
Finally, Camiros updated the zoning for the commercial corridors that constitute the borders of the Village. Again, using form-based controls, the ordinance addressed the two characters found within these corridors: the more intense commercial areas located along major arterials which are more oriented toward vehicular access and larger retail centers, but also allow for mixed-use development and the transitional commercial areas where low-intensity commercial uses mix with multi-family and townhouse dwellings to transition to surrounding single-family neighborhoods. Camiros also updated the Village’s Subdivision Ordinance to align with the new zoning regulations.
