UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Rural Preservation Planning: Indian Hill, Ohio, Carmel, California, Redlands, Florida A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies at the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Community Planning In the department of Planning of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2005 By Charles Munz Baum B.S. University of Cincinnati, 1998 Committee Chair: Robert Manley Committee Member: John E. Kleymeyer Committee Member: Heidi Arnold ABSTRACT The role of planners in land use and zoning is quite natural. The lack of planning is characterized by sprawl or other unattractive land use mixture where an area is perhaps not as pleasant as it could have been. Therefore whenever planning practice not only successfully prevents urban sprawl but indeed helps in the creation and preservation of a unique place, it certainly would seem worth examining. Since urban planners are predisposed to look at the planning and implementation of community development in urban or built-up city places, the field’s role in the proactive preservation of non-urban areas within the framework of a larger planned region seems pivotal and fascinating because it best illustrates and isolates land use planning itself, apart from the physical built form, which is the realm of architects. Regional planning should not be exclusively defined as concrete structural planning, with rural preservation being the forgotten stepchild, relegated to undevelopable waste lands. If such is the case, the regional planner has not done an excellent job. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the importance of and the need for the preservation of rural places within larger urban regions. This research project attempts to more closely examine the role of the planner in rural or natural preservation and the inherent benefits to society of such preservation. Specifically, I will look at three diverse communities at separate corners of the United States which are linked only by the commonality of uniquely preserving some rural quality which stands in contrast to neighboring and otherwise comparable communities. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to gratefully acknowledge my personal thanks to Committee Members Robert Manley and Heidi Arnold who, in the process, have become very good friends. Thanks to Jack Kleymeyer for going along for another ride in academic thesis writing and compilation. Thanks to my beloved Terry Munz for giving me many of the ideas. And thank you to my Aunt Mary Anne Munz for reining as matriarch and queen of South Dade for nearly fifty years and rivaling the Duchess of Windsor in Nassau. 3 Table of Contents Chapter 1 ………. Introduction 5 Chapter 2 ………. Literature Review 7 Chapter 3 ………. Methodology 18 Chapter 4 ………. Findings: Carmel 21 Redlands 28 Indian Hill 55 Chapter 5 ………. Conclusions 92 Bibliography ………………………….96 4 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Today is big with blessings for the aspiring community planner. This is a profession where dreams and visions can become reality in a relatively short period of time thanks to the Planner’s greatest tool: land use regulation. The end result of conscious and comprehensive foresight and planning is that the community doing the planning ends up as a better place in which to work, shop, or play. These planned places which came into being because some group wanted to create or preserve something special serve as testaments not only to the value of the planning profession but indeed to the hopes and aspirations which embody the best aspects of mankind. There is no larger or more visible manifestation of the human contribution to the planet than the place or community they create and inhabit. This thesis is about how planning and land use regulations impact the formation of a unique community. I'm using Indian Hill, Ohio, and Carmel, California, as specific case studies and existing examples of excellent planned communities. I will also look at Redlands, Florida, a community which is currently attempting to incorporate and preserve its uniqueness. My study questions will be: what did these places do right or differently than other communities; what makes them unique; and how are they able to maintain and preserve their unique environments from a legal and public governmental perspective. In 1926 the Advisory Committee on Zoning appointed by then U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover drafted a model for a “standard state enabling act” for municipal zoning. In that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the critical case of Euclid, Ohio vs. the Ambler Realty Company. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Euclid, Ohio, and stated that zoning was constitutional, providing that it is designed to protect the public health, welfare, and safety. The State of Florida became the last state to adopt a version of this standard act in 1939. From Ohio to Florida, planning’s beginnings and its future, this thesis will examine key issues, concepts, and examples from some of the best examples. 5 The Redlands Miami-Dade County Florida Urban Sprawl Already encroaching The differences in natural and environmental settings as well as climate in these three places was deliberate. Also deliberate is the fact that these three places are located at opposite corners of the United States. The reason being that planning and land use regulations are the only common aspect which makes these communities unique from other communities in their respective immediate or regional vicinity. Because the local of these places is so diverse, one can better see the impact and importance of planning itself. The benefits associated with planning will be all the more evident, which is a goal of this thesis. When one examines the sprawl of the greater Cincinnati area, for instance, there appears to be a typical expanse of an American urban realm. From the original downtown basin, walking city; to the city-neighborhood, streetcar suburbs; to the interstates and independent suburban communities, extending throughout eight or more counties and three states, the greater Cincinnati region is quite large. There seems to be the often-repeated urban growth pattern one may find throughout the United States in cities of similar age and character. One thing that sets greater Cincinnati apart from this rather mundane analogy is the existence of the second largest municipality in the area (second in size only to the city of Cincinnati itself) which occupies a large portion of northeastern Hamilton County- The Village of Indian Hill. 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Because of the fact that my chosen thesis topic comprises three separate communities, I have tried to organize this thesis into subsections. Each of the three sections deals with one of the three communities and with what others have done in specific articles, books, and studies of each particular area. The overall umbrella with which I will unite these places into a cohesive and relevant thesis will be the theme of genus loci, or power of place, and how, through the creative use of urban land use zoning and regulation, each of these places has created and maintained this quality. Indian Hill, Ohio I have already compiled and completed much of the background information and leg-work involved for Indian Hill, as it was my undergraduate thesis, which, happily (and lucky for me!) current Committee Member Kleymeyer served as Faculty Advisor. His kind note to me at the time, saying simply, characteristically, and succinctly, “it is very good,” is something I have kept and cherished. Anyway, my framework and knowledge base for Indian Hill comes from a variety of sources, as any good research project should. Obviously, I own and have read and studied the Indian Hill Charter, Land Use Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and Land Use Objectives and Policies. These documents, as well as attending City Council and Planning Board meetings provided my personal introduction and knowledge foundation 7 about the planning profession. Having grown up in the area, I had obviously made the un-astute casual observation that Indian Hill was somehow different than other local suburbs. There was more green, and it took up more space on local maps! As I learned to understand and interpret these professional documents through the help of my classes with professors Kleymeyer, Noe, Allor, and others, I came to appreciate the simplistic elegance in the language that in reality translated into having a huge impact on the built (or un-built) physical environment. The power involved in being able to understand and restate the specifics and legalities of these documents, which were, after all, legal documents as a matter of course, led me to the unenviable but no less unique and satisfying realization that what I was becoming was a professional plan reviewer. This niche was tremendously helpful, career-wise, because it is unique and needs to be done. It is also of tremendous pragmatic importance to all forms of local and regional municipalities as well as to private developers. Back to Indian Hill, three semi-historical works became another cornerstone of my “comprehensive study” (don’t you love buzz words!) of the area. These were Hither and Yon on Indian Hill by Eleanor Gholson Taft; From Camargo to Indian Hill by Virginia S. White; and the Cincinnati Country Club Yearbook by the Cincinnati Country Club Board of Governors. These wonderful books, I, for all intents and purposes, committed to memory. I could be given a sentence in any one and immediately recite the rest of the chapter. I was lucky to get them and am lucky to own them because they were all printed in limited editions and not generally available.