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Rethinking Institutional Properties
Embracing Our Past and Investing in Our Future
IV. LAND USE REGULATIONS
Existing and new institutions are permitted in a variety of ways, such as dedicated
zoning districts for institutions, or by special exception or conditional use in districts
where they are not the primary use, such as single-family residential or commercial.
No matter how a community’s zoning permits institutions, a different zoning approach
is needed to address an institution’s reuse. Provisions can easily be added within a
municipality’s existing regulatory framework to permit the adaptive reuse of institutional
buildings and grounds without significantly changing the structure of a zoning ordinance.
Municipalities will need to create tailored and flexible regulations using one of the
following three methods. The first two methods involve permitting adaptive reuse by
special exception or by conditional use as a provision within the base zoning district
(residential, commercial, institutional, etc.). The third method permits adaptive reuse
conditionally within the general regulations and applies to every institutional building or
every property listed on a municipal inventory.
A. Special Exception
An applicant applies for special exception approval from a municipality’s
zoning hearing board through a legal proceeding that provides public notice
and holds a public hearing. To grant approval, the zoning hearing board will
judge whether the applicant’s proposal meets the express standards and
criteria written into the zoning ordinance for the intended use. As part of the
approval process, the zoning hearing board can add reasonable safeguards
and conditions that address specific impacts associated with a project such as
noise level, lighting, screening, and hours of operation.
B. Conditional Use
Conditional use is an administrative process conducted by the governing body
rather than the zoning hearing board, which grants approval. A conditional
use must meet express standards and criteria in the ordinance upon
which to judge an applicant’s proposal, but the governing body can attach
additional reasonable safeguards and conditions. Municipalities may feel more
comfortable leaving approvals to elected officials, rather than the appointed
members of a zoning hearing board, for uses which may have a greater impact
on the community.
C. General Regulations
Adding adaptive reuse provisions in a zoning code’s general regulations section
allows a municipality to permit adaptive reuse within all zoning districts on
a property-by-property basis. Designating specific buildings or properties
through an inventory will help prioritize only those institutional properties a
community is interested in seeing reused. Special exception or conditional use
approval should also be a component of this method to ensure proper review of
development proposals is maintained.
V. INCENTIVES
A. New Uses
It is very likely that in order to make a project economically feasible, a use
other than what the underlying zoning allows will have to be considered. More
often than not this will mean allowing for different types of residential uses,
Mapping Institutions in the
Zoning Code
As a part of its new form-based
zoning code, Narberth Borough
identified and mapped all civic
and institutional buildings
permitted to be adaptively reused
in the borough. These buildings
are permitted to be converted
to a number of residential
and nonresidential uses by
conditional use and are subject
to architectural preservation
requirements.
