 Kendig Keast Collaborative completed the Comprehensive Plan and Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the City of Edinburg, Texas, and then developed the City’s new Unified Development Code to implement those plans. The new code simplified the existing development ordinances, consolidating and reorganizing provisions throughout the City’s Code of Ordinances into a unified document. Substantively, it replaced a code that focused principally on use and bulk dimensions with a code that focused on community character.
The code provides:
- Flexible options for developers to serve the marketplace with a variety of housing products that previously would have required multiple levels of public hearings.
- Density bonuses for developers who provide affordable/workforce housing units.
- Districts that are designed to conserve existing residential neighborhoods, as well as legitimize nonconforming uses that have become integral and desirable parts of the community’s fabric.
- Performance standards and buffer requirements ensure that new development does not compromise the character and desirability of existing development.
Edinburg’s new UDC establishes the City as a leader in the Rio Grande Valley with regard to landscaping and tree preservation. The code provides for protection of existing trees and extensive planting requirements for new development and redevelopment. The City’s Environment Advisory Committee worked with Kendig Keast Collaborative to develop standards that were appropriate in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Edinburg UDC was honored by the Texas Chapter American Planning Association with a Current Planning Award.
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