Following the adoption of a new master plan, which was developed by NV5 staff, the City of Englewood, New Jersey, tasked the firm with overhauling its antiquated zoning code. Much of the existing code had not been updated since the 1970s. In the downtown, for example, the existing code did not permit residential uses, something the city was eager to do to revitalize downtown commerce.
NV5 led the rewrite process, guided by a zoning working group consisting of city officials, members of council and the planning board, and the city’s land use attorney. An interdisciplinary team of architects, planners, urban designers, and engineers participated in the zoning code rewrite. As this was the first major update of the code in several decades, a conventional approach (as opposed to a form-based approach) was preferred.
A second phase of the update included the development of a new set of sign regulations. The sign regulations, which includes definitions and illustrations of sign types, were organized by zoning district, with the understanding that permitted sign types and dimensions should be tailored to the unique characteristics and scale of each zoning district.
