Flint Zoning Code

Flint is a community in transition. Once an industrial leader in the auto industry, the City now has areas characterized with vast brownfield sites, excessive neighborhood vacancy, and empty commercial districts. However, it also has a thriving downtown, nationally recognized cultural campus, multiple top tier universities, and historic residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional architecture. Building upon the Imagine Flint Master Plan, the City developed a new zoning code to support the transformation and preservation of the community.

Houseal Lavigne was retained to develop both the Flint Master Plan and new zoning code. The zoning code integrates a variety of approaches depending on priorities in different areas of the community. Historic areas utilize form-based regulations to preserve their character. Neighborhood regulations allow for local food production, native plantings and ecosystems, and centralized stormwater management. Large brownfields, under the newly created Green Innovation Zoning District, will be the testing ground for commercial energy production, materials recycling, and other emerging sustainable businesses reflective of the new green economy.