Frederick, Maryland

East Street Corridor FBC Study

Established in 1745, Frederick has a population of approximately 72,000 people. Because of the extraordinary historic integrity and character of the community, it had one of the country’s first locally-designated historic districts. The East Street corridor is located just east of the core of Downtown Frederick, but it features a wide range of conditions.

The southern segment features beautifully preserved and/or restored 19th-century buildings, the central segment features mid-20th-century industrial facilities, and the northern segment features late-20th-century strip commercial centers.

Because the corridor has become extremely ripe for redevelopment, the City decided to pursue the creation of their first Form-Based Code (FBC) to guide future redevelopment. Consequently, TWC was hired by the City to prepare a study for the area before embarking on the FBC project. The project included the following components:

• an evaluation of the corridor’s overall physical conditions

•  a review of all relevant policies, including zoning and historic distric overlay designation

•  the identification of buildings with sufficient historic and/or architectural integrity to warrant preservation

•  the preparation of the scope of services for the city’s RFP for the FBC project

•  review and scoring the consultant proposals sumitted to the city in response to the RFP.