What DPZ does
DPZ CoDesign is the New Urbanism planning consultancy retained by Clermont for the downtown form-based code engagement. Andres Duany's practice supplies the form-based methodology — street-section discipline, walkable-block geometry, mixed-use integration, building-frontage rules. The Clermont engagement adds form-based architecture to Clermont's downtown corridor, complementing the Wellness Way Standards (2022) that governs the Wellness Way master plan area.
Why the engagement matters for the corpus
Clermont's defensive code architecture is the strongest in the South Lake corpus, structured in three legs:
- Wellness Way Design Standards (2022) — pre-line; protects the 15,500-acre master plan area
- Pointe Grande ordinance / Ord 2024-10 (March 2024) — pre-line; restricts Live Local Act applicability
- DPZ CoDesign downtown engagement — extends form-based discipline to downtown frontage
All three sit before SB 180's August 2024 retroactive line, therefore protected from preemption. DPZ's engagement is the operationalization signal that Clermont is committing to form-based code as a regulatory architecture — distinguishing the city's posture from Leesburg's denial-bloc posture, Minneola's approval-chair posture (Citrus Grove with 17 stipulations), and Groveland's Eco-Agrarian Code posture.
The engagement is referenced as part of The Quiet Revolution on Highway 27 — the meta-pattern naming all four cities' independently-rebuilt planning machinery in the 24-month window before October 2027.