About Matthew Petty

Matthew Petty is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pattern Zones Co. He is passionate about helping cities make their people happier and their revenues more resilient. Matthew coaches cities who want to address their housing challenges through better methods, such as pre-approved building plans and incremental development projects. 

Matthew has served as an Alderman in Fayetteville, Arkansas and as Chair of the Transportation Committee. He is also Founder and Principal at the planning firm Infill Group, which specializes in mixed-use real estate and small-scale residential projects. Matthew has served as a faculty member for the Incremental Development Alliance; he has led diverse stakeholder workshops in over twenty cities alongside Alliance partners. 

Matthew holds a BS in Mathematics and Political Science from the University of Arkansas.

Contact Matthew via email at [email protected].

About Pattern Zones

"A pattern zone is a new technology that pairs pre-approved buildings with simple development regulations, making it easy and fast to get a permit to build high-quality housing. Cities and towns can use a pattern zone to address their housing goals by expediting desired development and making it more predictable for all."

Pattern zones exhibit multiple features that make them desirable to cities and towns of various sizes. Pattern zones are easy to adopt, simple to administer, and have variety baked in to the pre-approved building portfolios that they champion forward. Pattern zones are low-cost, or no cost, to builders with quicker permit turnaround times. There are also no mandates with pattern zones; since builders opt in, this helps stakeholders to support adoption and guarantees a certain level of jurisdictional flexibility.

Here is a collection of additional articles and content if you would like to learn more about pre-approved building plans and how other communities are leveraging this as a development tool.

Read
Unleash the Swarm: A New E-book on Reviving Small-Scale Development
This e-book explores what it would take to revive small-scale development as a force significant enough to shape and grow our cities.

Pre-Approved House Designs Jump-Start Infill Development in South Bend
“If you want to know what it looks like to bring small-scale development back as a force that can revitalize American neighborhoods, you need to be watching South Bend, Indiana.”

Florida City Prepares Pre-Approved Plans To Lower Barriers for Small Developers
This program makes incremental infill as ‘turnkey and easy as possible’ by streamlining plan review and assisting incremental developers reduce the layers of risk and uncertainty.

South Bend Offers Small Developers Pre-Approved Housing Templates | Planetizen News
“The plans, developed with the help of incremental developers and design experts, are specifically crafted for South Bend’s existing neighborhoods, where they fit the current zoning rules, lot sizes and shapes, and market conditions, and nod to the city’s historic architectural vernacular.”

What’s Not to Like? – Pre-Approved Plans Offer Faster Permitting, Cheaper Housing, Quality Design 
“These plans can be reused in the future reducing the time to process to counter the standard array of zoning, building code, and utility requirements, generally overwhelming the non-professional. This approach reduces the frustration of homeowners or contractors investing in the city.” 

Pre-approved accessory units streamline small-scale infill | CNU 
“Seattle, which adopted one of the nation’s most progressive accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinances for cities, has taken this idea a step further by streamlining plans and designs that work. The city made it easier for homeowners to build these units by offering pre-approved plans that are inexpensive to purchase from different architects.”

Going Deeper on Pre-Approved Plans - by Kevin
“Engaging the building community to understand the struggles they face when investing in the city and responding with code and procedural updates with city staff is a recipe for success if you want investment in your community.”

Watch
City Neighborhood Initiative will help build homes in South Bend
“One of the most exciting bits about this is to show families that they can build a smaller home that fits right into the neighborhood.”

Listen
A second tour through Pre-Approved Building Plans
"Conversations about zoning and building can get really wonky really quickly. That’s why it’s important to remember the goal: how do we create more of the kind of intimate, find-grained communities that humans obviously love? Matthew Petty and Matt Hoffman have teamed up to create their solution: Pattern Zones."