Housing Task Force hears about form-based codes By Sam Shriver - sshriver@limanews.com LIMA —The Lima Housing Task Force continues its work to examine Lima’s housing stock and how to better regulate it. During the meeting, held virtually, members heard from Marta Goldsmith, director of the Form-Based Code Institute. Goldsmith spoke about how form-based codes can be a tool for economic and community development. “Form-based code focuses on what happens outside the buildings,” said Goldsmith. “It regulates what happens in the streets, the blocks, the building form and scale and the open space — whether it’s public or private, what it looks like, how it’s used, how it creates outdoor rooms for people to walk through or drive through and doesn’t focus as much on the usage or what happens inside the building, like residential uses or commercial uses.