TREASURE COAST REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL M E M O R A N D U M To: Council Members AGENDA ITEM 4B15 From: Date: Subject: Staff May 18, 2018 Council Meeting Local Government Comprehensive Plan Review Draft Amendment to the City of Port St. Lucie Comprehensive Plan Amendment No. 18-2ESR Introduction The Community Planning Act, Chapter 163, Florida Statutes, requires that the regional planning council review local government comprehensive plan amendments prior to their adoption. The regional planning council review and comments are limited to adverse effects on regional resources or facilities identified in the strategic regional policy plan (SRPP) and extrajurisdictional impacts that would be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan of any affected local government within the region. Council must provide any comments to the local government within 30 days of the receipt of the proposed amendments and must also send a copy of any comments to the state land planning agency. The amendment package from the City of Port St. Lucie was received on April 19, 2018 and contains a change to the text of the Future Land Use Element and a change to the Future Land Use Map of the comprehensive plan. This report includes a summary of the proposed amendments and Council comments. Summary of Proposed Amendment 1. New Future Land Use Designation of Office The proposed amendment is to create a new future land use designation to be called Office (O). The City s staff report indicates that this is being done in order to create a new type of transitional land use between commercial and residential uses and to go along major roadways. The current arrangement of future land use designations only provides one transitional use: Residential Office Institutional (ROI) and it has some allowable uses that may not be suitable for all circumstances. The Office future land use designation is intended to be compatible with the Professional zoning district, which is much more limited than the districts compatible with ROI.
2. Becker Road The proposed amendment is to change the future land use designation of approximately 195.63 acres consisting of 783 residential lots located along approximately 4 miles of Becker Road between I-95 and the Florida Turnpike from Low Density Residential (RL) to six different future land use designations depending where along the corridor the lots are located. This will result in approximately 20.58 acres of Commercial Limited (CL), 15.70 acres of Residential Office Institutional (ROI), 83.12 acres of Office (O), 59.28 acres of Medium Density Residential (RM), 7.11 acres of Mixed Use (MU), and 9.84 acres of Open Space Recreation (OSR). The subject parcels are surrounded by land with a Low Density Residential (RL) designation except for the parcels at the intersection of Becker Road and Port St. Lucie Boulevard, which have a Commercial General (CG) designation. With the impending construction of interchanges with Becker Road on I-95 and the Florida Turnpike, the City engaged Council to conduct a charrette in 2005 (see Exhibit 4). Another planning study for planning area 4South (which includes the Becker Road corridor) was recently completed by Tindale Oliver on behalf of the City. Both studies reached similar conclusions: commercial activity should be located at the major intersection (Port St. Lucie Boulevard) and the comparatively minor intersections (Savona Boulevard and Darwin Boulevard). In addition, there was also consensus that multi-family residential and more limited commercial (such as office and mixed use) should be placed between the commercial nodes; replacing the existing single-family designations. Regional Impacts No adverse effects on regional resources or facilities have been identified. Extrajurisdictional Impacts Council requested comments from local governments and organizations expressing an interest in reviewing the proposed amendment on April 25, 2018. No extrajurisdictional impacts have been identified. Conclusion No adverse effects on regional resources or facilities and no extrajurisdictional impacts have been identified. The City s proposed future land use designation changes will be an improvement in land use pattern over the current undifferentiated low density residential lots spreading along the four miles between I-95 and the Turnpike. The changes will also advance implementation of the community vision for the corridor. However, the City is urged to use the proposed creation of an overlay for Becker Road, and other techniques, to implement ideas which arose from the resident desires expressed in the 2005 charrette such as creating a town center with a strong sense of place at the intersection of Becker Road and Port St. Lucie Boulevard, ensuring that single-family houses are not converted to commercial use, providing a strong urban boulevard 2
appearance along Becker Road, and addressing walkability issues and pedestrian and bicycle safety. Recommendation Council should approve this report and authorize its transmittal to the City of Port St. Lucie and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Attachments 3
List of Exhibits Exhibit 1 General Location Map 2 Future Land Use Element Text Changes in Strikeout and Underline Format 3 Becker Road Future Land Use Map 4 Excerpt from 2005 Becker Road Charrette
Exhibit 1 General Location Map Becker Road 5
Exhibit 2 Future Land Use Element Text Changes in Strikeout and Underline Format 6
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Exhibit 3 Becker Road Future Land Use Map 9
Exhibit 4 Excerpt from 2005 Becker Road Charrette 10
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