November
2003 Design Session
City of Port St. Lucie Project Summary
[See also the Results
page]
The Port St.
Lucie area was developed as a residential retirement community,
not as a series of neighborhoods in the traditional sense.
The City therefore lacks a mixture of uses that would offer
retail services or an employment base. Eighty percent of
current land uses are residential. With its phenomenal population
growth, the City needs to address the issue of providing jobs
and commercial development for its residents. The City considers
these concerns to be fundamental for the continued health of
the local economy. In addition, continued traffic congestion
within the city has led Port St. Lucie to launch three separate
studies to develop a third east-west transportation corridor
from US 1 to I-95 and the Turnpike. The City is looking to
develop policies that will promote land uses necessary for
the continued successful development. They are looking for
the answer to: "What kinds
of policies should be put in place in order to encourage
the inclusion of retail and office parks in the 42 square mile
annexation area?"
Design Institute Recommendations
The City of Port St.
Lucie faces both opportunity and challenge in the tremendous
population and physical growth that is occurring in their city.
The Design Institute's Resource Team began their session by
addressing the issue of transportation.
The City's current transportation problems appear to stem
from a lack of road connectivity and experts expressed concern
over the number of gated communities being developed in the
annexation area. Gated communities are viewed as separate enclaves
not contributing to a sense of community. Once built, they
are extremely difficult to redesign, retrofit or connect to
the adjacent community.
The Team recommended the City's north to south connections
be encouraged between developments of regional impact (DRIs)
that occur west of I-95, in addition to the east-west connections
the City is already pursuing.
The Resource Team presented the idea of "mini suburban villages" where
densities would be increased in small nodes and would provide
for mixed uses and locations for entertainment and shopping.
Increasing opportunities for recreation within the City would
help to shift the tax base from residential to commercial properties
and retain tax money within the City.
Port St. Lucie is limited in their capacity to expand existing
commercial nodes and should consider their inclusion in annexed
areas. Annexation agreements may be a way in which Port St.
Lucie can demand higher standards for new development in addition
to demanding the type of development they envision for their
city.
Port St. Lucie should see their position as one of strength
in bargaining with developers over the future expansion of
their city. The Resource Team recommended any proposed annexation
be examined carefully to determine the fiscal impact and responsibility
it incurs for the City.
When faced with the enormous task of shaping the development
of 42 square miles, the City of Port St. Lucie should create
a list of community values and indicators. This list could
then be measured against future proposed development. This
would enable the City to stay focused on long-term goals rather
than short-term gains and work towards maintaining values.
The community values and indicators list could be an aid in
evaluating planning decisions and keep the City moving towards
a common goal and vision. The City may wish to consider hiring
a consultant to determine the community values and indicators
list. Criterion is a West-coast company that has developed
successful indicator programs and software. The City of Orlando
has adopted indicators to gauge whether a proposed development
takes them closer to or away from their stated goals.
The City of Port St. Lucie asked the Design Institute for
preparation suggestions for the upcoming ULI Panel Services
Program. Considerations included forming a working group now,
which would be organized and ready to implement any recommendations
of the ULI panel without delay. It might also be useful to
ask ULI to create a strategy for addressing regional issues,
for example, improving regional relationships with the Treasure
Coast Regional Planning Council and Martin and St. Lucie Counties.
The Institute also suggested that the City prepare in advance
a list of stakeholders to interview, which might include:
- Possible annex-ees
- Citizens Against Virtually Everything contingent
- Council members
- Public works people
The Resource Team felt that the City of Port St. Lucie has
tremendous potential and opportunity for building both their
city and their community. The City has the unique opportunity
to learn from the past mistakes of other municipalities and
the further advantage of being able to control future development
through the annexation process. With a cohesive vision for
the future, Port St. Lucie can overcome the limitations of
its past development decisions and early development patterns.
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