City of Palm Coast
2020 2035 Comprehensive Plan - Goals, Objectives, and Policies
CHAPTER 1
FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT
SUMMARY
The Future Land Use Element is the most important of the Comprehensive Plan’s eight nine (98) elements. It contains Goals, Objectives, and Policies (GOPs) which set up the fundamental elements of the City’s growth management regulations and a Future Land Use Map (FLUM) to establish the City’s future development pattern. The Future Land Use Element is written to promote the City’s Vision and the associated 12 Community Building Blocks.
Palm Coast must achieve its vision in the face of major growth pressures. The U.S. Bureau of the Census indicated thatdocumented the City’s population of Palm Coast as of April 1, 2000 was 32,732 – in 2000, representing a figure which represented 66% of the total County population. By 2009, the City’s population had more than doubled to 73,910, representing 78% of the Countywide population. During this timeframe, the City captured 92% of countywide net population growth. Based on this capture rate the City’s share of countywide By 2020, the City’s population is projected to be 141,557, which is projected to be 70% of the total County population. In fact, recent permitting numbers have been so high that the Plan’s short-term projected population for 2006 (i.e. 72,003 an increase of 120% from the 2000 census) may prove to be an underestimation by several thousand. Although growth is expected to level off - the 141,557 projection figure is considered plausible for 2020 - the City is experiencing the impacts of the population increase in terms of traffic levels and strains on other public facilities and infrastructureincrease to 85% by 2035.
Flagler County continues to be an attractive destination for new residents with ideal transportation access from the Interstate System and excellent location/climate, Palm Coast intends to plan and prepare to capture its share of this anticipated on-going growth.
Over the long term, the City is forecast to maintain the 92% capture rate for new population growth for two reasons:
the City has annexed large acreage tracts based on the adopted annexation policies of the Comprehensive Plan in order to provide long term growth opportunities and address key growth management objectives - diversified housing, new employment opportunities for the City’s growing work force and an expanded and diversified tax base; and
the City is in the best position to provide centralized infrastructure to support future urban growth patterns within the County on a short term and long term basis.
The plan horizon extension to 2035 is intended to provide a longer term planning perspective and ensure that the City maintains a minimum 10-year plan horizon in the Comprehensive Plan. The plan horizon and related amendments are also appropriate given the large scale annexations that occurred west of U.S. 1 and other annexations which provide an opportunity to implement the policy direction from the comprehensive plan for newly master planned areas. The City undertook extensive community workshops in formulating the initial comprehensive plan which involved an evaluation of potential land use scenarios, resulting in the selection of the Multi-Center preferred scenario. This concept and the implementing policies recognized the need to continue infill within the ITT platted areas, take advantage of reserve lots (10-50 acres) for multi-family housing, develop clustered activity centers at strategic locations to support the residential subdivisions within the City and the need for annexations to provide opportunities for new forms of housing within planned communities. The Northwest Corridor Overlay
Area (NCOA) has been developed to coordinate and guide planning and development within the annexed lands west of U.S.1 as well as adjacent parcels..
The Future Land Use Element is based on an analysis of population projections and related growth demands through the 2035 planning horizon. The supporting population projections are based on BEBR medium series projections for Flagler County, from which Palm Coast’s share is projected. This is a significant departure from the BEBR High series County projections utilized in the initial formulation of the comprehensive plan. This recent change occurred as a result of the St. Johns River Water Management District proposing to utilize BEBR Medium series projections for water supply analysis, and the Department of Community Affairs advising that use of BEBR High is no longer acceptable in light of the recession. However, it should be understood that the BEBR Medium projections are considered conservatively low for long term projections for the following reasons:
· BEBR Medium and even BEBR High projections have historically under-projected Flagler County’s population to a significant degree for projections of 20 years,
· BEBR bases the low to high range on projection error statistics indicating that roughly half of County level projections typically will not fall within the range, which means high growth counties will often exceed the BEBR High projections.
· The 2000-2009 growth period consisted of two distinct and contrasting trends. Strong growth occurred through 2006, while declining growth occurred during the latter part of the decade as a result of the national recession. The BEBR medium series reflects the downward trend from the recession and projects conservative growth rates as a result.
Indeed, BEBR’s Population Bulletin 153, dated March 2009, states:
The low and high projections indicate the range into which approximately half of future county populations will fall…The high and low projections themselves, however, do not have equal probabilities of occurring. In Florida, the probability that a county’s future population will be above the high projection is greater than the probability that it will fall below the low projection.
This BEBR bulletin was issued in 2009 with the impact of the recession well understood. BEBR will revise its extrapolation projections over time to reflect the recovery from the recession, which will predictably result in substantially higher medium and high series projections as compared to the projections published in 2009. For these reasons, it is anticipated that additional land use allocations will be required in order to accommodate the 2035 population. In addition, the 2035 land use allocation achieve only a 19% margin above projected demand, which is not sufficient to ensure adequate market flexibility and avoid an unduly tight housing market that would escalate housing prices over time.
The growth of the City’s economic base, including jobs and shopping, has not kept pace with its residential growth. The residential growth is predominantly comprised of single-family homes on quarter acre lots. Few housing alternatives are available., although several multi-family projects have been approved during the past five years which will provide more housing options for working age adults and families. Census data reveal that the City demographic profile is evolving with working age adults growing significantly and retirees declining by a similar percentage. It is anticipated that Palm Coast will continue to evolve toward a more typical demographic for a City of its size. To address the needs of this fast-growth community while maintaining high quality of life for the residentsa more diverse population, the Future Land Use Element addresses the following key issues:
· Economic and business development to provide a proper balance of jobs, shopping opportunities, and tax base;
· Provision of an efficient transportation system to maximize vehicular and pedestrian accessibility and roadway capacity;
· Diversify the City’s housing stock to provide a variety of housing types and lot sizes to meet the needs of a growing population;
· Protection of the City’s existing suburban areas from encroachment of non-compatible uses;
· Preservation of environmental resources;
· Provision of parks, public facilities, and infrastructure; and
· Beautification of public areas.
The Element establishes the following Future Land Use Map (FLUM) designations: Residential, Institutional, Mixed Use, Industrial, Greenbelt, Conservation, and Development of Regional Impact. These broad land use designations will allow the needed flexibility to encourage creatively planned projects and promote a proper balance of uses in the City. The FLUM promotes mixed uses, including future village centers, throughout the City in appropriate locations to create a vitally needed linkage between land use and transportation. The Mixed Use FLUM designation allows the development of commercial and office uses to promote retail opportunities and job creation. Through application of the Residential FLUM designation, areas already platted and developing exclusively in a suburban residential pattern are protected from what are viewed to be incompatible uses. At the same time, however, the Residential FLUM designation allows for a wide variety of different types of residential uses. This is intended to foster the diversification of the housing stock in appropriate areas, which will be specifically identified when the City establishes its zoning map to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Rural areas around the City’s perimeter are designated with the Greenbelt FLUM designation, intended as a way to promote low densities, define urban form, and prevent sprawl. Environmentally sensitive lands are protected through the Conservation designation.
The Future Land Use Element’s GOPs and the land use pattern established by the FLUM shall be implemented by the future adoption of a Zoning Map and Land Development Code (LDC). The Element proposes zoning districts to correspond with each FLUM designation and outlines LDC provisions. In addition, the comprehensive plan provides policy guidelines to ensure that Citywide intensity levels are not exceeded, while allowing flexibility for higher intensities at appropriate locations. Other methods to implement the Plan addressed in the GOPs include annexation and redevelopment planning. The Northwest Corridor Overlay Area (NCOA) establishes a model process for coordinating master planned development within the Utility Service Area. The goal of the NCOA is to create a strategically planned community to accommodate a substantial portion of the City's future growth, to create a showcase community composed of mixed-use neighborhoods served by a regionally significant interconnected transportation network and public facilities, a community that provides energy efficient and diverse housing opportunities, promotes enhanced opportunities for further economic growth in the City, and establishes a template for preservation, conservation, and protection of the natural environment to provide a high quality of life for residents. Opportunities for redevelopment planning within limitedpossibility of conducting redevelopment planning in some areas of the City are addressed to eliminate blight, diversify housing opportunities, and foster job creation. is given strong consideration. Annexation is viewed as another way to achieve these goals.
The Future Land Use Element also reinforces the statutory requirements for the provision of adequate public facilities. Land uses are balanced with public facilities and infrastructure. The provision of services and facilities must consider the carrying capacity of the land and be provided at or above the adopted level of service standard established for the services and facilities. This shall be measured and enforced through a concurrency management system.
GOAL 1.1: ESTABLISHMENT OF FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATIONS AND THE ZONING DISTRICTS
Preserve the character of residential communities, prevent urban sprawl and protect open space and environmental resources, while providing a mix of land uses, housing types, services, and job opportunities in mixed use centers and corridors located in specifically designated areas throughout the City.
FINDINGS: In order to promote job growth and foster a more efficient transportation system with maximum vehicular and pedestrian accessibility, the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) must promote a mixture of uses throughout the City. At the same time, areas already platted and developing exclusively in a suburban residential pattern are considered desirable by the citizens of the City and worthy of “protection”. Furthermore, it is of paramount importance to protect the City’s environmental resources. To address these somewhat divergent interests, broad based FLUM designations must be established. More restrictive land use controls including resource protection standards and identification of specific properties as activity centers will be undertaken through Plan implementation by the creation of new zoning districts, a corresponding Zoning Map, and amendments to the Land Development Code (LDC).
The City’s new zoning districts will represent expanded categories versus the more limited zoning districts that the City adopted from Flagler County as interim land development regulations at the time of incorporation. The City currently has one industrial zoning district and two commercial zoning districts. The Plan establishes light and heavy industrial zoning districts and three tiers of commercial zoning districts.
G. Development of Regional Impact (DRI) – This FLUM designation is intended to identify the City’s existing and future DRIs, which are defined in State law as, “…any development that, because of its character, magnitude, or location, would have a substantial effect upon the health, safety, or welfare of citizens of more than one county.” Specific development threshold levels based on a county’s population determine whether a project qualifies as a DRI. If a proposed project meets these thresholds, State law is very explicit in dictating all procedural and substantive aspects of a DRI. The DRI process, which involves extensive review and coordination of several State agencies and surrounding local jurisdictions, begins with the initial application referred to as an Application for Development Approval (ADA) and culminates with a DRI Development Order if approved. The Development Order, which is the legal agreement between the local governing body and the developer, provides a land use map, quantifiable approvals for proposed land uses (e.g. number of residential units, square feet of commercial), and addresses all related matters pertaining to the project’s impacts on the environment, public infrastructure (i.e. roads, water, sewer, drainage, and solid waste), and other public facilities such as parks and schools.
Some DRIs, such as Grand Haven, are predominantly comprised of residential units with associated recreational amenities with only limited inclusion of commercial and office uses in the development program. Other DRIs – although there are no existing examples in the City at this time – may also be predominantly comprised of a single use such as industrial, office, or commercial with only minimal cross-over into other land uses. It is common for other types of DRIs to include a mixture of uses. For example, the West Palm Coast Park DRI includes a proposed mixture of industrial, commercial, office, and residential uses over a very large area. Another example of a mixed use DRI is Town Center. As a traditional downtown, this approved DRI includes relatively high densities and intensities within a smaller geographical area to establish an urban core. Based on existing and future DRI’s in the City, this FLUM designation is broken down into the following sub categories: