A Community Journey Getting to Smart Growth in Brevard County Jim Fletcher Southern Community Development Conference May 19, 2003

2 Brevard County

3 Land Statistics Total Land Area Acres Agricultural Land (2003) Acres Government Owned (2000) Acres Development Land Acres

4 Urbanization Population –Change % (126000) –Change % (77252) Current Population 500,000

5 What do value most about our County ? Natural Resources/Environment Educational System/Opportunities Economic Diversity Cultural Activities Public Services Sense of Community Geography

6 What trends or issues are impacting what we value? Growth and Development Disappearing Natural Resources Property Rights Regulations Invasive Exotic species Aging Population

People Care About Their Communities News media covers topics on a daily basis Land Use and Growth are concerns!!

Land Use and Growth: Coordination & Planning Goal: Educate and Reach Consensus About Growth and Conservation Issues Year One Initiatives  Develop ‘Smart Growth’ principles and implementation strategies for Brevard County  Develop methods to inform and educate primary users and citizens

9 Group Education on Smart Growth

Seven Principles Of Smart Growth: Community Identity Community Involvement Economic of Land Use Environmental Quality Housing Mixed Land Use Responsive Government

C O M M U N I T Y I D E N T I T Y Goal: Encourage the types of growth and physical environments that create a sense of civic pride and reflect the interests of all residents. Strategies: 1. Encourage preservation or adaptive reuse of historic, architecturally significant, or blighted buildings. 2. Create active and safe open spaces providing opportunities for community interaction. 3. Define communities and neighborhoods with visual cues that reinforce their unique sense of place.

12 C O M M U N I T Y I D E N T I T Y cont. Goal: Encourage the types of growth and physical environments that create a sense of civic pride and reflect the interests of all residents. Strategies: 4.Enact clear community design guidelines so that streets, buildings, and public spaces work together to create a sense of place. 5.Plant trees throughout communities and encourage the preservation of existing trees during new construction. 6. Minimize visual blight through appropriate location and camouflage of telecommunication towers and through improved control of billboards.

C O M M U N I T Y I N V O L V E M E N T Goal : Promote the education and motivation of the community to address specific needs and concerns through early, frequent and continuous involvement. Strategies: 1.Encourage a comprehensive planning process by gathering community input and conducting community visioning exercises to determine how and where neighborhoods will grow. 2.Use creative methods to educate and inform all stakeholders about the development and decision-making process.

14 C O M M U N I T Y I N V O L V E M E N T cont. Goal : Promote the education and motivation of the community to address specific needs and concerns through early, frequent and continuous involvement. Strategies: 3.Seek technical assistance when developing a public participation process. 4.Work with the media to disseminate planning and development information on a regular basis. 5.Cultivate relationships with schools, universities and colleges.

Strategies: 1.Incorporate or include all the up-front development costs at the time of development. 2.Pay for the long-term costs that are needed to maintain the infrastructure required for the development. 3.Encourage a mix of uses that provide or generate long-term revenue sources needed to maintain the communities. Goal: Promote growth, maintenance and renewal of diverse communities that are self-sustaining and support a quality of life that respects all the attributes of Brevard County. E C O N O M I C S O F L A N D U S E

16 Strategies: 4.Encourage a mix of job types that support the diverse mix of residents within the community to ensure that all levels of skills are employed. 5.Integrate various components, such as residential, commercial and recreational to maximize their economic interactions. 6.Create special improvement districts for focused investment. 7.Implement a program for identification and disposition of vacant or abandoned buildings. Goal: Promote growth, maintenance and renewal of diverse communities that are self-sustaining and support a quality of life that respects all the attributes of Brevard County. E C O N O M I C S O F L A N D U S E cont

17 E N V I R O N M E N T A L Q U A L I T Y Goal : : Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas. Strategies: 1.Encourage development/redevelopment within existing urban areas, where infrastructure is available, by providing incentives 2.Create a harmonious, interconnected system of Greenways, Blueways, and trails that encourages protection and conservation of our natural habitat and open spaces. 3.Find ways to acquire property when a community has environmental concerns.

18 E N V I R O N M E N T A L Q U A L I T Y Goal : : Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas. Strategies: 3.Expand use of innovative financing tools to facilitate open space acquisition and conservation. 4.Design and implement zoning tools that preserve open space. Conserve natural resources throughout the region. 5.Coordinate and link local, state, and federal planning on land conservation and development.

H O U S I N G Goal : : Improve quality of life by providing a broad range of housing for all demographic groups that is consistent with smart growth goals. Strategies: 1.Integrate S.M.A.R.T. (Safe, Mixed-income, Accessible, Reasonably- priced, Transit- oriented) principles into housing programs. 2.Provide for affordable housing through effective use of inclusionary zoning.

20 H O U S I N G cont. Goal : : Improve quality of life by providing a broad range of housing for all demographic groups that is consistent with smart growth goals. Strategies: 4.Provide for a mix of housing that generates the taxes to pay for the services it uses. 5.Encourage housing in the areas of employment and industry. 6.Implement a program for identification and disposition of vacant or abandoned housing.

M I X E D L A N D U S E S Goal : Create an atmosphere that allows people to work, live, and play in pedestrian oriented neighborhoods that are distinctive in character, vibrant, sustainable and an integral part of the Brevard community. Strategies: 1.Identify locations or land use relationships that would be conducive to mixed use development. 2.Identify and modify development codes that encourage the construction of a variety of housing types in close proximity to goods and services.

22 M I X E D L A N D U S E S cont Goal : Create an atmosphere that allows people to work, live, and play in pedestrian oriented neighborhoods that are distinctive in character, vibrant, sustainable and an integral part of the Brevard community. Strategies: 3.Support subdivision regulations that encourage inter-subdivision connectivity (both vehicular and pedestrian) or allow for sole use of arterial roadways for subdivision travel. 4.Identify opportunities to plan for neighborhood schools. 5.Identify grayfields as future mixed use development areas and provide incentives for redevelopment.

23 R E S P O N S I V E G O V E R N M E N T Goal : : To promote Smart Growth policies, county and city governments need to have systematic, coordinated development procedures that give priority to developments that have adhered to Smart Growth principles. Strategies: 1.Amend development regulations throughout the county to remove barriers that inhibit smart growth such as: setbacks, parking requirements, height and density. 2.Create a higher level of certainty and speed the approval process for smart growth developments.

R E S P O N S I V E G O V E R N M E N T cont. Goal : : To promote Smart Growth policies, county and city governments need to have systematic, coordinated development procedures that give priority to developments that have adhered to Smart Growth principles. Strategies: 3.Ensure that community plans are economically feasible and attract active private sector participation. 4.Encourage interagency cooperation to facilitate one-stop-shop (permitting) process. 5.Give priority to smart growth projects and programs that foster Smart Growth in the allocation of federal housing and community development block grant funds.

Questions To Answer: Are there any gaps? Is there anything that you find unacceptable? Will you advocate for these goals? SMART GROWTH Goals and Strategies Document Discussion

26 Public Forum 6 Public Forums Used SGTV Break out Sessions Incorporate into document

27 End Result Published Document Given to Policy makers (County and City) Adopted into Growth Management plan