Details of the North St. Lucie County Charrette Plan

The plan covers 28 of the county’s approximately 600 square miles. A similar plan is under way that would apply the same planning principles to an additional 370 square miles of unincorporated land in the county. • Open-space preservation requirements range from 40 to 75 percent. Developments within the urban service boundary (USB) — about half of the plan area — must preserve 40 percent of their land as open space. Outside the USB, developers of “towns” must preserve 60 percent as open space, and developers of “villages” must preserve 75 percent. • Developers may be able to build 37,500 dwelling units under this plan, up from 22,000 under current zoning. • No maximum density is specified, only the minimum. Developers must earn density by preserving open space, providing affordable housing, restoring wetlands, or through other actions. • Unlike most comprehensive plans, the North St. Lucie plan includes elements of a form-based code. Block sizes are regulated. Concepts such as proper building placement, an interconnected network of streets, and a human-scale neighborhood are described and illustrated. Alleys are required in mixed-use and townhouse development, and are encouraged in other residential development. Civic buildings are placed on greens, plazas, and squares and at terminated vistas. • Many elements of the plan are linked to the urban-rural Transect. For example, the character of a drainage system must reflect whether it flows through a town center, general urban area, edge zone, or countryside. • A minimum of 8 percent of housing must be “workforce housing” attainable by people earning 80 to 120 percent of the area median income. • The plan would be mandatory for about two thirds of the 28 square miles and optional for the rest. All projects within the USB and those on parcels of at least 500 acres (defined as a village) outside the USB must conform to the plan. Developers of large parcels cannot split these parcels to evade the plan. • The plan includes a network of significant streets and corridors — some existing, some new. Most are two-lane thoroughfares that would connect villages and towns. Between settlements, road character would be rural. • Sites for likely mixed-use centers have been identified along connecting thoroughfares. Developers are to build mixed-use centers within a quarter mile of the proposed locations. • To help implement the plan, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council has assembled a strong team of new urbanist consultants, including urban designers Dover, Kohl & Partners, market researcher Todd Zimmerman, retail planning expert Bob Gibbs, attorney Nancy Stroud, planners Dan Cary and Bill Spikowski, and transportation planner Reid Ewing.