LPA Reso 2007-48 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SUNNY ISLES BEACH 2007 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN EV ALUATION AND APPRAISAL REPORT (EAR)-BASED AMENDMENTS the 16ih Street Causeway and Collins Avenue to ensure a high level of accessibility to the northeast Miami- Dade/bi -county area. It is a primary objective of the Town Center to foster a regionally competitive business and activity center for cultural activities and entertainment, visitor services, dining, financial services, specialty goods and services, professional office and niche businesses serving the North Dade and Broward County Areas. Incorporation of residential uses is encouraged. The Town Center location, and the configuration of land uses within them, is designed to encourage convenient alternatives to travel by automobile, to provide more efficient land use than recent suburban development forms and the prevalent strip commercial projects, and to create an identifiable social and economic core for the diverse neighborhoods of Sunny Isles Beach and adjacent areas. The Town Center should contain business, employment, civic, public and private educational facilities and/or high or moderate density residential uses with a variety of housing types and within walking distance of the Town Center core. A balanced mix of primary uses including retail, office and residential should be provided within developments greater than 3 acres in size by committing not more than 70% of a project gross floor area ratio (FAR) to anyone of the three uses. Both small and large businesses are encouraged in these centers, but primarily moderate sized businesses which serve, and draw from, the nearby community and the visitor population along the beaches. Transit and pedestrian mobility will be increased and area-wide traffic will be reduced in several ways: proximity of housing and retail uses will allow residents to walk or bike for some daily trips; provision of beth jobs, personal services, and retailing within walking distance of transit will encourage transit use for commuting; and conveniently located retail facilities will accommodate necessary shopping during the daily commuting periods or the lunch hour. Emphasis on design and development of the Town Center and all individual components shall be to create active pedestrian environments through high quality design of public spaces as well as private buildings, human scale appointments, activities and amenities at street level~.Land connectivity of places through the creation of pedestrian concourses, through-block walkways, and linked courtyards and terraces that invite exploration and social interaction. A central square or plaza that becomes a primary organizing element for focusing pedestrian circulation is important to creating both a symbolic and actual crossroads environment fundamental to the function of the town center. Streets within the urban center shall be designed for pedestrian mobility, interest and comfort as well as vehicular mobility. The placement and spacing of public streets should generally form blocks sized and related to the surrounding grid so as to provide walking routes through the center and between destinations in the center that are direct and short. Shared parking is encouraged. Reductions from standard parking requirements shall be authorized where there is a complementary mix of uses on proximate development sites. Parking structures are preferred to surface lots but should be integrated into primary use structures and incorporate other uses at street level such as shops, galleries, offices and public uses. Buildings and site landscaping shall be built generally to the sidewalk edge in a manner that frames the adjacent street to create a public space in the street corridor that is approximately as wide as the enclosing walls are high. Blank walls at street level are restricted and should have multiple windows and doors with weather protection in high traffic pedestrian areas. The Town Center should be intensively developed to assure a critical mass of activity, retail selection, range of services and a resident and employment population to support, in part, such goods and services to create a destination draw for surrounding market populations. 12