2010-252A (03) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element employment centers include several schools, neighborhood commercial shopping centers, "big box" retail centers, and industrial facilities in the I-95 corridor and Airport areas. Hence, the employment base increased at a slightly greater rate than the general population. An analysis of available commercial and industrial land on the adopted future land use map indicates that there is opportunity for even more employment growth relative to population growth in the future. There is evidence, however, that the south county area may lack sufficient commercial and industrial land to improve its jobs -housing balance significantly. The central county/Vero Beach area contains most of the County's largest single -site employers (including Piper Aviation, Indian River Memorial Hospital, Dodgertown, the Vero Beach Airport, the Indian River Mall, and Downtown Vero Beach) and is the only sub -area with a ratio greater than one job per household. As a result, most of the congested corridors in the county are north -south corridors connecting the north and south (residential) subareas to the central subarea. Consequently, congested corridors, such as US 1, 66th Avenue, 43rd Avenue, and 58th Avenue, all carry large volumes of AM and PM peak hour commuters. In the three study areas, there is evidence that the improvement in the jobs -housing balance has had a positive impact on the length and number of trips made by the residents in those areas. For example, new warehouse stores, home improvement centers, and grocers in Sebastian have enabled north county residents to avoid much longer trips to the central and south county areas. Despite this trend, total traffic and the number of congested links in the county have increased. This is because the increase in total trips from new development in the county has more than offset the benefits of the improved jobs -housing balance. In addition, all three primary areas of the county are still considered outside of the acceptable range for jobs -housing balance, while the county has retained its overall character of trips originating in the south and north areas of the county and traveling to destinations in the central area of the county. As a result, most of the congested facilities in the county are north -south arterials. As the various areas of the county continue to develop, the land use plan of the county itself will have an impact on improving jobs -housing balance. For example, the presence of commercial/industrial corridors on Oslo Road and CR 512 will generate additional trips but will have the overall effect of reducing trip lengths due to their proximity to existing residential development. At the same time, the presence of agriculturally designated land in the western portions of the county discourages sprawl by restricting growth to a compact urban services area. In the future, the county should consider the impact that any proposed future land use changes will have on trip lengths and in particular discourage land use plan amendments that add residential growth on existing agricultural lands in the western portions of the county. The implementation of projects in the MPO's Long Range Transportation Plan could also have an impact on correcting the jobs -housing balance. Several projects in the LRTP could facilitate business development in the north and south county area. The proposed Oslo Road I-95 interchange, in particular, could have a sizeable impact on job creation in the South County area, given the propensity of businesses to locate at high volume traffic locations. Community Development Department Indian River County 114