2010-252A (17) - Laserfiche WebLink

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In the future, the county's policy should be to promote walkable, connected neighborhoods; to promote the integration of residential and commercial uses via mixed use projects; and to address aesthetic concerns regarding landscaping and residential architecture. Those areas of concern are discussed below, with the exception of promoting mixed use projects which is discussed later under "Commercial Development". Also discussed is one approach to resolving those issues, traditional neighborhood design (TND). ➢ Connectivity Connectivity refers to interconnecting streets among and between individual developments to create an interconnected system of local roads. In residential areas, those interconnections can be vehicular (interconnected streets or driveways) or pedestrian (sidewalks or trails). The resulting system provides convenient pedestrian routes and alternatives to major roadways (arterials and collectors) for some vehicle trips. Benefits of interconnected streets include reduced trips on nearby major thoroughfares, reduced trip lengths for journeys between nearby developments, and more efficient integration of land uses. Prior to the 1960s, it was common in Indian River County, as well as many localities across the nation, for residential subdivisions to be laid -out in a simple grid pattern of public streets. Local examples include original town areas of Vero Beach and Fellsmere, Vero Lake Estates, Paradise Park and Oslo Park. During that era, some modified public street grid layouts were approved and developed. McAnsh Park in Vero Beach is an example of a modified grid. The grid systems of those older subdivisions were extended to project boundaries and were picked -up and extended when adjacent sites were developed. In recent decades, typical subdivision layouts in the county, and throughout the nation, have consisted of self-contained, curvilinear and cul-de-sac systems of private streets. Many of those developments are gated communities with private streets. Those subdivisions have few connections to the "outside" public street system and most often no connections to adjacent residential developments. Several factors limit the creation of interconnected roadway systems, including: • Physical constraints such as canals, environmentally sensitive lands, FDOT outfall ditches, existing development, and other factors that physically preclude connections. • Opportunity constraints relating to "piece -meal" development of individual projects over time vs. the opportunity to coordinate individual projects at the same time (e.g. South County Initiative). • Opportunity constraints relating to the "funneling effect", whereby there is only one potential inter -connection that leads through a small existing neighborhood from a large project. Such situations, where significant traffic from a large project would be funneled through a street serving a few residences, should be avoided. • Objections from existing residents potentially affected by proposed connections. Such objections and concerns are widely reported in localities across the nation and stem from Future Land Use Element 92