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2. Land Use Objective #2 of the Land Use Element of the Plan <br />is that "Incompatible uses should be separated from one. <br />another. Where they do abut, appropriate physical or <br />natural buffers will be established."4 <br />Comment: Residential and Commercial uses are not necessarily <br />incompatible with each other. However, in the case of this <br />plan amendment there is great potential for incompatability. <br />In the worst case, eleven separate parcels within this node <br />could develop as general commercial uses, and five of these <br />parcels front only on 18th Street, a two-lane residential <br />street. At best, the node would develop under a unified plan, <br />but the spillover of shopping center car and truck traffic, <br />noise and debris would still impact the residential areas <br />adjacent, especially if the lack of barriers allowed access <br />to 18th Street. Even if no direct access was provided, <br />shoppers returning to the beach would be tempted'to shortcut <br />through residential neighborhoods to avoid circling around <br />an extra mile on the major street system, or to avoid <br />dangerous U-turns on 17th Street. <br />3. The Plan's general commercial land use policy is that all <br />areas of commercial development shall be located;to discourage <br />strip development patterns which negatively affect safety, <br />land use patterns and the traffic handling capacity of the <br />transportation system.5 <br />Comment: Changing the plan in this location to general <br />commercial will create additional pressure to convert the <br />existing, stable and well-maintained residentialineighborhoods <br />between 6th Avenue and Indian River Boulevard to commercial <br />uses. Instantly increasing the trip generation characteristics <br />of the subject property by ten (10) times6 cannot add to the <br />safety, stability or property values of the nearby residen- <br />tial areas. Adding the estimated 9450 average annual daily <br />trips from this general commercial parcel to 17th Street would <br />utilize 300 of this arterial's Level of Service C capacity of <br />31,000 average annual daily trips.? This is a decidedly <br />negative impact on the traffic handling capacity of the road <br />system from one small area change in land use. While 17th <br />Street might still operate within its design capacity, the <br />spillover affect on adjacent residential streets might <br />immediately push those streets above their design,•capacity <br />to handle traffic. <br />4. The Plan's residential land use policy #3 is that!"Residential <br />development shall be encouraged to locate in areas easily <br />accessible to employment and service centers."8 <br />Comment: The area of the proposed plan amendment is located <br />in an area accessible to employment and service centers <br />within one mile, such as Miracle Plaza, Treasure Coast Plaza, <br />the U.S. Highway 1 commercial strip, and numerous banks and <br />office buildings. The accessibility of this land, parcel, and <br />its residential environs no doubt had some bearing on its <br />Plan designation as Medium Density Residential. <br />57 <br />i� <br />f <br />BOOK V FADE 57 <br />