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M Need for Mixed Use Designation Given the geography of Indian River County, there is an obvious need*for a mixed use land use designation. Unlike most counties, Indian River County is severed into two distinct areas by the St. -Johns marsh, an undevelopable wetlands under public ownership. The marsh effectively isolates the undeveloped portion of the west county from the urbanized eastern section of the county. This separation also isolates the western portion of the county from the services and facilities in the east. With development pressures certain to arise in the west county which currently has a 1 du/5 acres density (to be changed to 1 du/20 acres as per the remedial actions amendment), providing for a mixed use land use designation is a reasonable way to accommodate that growth. Besides the western portion of the county, there are other areas in the county which are currently designated AG and warrant consideration for mixed use designation. One such area is the ten mile ridge, the. portion of the county upon which I-95 was built. Generally unsuited for agricultural (citrus) uses, this area has characteristics which are favorable for development. Both of the areas referenced above would be appropriate for establishment of a mixed use land designation. Allowing mixed use projects in these areas will provide an alternate lifestyle choice for residents, that of a small, compact rural community. At the same time, such a land use designation could provide protection for agricultural and natural areas through the mixed use district requirement of preserving at least fifty percent of the land as agriculture or natural open space.. o Population The need for a mixed use land use designation cannot be justified by the county's population projections. There is more than enough residentially designated land in the urban service area to accommodate the county's population through the 2010 horizon of the plan. Two factors,_ however, serve to justify the mixed use - district and its added population potential. One factor is that rural densities were not counted in developing Indian River County's residential allocation factor. Since the proposed mixed use district is applicable to the rural (AG) areas of the county and its maximum density is only"1 du/acre, the potential mixed use population should be considered in the same manner as the total projected AG population. At 1000 acres and a density of 1 du/acre, a mixed use project could have a maximum build -out of 1000 units. With an AG density of 1 du/5 acres, the 1000 acre site could accommodate 200 units. Therefore, the maximum increase per project would.be 800 units. The second population factor supporting the mixed use district designation is a population projection increase. Since the county's plan utilized a twenty year planning period from 1990 to 2010, and it is now 1991, an additional year of population growth could be added to the 2010 projection to reflect a twenty year time horizon. With the additional population increment of approximately 4,500 persons, several mixed use projects could be accommodated without affecting the county's residential allocation factor. For those reasons staff believes that the need for a mixed use land use designation has been established. While the above factors justify the creation of a mixed use land use designation, they do not provide the necessary justification for each potential mixed use project. That justification will have to be provided by the applicant prior to approval of a mixed use project. As part of that approval process, the applicant must provide data and analysis sufficient to demonstrate not only that mixed use districts are needed generally, but that his project is 73 J �9� aonK F1,1t DtJ