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The Need for Reaional Commercial Desianated'Land As structured, the RC (Regional Commercial) land use category would limit the use of property designated as RC to regional mall/regional commercial uses. Since this land use category would restrict any property so designated, it is important to determine if there is a need for regional mall/regional commercial uses in the county. According to the Urban Land Institute, a trade area of 150,000 people is needed to support a regional mall. Based on the projections of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR), Indian River County's permanent 2010 population will be 137,700. Combined with an expected 2010 seasonal population of 33,283, the county's peak season population in 2010 will be 170,983. The year 2010 is important, because that is the time horizon of the county's comprehensive plan. Considering that the trade area of a regional mall would extend beyond the boundaries of the county, it is apparent that there is ample regional population to justify a Regional Commercial land use designation in Indian River County. Despite this fact, the county presently has no regional shopping facilities.' Therefore, county residents must now leave the county to shop at a regional center. Another key issue is regional mall land availability. According to the Urban Land Institute, shopping centers require about 10 acres of site area for each 100,000 square feet of building area. Since regional malls are usually 750,000 square feet or larger, a regional mall would therefore require a site of at least 75 acres. Site requirements, of course, are also influenced by local land development and site plan regulations that determine the required parking, loading, circulation, open space and drainage areas needed to support a shopping facility. Using this standard, the subject parcel would be adequate for a regional shopping facility. Review of commercially designated lands within the unincorporated portions of the county reveals that, other than the large commercial/industrial nodes located along the interstate, only one node (U.S.*#1"from'57th Street to 49th Street, containing the site for the proposed Harbortown Mall) contains an adequate supply of vacant land (over 75 acres) which is also in a configuration suitable for a regional mall facility. Since the nodes along the interstate are not centrally located within the urbanized area of the county, they are not suitable locations for a regional mall. Therefore, accommodating a regional mall in the urbanized area of the county would require redesignating property to a commercial classification. Based upon the land use pattern of the area, the S.R. 60 and 58th Avenue node's centralized location, and that node's close proximity to the county's population center, expanding the S.R. 60 and 58th Avenue node boundary would provide for an efficient land use pattern and for the maximum use of transportation and public facilities, while at the same time decreasing strip development, which would occur in other nodes if their areas were increased to accommodate the acreage necessary for the subject request. Another issue involves the proposed Harbortown Mall. As adopted, the comprehensive plan already- includes an area for a regional mall; that --mall site is along -U.S. #1 at 53rd Street. It is generally accepted that, despite the rapid population growth in the county, the population base is sufficient to support only one such facility. Despite the fact that one mall has already received 41 BOOK 93 FAGS 6.07 October 25, 1994