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TO: James L Chandler County Administrator DEPARTMENT HEAD CONCURRENCE Robert M. Keating, CP Community Developme irector THROUGH: Sasan Rohani, AICP S W. Chief, Long -Range Planning FROM: John Wachtel 1'JW Senior Planner, Long -Range Planning DATE: July 12,1999 RE: Comprehensive Plan Objective 18 (TNDs) Update It is requested that the data herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of July 20, 1999. BACKGROUND On March 17,1998, the Board of County Commissioners adopted an amendment to the county's Comprehensive Plan to implement the recommendations of its Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR). That amendment made many changes to the adopted 1990 Comprehensive Plan. Among those changes was the creation of anew Objective 18 and new Policies 18.1, 18.2, and 183 of the Future Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. Objective 18 and its policies, which are attached to this memorandum, set specific criteria and incentives for Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) Communities. Compared to conventional development patterns, TND communities offer several advantages to the county, including the following: • reduction of urban sprawl/efficient use of land; • reduction in number of off-site automobile trips on the county road networklefficient use of infrastructure; • promotion of innovative housing opportunities; and • provision of public open space. Because of some concerns regarding the TND standards incorporated within Objective 18 and its policies, the Board of County Commissioners, in adopting the EAR based plan amendments, instructed planning staff to report to the Board in July 1999 on the status of TND projects in the county. The Board further instructed staff to include in that report a discussion of what revisions, if any, should be made to the county's TND policies. If revisions are needed, they must be implemented through a Comprehensive Plan Text Amendment. Since adoption of the EAR based amendments, one TND project application has been submitted. That project, known as "Pointe West," received Conceptual PD Plan approval from the Board on March 9, 1999. The developer of Pointe West has applied for but not yet received site plan and preliminary plat approval for the initial phases of the development. Planning staff anticipates that those items will be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission in August 1999. Because the initial phases of the project consist primarily of a golf course and equestrian facilities, staff does not anticipate that construction of residences and commercial areas will begin until sometime in the year 2000. Since no TND projects have yet been constructed in the county, it would not be productive to evaluate objective 18 and its policies at this time. Instead, the TND policy evaluation should be rescheduled until one or more TND projects have initiated construction. The fact that only one TND project has been approved since Objective 18 and its policies were adopted is consistent with expectations. Unlike large metropolitan areas, Indian River County has a low residential dwelling unit absorption rate. Consequently, the county cannot support many large development projects. Because TNDs contain a mix ofuses, including single-family residential, multiple -family residential, retail, office, institutional, and recreational, TND projects are generally large developments that JULY 209 1999 BOOK WJ PAGE.,