ECSC Land Use and Transportation Subcommittee Recommendations
Recommendation
1. Energy Element: The County should adopt an energy
element to be added to the Comprehensive plan including
the following recommendations for future land use and
Transportation :
a. Development Location: Encourage development within
and new existing cities, towns and resources and
transportation corridors, business-employment centers, and
civic and cultural centers to save energy and financial
resources
i. Encourage
i. Brownfield sites with remediation
ii. Greyfield sites with reuse of intact structure
iii. Greyfield sites with reuse and recycling of
demolished structures
iv. Infill sites with appropriate density
v. Transit-oriented development with amenities
vi. Adjacent sites with appropriate density
vii. Density with amenities
viii. Outlying sites with habitat and agricultural
restoration
ii. Discourage residential development in:
i. Prime agricultural lands
ii. Site of hydrological and ecological
significance
iii. Floodplains
iv. Sites of historic significance
v. Conventional development in remote areas
iii. Restrict development to areas served by BRT
b. Planned Urban Development: Develop communities that
incorporate the principles of traditional city design, including:
i. Mix of land uses that integrates variety of residential
Timeframe
Stakeholders
units in a variety of types (condos, multilevel
apartments, attached and unattached homes on
small lots;
ii. First-floor retail including goods and services used on
a frequent basis;
iii. Greenspace – pocket parks and playgrounds,
greenbelts that protect natural areas and habitat
between urban clusters;
iv. Ecological design of the public realm to achieve
green, beautiful, safe, accessible, adaptable, and
engaging streets, preserved view shed parks, and
public places;
v. Easy access to police, fire, and health services;
vi. Well-planned intra-modal transportation – wide
sidewalks, and walking/bicycling trails, and bus
shuttle and street cars;
vii. Choice of efficient intermodal transportation –
dedicated, transit lanes for BRT, transit with frequent
headways, carpooling, in-street and off-street bicycle
lanes and trails, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV)
lanes, commuter rail
c. Transportation Choice: For maximum resource efficiency,
a variety of transportation choices, particularly alternatives to
the single-occupant vehicle must be allowed an encouraged.
Priority for transportation choices include:
i. Neighborhood walkability
ii. School walkability
iii. Bicycle lanes and bicycle safety
iv. Enhanced bus service and shelters
v. Dedicated bicycle and pedestrian paths
vi. Bus rapid transit
vii. Multi-modal connectivity
viii. Light rail and transit-oriented development
ix. Grid street system
x. Traffic calming
xi. Traffic engineering and transportation demand
management
xii. Discourage the following transportation components:
i. Large scale surface parking lots
ii. Gated/unconnected communities
iii. Large-scale single-use areas
iv. Commuter/bedroom communities without
amenities and transportation choices
2. Make Transportation Element of the Comprehensive
Plan more Multimodal:
.
a. Make Comprehensive Plan more multimodal by
addressing movement for all modes of transportation,
including transit, bicycles and walking
b. Merge the mass transit element and the traffic circulation
element into a single element that addresses the
transportation needs of all users.
c. Incorporate plans for expenditures for all modes of
transportation into Capital Improvements Element
3. Develop Bus Rapid Transit Plan. The County will develop a
coordinated short, medium, and long term transit action plan
that
a. Collaborated/partners with local, state, national
agencies, Santa Fe College and the University of Florida
b. Builds upon and strengths of RTS and converts existing
bus lines (Routes 1, 5 and 8 - between Oaks Mall and
Butler Plaza and Downtown) to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
c. Develops service for the unincorporated urban areas in
Alachua County;
d. Incorporates expertise to plan routes for BRT that could
transition to light rail in the future;
e. Acquires right-of-way and infrastructure for BRT and
future light rail;
f. Increase the allowable density in the higher-density land
use categories in the unincorporated county;
g. Plan and develop dense transit-oriented development
within the urban context and proximate to rapid transit
stations (nodes of mixed use activity)
h. Require BRT access in all new developments in Alachua
County
4. . Provide better coordination of land use decisions with
transportation plans and investments
a. Restrict development in Alachua County to areas
served by transit
b. Set up transfer of development rights to areas
Better coordination of land use and
transportation services served by BRT
c. Facilitate better coordination of land uses in areas
of the county that are adjacent to the annexed (and
reserved) areas surrounding the small cities of the
county to ensure the economic viability of
agriculture
5. . Identify and implement services for additional Markets for
mass transportation, including
a. Define New Mass Transit Markets park and ride
and downtown shuttles from outlying communities
b. Additional locations for park and ride on major
arterials (39th Ave., Newberry Road, Archer Road,
441/13th Street)
c. Services similar to special events/occasions in the
community (e.g., major shopping periods,
community festivals)
d. County employees transit services
e. Carpools and vanpools instead of transit to places
with low transit ridership
6. Better coordination of school locations. The county
should work with the Alachua County School Board to
ensure that residential locations are carefully coordinated
with school locations to minimize the cost of bussing
children to schools. The county has a reciprocal
responsibility to ensure that the transportation system is
developed in a manner such that children do not face
hazardous walking conditions in locations near school and
that a complete sidewalk system is provides around
schools.
7. County Building Location Policy. The County should
establish a policy on location of county buildings to ensure
that they are conveniently located to residents who are to
receive those services (avoid the example of the State and
many of its services – a major example is moving the Job
Corps Center outside of downtown and making everyone
take the bus to get there) – stated another way, we need
make decisions that afford choice in transportation mode
for people who need the services.
8. Free Bus Pass Program. Offer a free bus-pass program.
Possible implementation of this paln migh include a freeride zone in high-traffic areas (working in partnership with
retail and tourism industries), a “ride-the bus” program in
conjunction with a commute-trip reduction program that
encourages employers to target car commuters, who
would be given a fee bus pass for a month, and partner
with businesses who make a commitment to increase bus
ridership among employees.
9. Cul de sac access – County should promote bicycle and
pedestrian access through cul de sacs to adjacent
developments or in other such restricted areas.
Conservation easements with tax breaks could be
provided to property owners who allow such access.
10. Alternative Fuel Transit Service – To promote resource
efficiency businesses in the community, the County should
support the use of alternative fuels for transit vehicles
(e.g., methane produced from sewage sludge, biodiesel
from local businesses)
a. ECSC recommends that the county adopt a tiered
approach to agricultural exemption that may better
serve the market.
1. Only a perpetual agricultural easement, including those
lands that sold their rights in a TDR, could receive the
full (and even enhanced) exemption.
2. Those that may be considering selling off their land, or
who simply see those development rights as an
important future asset, could opt for a more flexible
exemption that would require some form of community
pay-back upon sale to convert use and enact
development rights- perhaps payable by the future
residents in their taxes. This once-lost revenue could be
used to purchase development rights of other county
agricultural land through the TDR program.
3. Conservation easements should be encouraged as a
method to preserve agricultural land and open space