Future Land Use and Zoning
Welcome to this week’s “Wednesday Workshop,” where we uncover the recipe for Groveland’s natural charm. This week, we will explore how Groveland’s Vision of smart and sustainable growth coupled with New Urbanism principles can be achieved through the land use planning and zoning process.
In land use planning there are several levels of effort between defining the Vision for the future and implementing the components. The Vision defines conceptual elements based on the transportation network, existing urban infrastructure and proposed settlement patterns. Future Land Use interprets the overall vision for the City and creates the framework to accommodate growth. Zoning creates a more detailed implementation plan that manages individual actions at the local level.
Town is the most intense new Future Land Use category and is reserved for areas well served with transportation and consistent with existing land uses. The Downtown is the clearest example of the Town category. The existing one-way couplet, proposed truck bypass and the historic Groveland street grid form the established town center of Groveland.
The Future Land Use, which describes the Vision, recognizes the small block sizes of the existing Groveland grid as an asset to a walkable, pedestrian friendly neighborhood. At the same time the zoning steps density and intensity down continuing the residential character of the historic neighborhood. The applied zoning implements a transition from the density supported in the Core zone to townhouses and live-work development in the Center zone scaling down to single family residential uses at the Edge zone. Green Swamp Town includes properties south of State Road 50 that are within the designated Area of Critical State Concern.
Another Future Land Use category, Village, also supports a mix of uses in the core area, but scales back to detached housing at the Edge zone. The Village category incorporates neighborhood scale retail and moderate density multi-family in its Core zone transitioning to single family detached housing on small lots in the Center and large lot single family at the Edge zone. To the extent possible Villages avoid cul-de-sacs, preferring, instead, connected street systems. Each Village Core is intended to be within ½ mile of all residential development, and sidewalks are required on at least one side of residential streets.
The new Future Land Use category Hamlet has the lowest density and intensity of the new land uses adopted in Groveland. It requires a minimum of 50% Open Space. This can be a combination of wetlands, agriculture and upland parks and greenways. This land use is intended to project an agrarian and natural image. It is a distinctive land use that could set Groveland apart from neighboring jurisdictions.
Some zoning districts in Groveland will remain unchanged. The new Employment Center Future Land Use category is divided into existing Heavy Industrial, Light Industrial, Civic and Utilities zones. Most residential uses are included in the Established Neighborhood Future Land Use category. Because there are such diverse zones within this category the existing zoning rules will be retained exactly as currently defined in Groveland’s land development code. Also included under the Existing Neighborhood category are approved Planned Unit Developments. Some of these unbuilt projects may be willing to adopt the new code standards as they seek approvals, and the City may be able to offer incentives to achieve better design.
The Image Gallery exhibits these principles in practice via land use maps along with a chart showing how the Future Land Use categories are distributed into more detailed Zoning designations. Thank you for joining us today and remember to tune in next week for another Wednesday Workshop!
