master plan update - City of Boca Raton

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SECTION AINTRODUCTIONissuesAt the most fundamental level, the issueis whether Downtown can become acohesive Downtown. It is now perceivedto be a collection of separateplaces. On the positive side, it has all ofthe functions you would expect to findin a Downtown, including City Hall,museums, a library, post office, officebuildings, shops, educational uses, performancevenues, parks, and an increasingamount of residential uses. But, itdoes not have the coherence that bringsall of these uses together.The portrait drawing on page 3 clearlyillustrates one of the key problems facingDowntown. It is a narrow, north /southband of mixed-use development, cut offfrom other parts of the City. Downtownis constrained by the barriers created bynorth /south arterials and the railroadlines which have made it difficult to createa unified Downtown. Most people’sperceptions of Downtown’s boundariesinclude the railroad tracks as the westernedge, or even Federal Highway. And yet,City Hall, the library, and the Children’sMuseum are west of that boundary. Peopleexpress great pleasure about walkingamong uses in certain specific areassuch as Mizner Park, but experiencegreat difficulty in walking across majorstreets. As a result, Downtown presentsitself as a collection of separated and isolateddestinations. There is evidence thatsome businesses are leaving and that thecompetition from more urban and walkabledowntowns is drawing customersthat would otherwise come here.As illustrated on page 9, most of thecurrently approved development proposalsare located within this same narrownorth-south band. Each is designedwith concern for the public realm immediatelyaround it, but without an overallframework, it is difficult to visualize howthey would all work together to create aDowntown.In short, Downtown Boca Raton hasnot been able to maintain its early leaddue to a series of factors that have preventedthe vision from being fully realized.PEDESTRIAN NETWORKAn essential element in successful downtownsis an interconnected network ofstreets and open space that providescomfortable pedestrian connections.Boca Raton has successful pedestrianpockets, but fails to provide a pedestriannetwork that links its various parts. Aparticularly vivid example can be seenon Palmetto Park Road where, despiteefforts to create a pedestrian-friendlyenvironment, past programs have beenunsuccessful in doing so. The emphasisgiven to through traffic, combined withroad and sidewalk design that encouragevehicles to travel at high speed, hasmade it impossible to provide this vitalattribute.DEVELOPMENT PROCESSWhile the original vision called foran holistic approach to developmentin which each part contributes to thewhole, most projects are conceived anddealt with by the City on a project-byprojectbasis.Existing conditions along Federal Highwayand Palmetto Park Road8
Plaza Real SouthMizner BoulevardDESIGN GUIDELINESOriginally conceived to simplify thedevelopment process, the existing designguidelines have become cumbersome.They are overly simplistic with the samerequirements irrespective of site size orlocation. This has resulted in a uniformrather than diverse built result.DEVELOPMENT MARKETIn recent years, the strong, high-endinvestor and second home market forcondominiums has produced very highland values and units which are notoccupied much of the year, if at all. It hasnot been considered feasible to developyear-round housing in a wide range ofprices because of the high land cost.This Presents an impediment to thelong-term viability of Downtown.Crawford BoulevardCity HallWest Palmetto Park RoadNW Boca Raton BoulevardDixie HighwayNW First AvenueFederal HighwayNE First AvenuePlaza RealMizner BoulevardEast Palmetto Park RoadBARRIERSThe combined barriers which definethe edges of Downtown have causedthe City and the development communityto focus all of their efforts in anorth-south corridor, limiting the rangeof development opportunities and preventingthe creation of a truly cohesive,real Downtown.Portrait of existing conditions in Boca Raton, including proposed future developments, as ofMarch 2007Diagram and photo of existing barriers within downtown Boca Raton9
Page 1: august 27 2007downtown boca ratonma
Page 5: CONTENTSSECTION A: INTRODUCTIONUpda
Page 8 and 9: SECTION AINTRODUCTIONupdating the v
Page 11 and 12: A great deal of common groundexists
Page 13: WEAKNESSESThe red dots, or worst pl
Page 17: SUMMARY OF KEYMESSAGES TO DATE»»
Page 20 and 21: SECTION BGENERAL RECOMMENDATIONSpla
Page 22 and 23: SECTION BGENERAL RECOMMENDATIONSthe
Page 24 and 25: SECTION BGENERAL RECOMMENDATIONSA v
Page 27 and 28: frameworks
Page 29 and 30: Plaza Real Real South SouthMizner B
Page 31 and 32: TYPE A12' 8' 6' 7' 11' 11'11' 11' 7
Page 33 and 34: Federal HighwayFederal Highway is,
Page 35 and 36: Existing plan (left) and section (r
Page 37 and 38: Mizner BoulevardBoulevardSIDEWALK I
Page 39 and 40: Mizner BoulevardBoulevardTRANSIT IN
Page 41 and 42: TYPE ALARGE-SCALE STREETS WITHHEAVY
Page 43 and 44: Plaza Real Real South SouthMizner B
Page 45 and 46: Massing: photo of Boca Raton Resort
Page 47: PUBLIC SPACEIMPROVEMENTSTo create w
Page 50 and 51: SECTION DQUARTERSquartersSuccessful
Page 52 and 53: SECTION DQUARTERSMIZNER PARKMizner
Page 54 and 55: SECTION DQUARTERSFederal HighwayPLA
Page 56 and 57: SECTION DQUARTERSPALMETTO PARK EAST
Page 58 and 59: SECTION EINITIATIVESinitiativesIn o
Page 60 and 61: SECTION EINITIATIVESINITIATIVE 1:CE
Page 62 and 63: SECTION EINITIATIVESINITIATIVE 2: N
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SECTION EINITIATIVESALTERNATIVE PRO
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SECTION EINITIATIVESINITIATIVE 3:CI
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SECTION EINITIATIVESINITIATIVE 4: E
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implementation
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TRANSPORTATIONA series of approache
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