Transect Based Planning

[florida girl]

I've seen numerous handicapped parking spots in Seaside and every commercial building has at least a ramp. Care to point out some examples?

As for being stuck with a baby have you been to Seaside in the last 10 years? I would say it probably has the most visitors with babies in almost all of South Walton. In fact I have never come close to running over a stroller with a baby in it outside of Seaside.

First, let me say that my kids are 10 months apart, and I pushed a double stroller for what it seams forever! Then the grand idea to take swimming lessons at Seaside. Where to park? That didn't end well.

 

[florida girl]

Yes, and if this group can work with Walton County government to affect some of these kinds of reversals around here, it would be great.
I was dismayed when the historical building was bulldozed up in DeFuniak to make a parking lot....an example of the mind set that has allowed concrete and asphalt to take over our towns and fields.

The other day, as I drove down Nursery Road past the property that Mrs. Kellogg donated to the County for a nature preserve, I was dismayed to see that one of the first things to be done is: to pave a parking lot!

And yet, less than a half mile away Chat Holley road is a disgrace because no pot holes are filled, no white lines painted...the paving which needs to be done on the road, is done, instead, on a nature preserve!

I lived for many years in Tallahassee and one of the things I love most about that city are the trees--and the tree ordinance that preserves them. I spent many years at the Tallahassee (Junior) Museum with my son and his friends...and there were no paved parking lots...it was a nature preserve and the parking areas were natural....

In order to achieve some of the sense of community that the " new urbanism" promotes, leaders and citizens must have a mindset change...that is what I see missing here as it is in many places across our country.

DeFuniak has the potential to be a beautiful little town...it has all the community things that New Urbanism promotes. Yet, the leaders in the town and county have done little to revive those things that made it a good town to live and grow up in. Even when the basic plan is still there...

and, as someone pointed out in another post, the "powers that be" decide to plant Palm Trees in DeFuniak...and oak trees in Seaside! Maybe the oak trees add to Seaside, I have not seen them yet; but, the Palm Trees do not add anything to DeFuniak IMO. What's wrong with oak, dogwood, magnolia....

We had one of the most beautiful beaches/coastlines in the world here in South Walton, yet the planning and zoning that was allowed to run amok has allowed it to become less than it might have been....and the unintended consequences are abandoned neighborhoods with half finished buildings and empty strip mall stores and and office buildings.

And, for all the visioning that has gone on in the last 10 years, as Shelly says above, there seems to be little actually getting done that follows the so-called vision....

I hope this latest effort makes a difference so that my grandchildren can enjoy living in a place that offers a sense of community, a viable economic structure, and the recreational aspects that make for a balanced life.

DeFuniak is full of Historical buildings, quite different here. Our few are generally torn down for new modern structures. Take the old Grayton Hotel, now it's the Wash a Way, at least it's not torn down, but it's used as a rental, where as it should be on the historical register. Bay Elementary is another good example, they say that in order to keep it from being destroyed, it must be used as a school, and modernized. The building was built in the 30's, and my opinion is that it should be used as a museum.
DeFuniak has always been a beautiful little town, and is so, because they don't regulate themselves into misery! So what if they want to plant palm trees, they have lots of Oak, Magnolia, Dog Wood, etc. Let them have what they want! What difference does it make to us? The sense of community comes from it's people, not necessarily from codes, and regulations, and civic planning. Friendly, compassionate people, who are satisfied with what they have, and are generous toward others.

 

[Rita]

D......................
DeFuniak has always been a beautiful little town, and is so, because they don't regulate themselves into misery! So what if they want to plant palm trees, they have lots of Oak, Magnolia, Dog Wood, etc. Let them have what they want! What difference does it make to us? The sense of community comes from it's people, not necessarily from codes, and regulations, and civic planning. Friendly, compassionate people, who are satisfied with what they have, and are generous toward others.

I'll bet most of these friendly, compassionate people had Oak, Magnolia, and Dogwood. And were satisfied with what they had!..


.

 

[Susan Horn]

I sure wish there were some DeFuniak and other north-of-bay folks in this conversation so we could hear from some of them. Most of what I've heard from north county citizens at all the Planning Commission meetings about the Comp Plan amendments is a concern about residential development intruding into agricultural areas and then the residents complain about farmers farming-- as if our American family farms didn't have enough going on to make it hard on them as it is. This instrusion is a common problem with sprawl nationwide, and one of the many issues the tool known as transect/smart code planning can be used to address fairly and intelligently.

The other big issue I have been hearing from north county folks is concerns about how to manage development with regard to available water, sewer and fire protection. A lot of discussion on that, and again, I believe transect/smart code approach is designed to handle this sort of thing.

Anyone know of a website with online forums that is frequented by everyone in the whole county? I know the ACT Walton group is looking for ways to increase and speed communication between, for instance, north end farmers and south end eaters/markets/restaurants about what produce is fresh and ripe, to support local farms and the burgeoning local food movement.... Maybe they will create a county-wide site? (No offense, Kurt, we all love SoWal!)

 

[florida girl]

I sure wish there were some DeFuniak and other north-of-bay folks in this conversation so we could hear from some of them. Most of what I've heard from north county citizens at all the Planning Commission meetings about the Comp Plan amendments is a concern about residential development intruding into agricultural areas and then the residents complain about farmers farming-- as if our American family farms didn't have enough going on to make it hard on them as it is. This instrusion is a common problem with sprawl nationwide, and one of the many issues the tool known as transect/smart code planning can be used to address fairly and intelligently.

The other big issue I have been hearing from north county folks is concerns about how to manage development with regard to available water, sewer and fire protection. A lot of discussion on that, and again, I believe transect/smart code approach is designed to handle this sort of thing.

Anyone know of a website with online forums that is frequented by everyone in the whole county? I know the ACT Walton group is looking for ways to increase and speed communication between, for instance, north end farmers and south end eaters/markets/restaurants about what produce is fresh and ripe, to support local farms and the burgeoning local food movement.... Maybe they will create a county-wide site? (No offense, Kurt, we all love SoWal!)

I was born in DeFuniak, and went to high school there. Most folks I know there really don't want to get involved with what goes on in SoWal.

 

[GoodWitch58]

I was also born there and my relatives and many of the people I know are very involved in South Walton....for Pete's sake, it is all Walton County!

Susan, I think the idea of a county wide discussion board is an excellent one!

 

[scooterbug44]

I was born in DeFuniak, and went to high school there. Most folks I know there really don't want to get involved with what goes on in SoWal.

The "folks you know" are also afraid to cross the bridge because of all the rabid environmentalists down here. :roll:

Speaking for the slightly more rational Defuniak folks I know, they would love to have a more comprehensive plan and some smart planning in Sowal. Many have property, beach homes, jobs, or relatives that would be affected by these decisions.

 

[Matt J]

DeFuniak is full of Historical buildings, quite different here. Our few are generally torn down for new modern structures. Take the old Grayton Hotel, now it's the Wash a Way, at least it's not torn down, but it's used as a rental, where as it should be on the historical register. Bay Elementary is another good example, they say that in order to keep it from being destroyed, it must be used as a school, and modernized. The building was built in the 30's, and my opinion is that it should be used as a museum.
DeFuniak has always been a beautiful little town, and is so, because they don't regulate themselves into misery! So what if they want to plant palm trees, they have lots of Oak, Magnolia, Dog Wood, etc. Let them have what they want! What difference does it make to us? The sense of community comes from it's people, not necessarily from codes, and regulations, and civic planning. Friendly, compassionate people, who are satisfied with what they have, and are generous toward others.

Gee, it's a shame there wasn't a message board back when the Wash-A-Way sold and became a rental. You could've posted endless rants about it and done nothing.

Looks like you were just missing the message board huh?

 

[Susan Horn]

Herald-Breeze article

For anyone who didn't see last Thursday's Herald-Breeze, here is the article I referred to in my original post, copied and posted here with permission from the editor/publisher Ron Kelley. IMHO, The Herald-Breeze is the best, most consistent and reliable source for news of local gov't goings-on. Only costs about $20 a year to subscribe and it's in my mailbox every Wednesday by noon.

The "land-use based zoning" Stratmann mentions is, I believe, what planners refer to as Euclidian zoning, apparently regarded as an obsolete and unworkable methodology now for all kinds of reasons including the fact that it actually encourages sprawl and all its concommitant ills.

FLU elements of EAR gain conceptual approval
By LEAH STRATMANN
The Beach Breeze



After eight public workshops to discuss future land use (FLU) elements of the evaluation and appraisal report (EAR) mandated by the state, the planning commission finally granted conceptual approval, pending a report on one small section by county attorney Mike Burke.
The murky issue concerns the category known as neighborhood commercial (NC) in south Walton, permitting limited commercial uses in close proximity to residential areas. The question concerns which properties were designated either by covenant, the county, or deed restrictions prior to November 1996 as commercial. Burke was asked to investigate this particular issue and provide guidance. As he was not at last week?s workshop, the commission voted to accept the rest of the document, pending his report.
Planning department Lois Le Seur, the chief architect of the FLU section of the EAR, came equipped with a laptop to correct errors or make changes in text according to the vote of the planning commission. She said, ?We have done our best to roll in everything we can roll into this document. I hope the only thing left is cleanup.?
Before the document was accepted, commissioner Susan Horn suggested some additional language be added to the document. ?I would like to have some language in the document saying the county intends to move toward transect-based planning in the future, even if it isn?t possible to redo this document right now. Transect planning handles the compatibility issue. I think we can do better than this, and I?d like to get that in the works now.?
Le Seur said, ?We already have inherent in our plan a lot of transect concepts and I think we have incorporated as much as we can. If we are to do more, we have to do so at the direction of the county.?
Transect-based coding or smart zoning is a system that organizes land in a gradient from the most natural/rural to the most urban. Transect replaces traditional land-use based zoning. Land-use zoning segregates land uses and is an auto-dependent system which together form what is commonly known as sprawl.
The transect system was introduced to the commissioners by a group of citizens in late December who came together with a visioning plan for Walton County.
Commission chairman Tom Terrell said, ?Some of the items presented by the visioning group are workable in certain areas, but the commission did not agree with the entire concept. Since we have to go through this process again in seven years, smart zoning or the transect concept may be the desire of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC).
Commissioner Randy Gardner said, ?I don?t think we can say today how we should go forward in seven years. I?m comfortable with the way the document is written.?
Terrell said, ?I would like to thank the planning department for the time and effort they have put in on this. From my reading of this, it looks like we have ridden this horse as far as we can ride it. We have had eight meetings on this, plus a lot of individual meetings between the public and planning department members.?
Citizen Marsha Weingartner addressed the commission saying, ?I just want to protect agricultural areas. I think it is a travesty to put into law that you can have one house per acre in the agriculture category. I want lower density in the neighborhood. You have a person build a house in an agriculture region and then they want all the benefits of the city and want to complain about the agricultural operations nearby,? she said.
Bill Bard said, ?The first word in your name is planning. I think this document is where we should start to move forward with smart zoning for the future. If we wait seven years for the next commission and they decide to wait, we get further and further behind. This body is reactive rather than proactive. I think Commissioner Horn got steamrolled on this.?
South Walton Community Council executive director Anita Page chimed in saying, ?I would like to see a workshop or something where people can learn more about transect zoning so Walton County does not get further and further behind other communities who are using this to good effect.?
Terrell suggested those opinions should be brought to the BCC. ?There is no steamrolling or stonewalling, all we are doing is expressing our opinion. The BCC would be the more proactive body. Convince the BCC to get involved and more educated. I don?t think anybody on the planning commission had a problem with what was presented.?
Commission Tom Patton said, ?Susan?s idea has some merit. If we put it in there, it goes to the BCC.?
Gardner disagreed saying, ?The document we are trying to create is a working document. If there is a separate motion to be passed onto the BCC concerning transect zoning, it does not affect this working document. We can suggest the issue be explored and addressed.?
Terrell agreed, suggesting a recommendation to the BCC to establish a series of workshops. In the end Commissioner Horn made the a motion for the planning commission to direct the BCC to direct the planning department to explore a transect-based approach for Walton County as a whole for the possibility of inclusion in the land development code (LDC) as well as incorporation of the comprehensive plan for the next round of EAR-based amendments.
The motion was seconded by Patton and passed by all.
Once conceptual approval had been given to the FLU document, the group moved on to the 19-page glossary of terms used within the document. Planning director Pat Blackshear noted, ?It is a work in progress that we had to make consistent with state and federal rules. This is a first draft. Where you see a definition, they will all be consistent with state law. Most of the more technical terms will be found in the LDC. It is a judgment on our part which ones go to which document.?
The commissioners and the public then starting reading the glossary and going page by page to clarify it according to suggestions by the commission and the public. The changes to the FLU document as well as the glossary can be downloaded or viewed on the county?s Website.
The next meeting of the planning commission on Feb. 12 will start two hours early to further explore the glossary. The FLU element is the first of ten sections that must be addressed in the EAR.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Of the online message sites, SoWal is by far the largest and most active. Also, the others are primarily for discussing politics and have strong Republican leanings. Just my opinion, of course, but I think this discussion is best suited for right here.

Btw, I'll guarantee that most of the active internet users in Walton County are tuned in to SoWal.com. They may just be lurking, but they are here.