BAC Meeting Thursday April 18 at OPVRS 3:30: Looking Ahead at Guidelines for Shore Drive

What are your top 3 concerns about development guidelines in Ocean Park? The BAC will take up this discussion and needs to hear from you! Email: communication@opcl.org

While the Shore Drive Corridor Plan and the Shore Drive Design Guidelines may be more familiar, the Urban Land Institute study that they were based on is also available. The study was done in 1997 and does contain outdated information. Several suggested developments: Waterman’s Walk, Fisherman’s Village did not prove viable.

“The questions the panel was asked to address were divided into four major topic areas: market potential, development and marketing strategies, planning and design and implementation. The panel was asked to evaluate potential development in the corridor and how these sectors differed from markets in the oceanfront resort area.” The Executive Summary shows that many of today’s issues were already clear then: “The absence of a vision results in unclear plans for the future and a tendency toward hodgepodge development patterns. The city has many of the tools necessary to implement a plan but in the absence of a clear vision it is hard to find the basis for consistent administrative action and strong political will, especially when pressures to accommodate narrow interests are significant. ” Issues listed for the west side of the bridge (Ocean Park) include: Density, Development Standards, Road and Parking Standards, Future development impact on wetlands.” In 30 years not much change.

The final recommendations called for the city to better control development by requiring compliance with environmental regulations , site design criteria and landscape and parking design regulations. The city “should use these tools aggressively to improve the overall quality of development in the area. The city has the capacity to better communicate with developers regarding design issues and show endeavor to work more closely with the development community to achieve better design outcomes. The Bayfront Advisory Board could be instrumental in this effort.” It draws a parallel between the powerful Resort Advisory Committee and the Bayfront Advisory.

As a part of the Comprehensive Plan update, the Shore Drive Corridor Plan will also be updated. The same consultant firm will address the Shore Drive part of the Comprehensive Plan later next year. In the coming months, the BAC will work toward laying a foundation for that work by reviewing the old plan: its vision, goals and purpose and welcomes input from residents. Many opportunities will be planned for public engagement. The Ocean Park community is invited to review the current guiding Shore Dr. documents included in this post and think about needed changes.