Pre Charrette
Board/Committee Meeting
Synopsis of Flipchart Notes from Public Comment/Input
December 4, 2001
City of Coral Gables Planning Department/University of Miami
7:00 p.m., Youth Center Theater
1 - Land Use
- Against high-rise development occurring in study area
- Need to attract a downtown department store (anchor)
- Retain residential element in the downtown
- Create a North Ponce Master Plan
- Include commercial area immediately south of CBD in study area
- Include
area around City Hall in study area
2 - Zoning
- Provide incentives to incorporate art in public places
- No down zoning!!
- Lack of affordable housing for employees
- Permit home based business
- Allow for live/work housing
- Restrict businesses in residential apartment district
- Revisit
Meditterranean Ordinance bonuses (to liberal)
3 - Urban Character
- Designate an historic Apartment District
- Retain retail component in downtown (not all office)
- Attract more people to the City center
- Businesses need to stay open longer
- Losing small businesses to high-rises
- Create a more pedestrian friendly environment
- Create a 24 hour downtown
- Preserve the historic North Ponce apartment buildings.
- Create
"civic space" for City employees
4 - Traffic & Transportation
- Continue development of trolley system
- Define if we are "urban" or "suburban"
- How do we get people out of their cars
- Provide more public transit
- Create
auto restricted zones
5 - Parking
- Encourage roof-top parking for commercial buildings
- Provide centralized parking in Apartment District
- Move away from auto oriented design
- Construct customer friendly public parking garages
- Provide lighting and pedestrian amenities.
- Create a centralized valet system
- Do not redevelop existing public parking sites
- Obtain additional sites for public parking
- Fine valet parking abusers
- Encourage
below ground parking
6 - Streetscape
- Reduce number of vehicular curb cuts (loss of parking)
- Create pedestrian mid block passage ways
- Exhibit available City sculptures
- Blocks are too long
- Provide wider sidewalks
- Create more shade/enhance existing landscaping
- Improve signage for pedestrians
- Create unified street lighting plan
- Create pedestrian connections to public garages
- Improve North Ponce pedestrian environment
- Require
street level retail
7 - Architecture
- Make Mediterranean ordinance more available/encourage use
- Encourage roof top restaurants
- Prohibit at grade (surface) parking
- Prohibit first floor structural parking
- Create more arcades
- Encourage mixed-use projects
- Mediterranean architecture should be mandatory
- Award bonuses for courtyards
- Award
bonuses for passage ways
8 - Infrastructure
- Evaluate impact of installing sewers in Apartment District
- Prioritize Capital Improvement Budget items
- Require
below ground utilities
9 - Miscellaneous
- Develop downtown as cultural center of City Coral of Gables Create a mural ordinance
- Need for 700-1000 seat theatre
- Provide
housing for elderly (incentives to developers)