Rick Geller on Law and Local Government

Mayor Jacobs Vision: "Complete Streets and Place-making"

2012-01-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

Mayor Teresa Jacobs articulated a vision for Orange County's future of "complete streets and place-making." At the Orange County Redevelopment Conference on January 20, she said, "I am working closely with County staff on place-making initiatives that bring mixed use, infill development, sustainability, community revitalization, and other redevelopment concepts to life." She added, "At the heart of redevelopment is economic development and pride of place that make people want to stay in their community."

The Conference's keynote speakers--Galina Tachieva and Hazel Borys--shared many innovative ideas.

Galina, director of town planning for the Miami firm, DPZ, is author of the Sprawl Repair Manual. She said, "We love our downtowns, but a lot of people work in the suburbs so it makes sense to re-balance them." She spoke of the need for zoning reform.

Galina advised that slowing traffic and allowing on-street parking are essential elements for place-making. (This is obvious. People will sit at an outdoor cafe on Park Avenue, but not on S.R. 17-92). In Galina's words, "Fast traffic kills real estate." She urged Orange County to allow the full spectrum of thoroughfares once prevalent in urban areas. For example, she showed graphics of an arterial or collector highway transforming into a pedestrian-friendly multi-way boulevard. Such a boulevard separates thorough traffic from slower local traffic and on-street parking. (The County should configure New Independence Parkway, in the Horizon West Town Center, as a multi-way boulevard or avenue with on-street parking).

Galina showed how a developer could retrofit a dying shopping mall into a desirable urban environment:

Suburban Mall Retrofit (Galina Tachieva)

She showed precedent for her proposal--Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Here are the images:

Mashpee Commons Today (Galina Tachieva)

Galina said one of Orange County's biggest challenges is the out-migration of young people. She opined, "The young generation won't stay because of Disney." Another presentation, by economist Gregg Logan of RCLCO, demonstrated that young people want more urban experiences.

Hazel Borys, principal and managing director of the firm Placemakers, worked with Canin Associates in developing a form-based code to improve and redevelop Fairbanks and S.R. 17-92 in Winter Park. (Today I suggested to Mayor Bradley that the City "pull it off the shelf.")

Borys asked the audience of hundrds how many would allow their 7 year olds, if they had one, to walk alone down the street. Only 20% of the audience raised their hands, which doesn't say much for the safety of thoroughfares we've created. She said the character of streets must change as they enter into urban areas. From a governmental viewpoint, she said that a mixed-use mid-rise development will generate 25 times more tax revenue than a suburban Wal-Mart on a per acre basis. She also linked higher WalkScores to higher home values.

Good Video of Windermere, Winter Garden in "Walkability" Videos

2012-01-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

Martin County, Florida released the video below, featuring walkability expert Dan Burden, which includes nice video of Downtown Winter Garden and Downtown Windermere. Here it is:

Walkable 101: The Basics from Martin County CRA on Vimeo.

Here's the follow-up on Road Diets:

Walkable 101: Road Diets from Martin County CRA on Vimeo.

Orange County Sends Message to Development Community: We Want Infill

2012-01-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

Orange County is hosting a conference on infill and redevelopment on Friday, Jan. 20. The keynote speaker is Galina Tachieva, author of the Sprawl Repair Manual. Hazel Borys, managing principal of Placemakers, is also slated to speak. Here's the County's promotional video:

PSA - 2012 Redevelopment Conference

Institute of Transportation Engineers Takes An In-Depth Look at Roundabouts

2011-12-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Institite of Transportation Engineers' Journal published an in-depth look at roundabouts by Ken Sides, PE, who has built more than 20 roundabouts in the City of Clearwater. You can find the article at this LINK.

Roundabout constructed next to a school in the City of Clearwater.

Senators Rubio and Nelson Vote for Complete Streets

2011-12-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

During "mark-up" of the Surface Transportation and Freight Policy Act last week in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) joined their colleagues in voting unanimously for an amendment offered by Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) to “ensure that the design of Federal surface transportation projects provides for the safe and adequate accommodation…of all users of the transportation network.” This key language, promoted by proponents of "Complete Streets," should find its way into the Senate Transportation Bill. Transportation for America explains:

Under this bill, USDOT will work with states to develop standards to ensure that any surface transportation project built with federal funds provides safe and adequate accommodation for all users. Senator Thune [(R-SD)] offered an amendment to this that would give states discretion as to what is safe and adequate. States have the option of developing their own standards which would then apply instead of the federal standards. This will help states have been leading the way on policies to improve street design.

Thank you, Senators, for looking out for your constituents, young and old.

Republican Pro-Cycling Bills

2011-12-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

Companion Republican pro-cyclist bills are making their way through the Florida legislature this year. This from biking advocate Mike Lasche:

SB 390, sponsored by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach...would revise the much-reviled “mandatory lane law” which unnecessarily restricts cyclists from leaving the bike lane, even when safety dictates it. With Bogdanoff’s bill, cyclists would be allowed to leave the bike lane if a potential conflict existed. .... Similar language to SB 390 is included in HB 4017, sponsored by Rep. Ritch Workman, R- Melbourne and SB 1122, a Transportation Committee bill.

Both bills passed the Transportation Committee and were referred to the Budget Committee. This activity, preliminary to the Legislative Session, bodes well for eventual passage of the language in these bills.

It makes sense to give cyclists flexibility to leave a bike lane if safety requires, as the video below illustrates:

Rollins Master of Planning Students Look to Portland for the Future of Creative Village

2011-11-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a LINK to the article.

Ford Exec Chair Calls for Public Transit Investment

2011-11-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Bill Ford, executive chair of the Ford Motor Company, calls for investment in public transit in the video below. Given the world's exponentially increasing population, he identifies the mathematical impossibility of forever achieving the mobility his great grandfather, Henry Ford, envisioned with automobiles alone. The technological advances to minimize gridlock, discussed in the video, are quite interesting.

Lessons from NYC

2011-11-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

I came across the video below, a few years old, about Janette Sadik-Khan, the remarkable head of New York City's Department of Transportation. It's worthwhile for the lessons it offers smaller urban areas. The video shows "before and after" examples of how re-engineered thoroughfares--including those implementing new public space and innovative floating and separated bike lanes--affect driver behavior.

FDOT Hits Home Run with New District Secretary Hattaway

2011-10-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

WMFE-FM's Mark Simpson filed a news story on PBS's Transportation Nation at THIS LINK about the Florida Department of Transportation's selection of Billy Hattaway as its new District 1 Secretary. District 1 covers the State's sprawling southwest corner, from Winter Haven to Naples.

Billy is a leading engineer, an avid bicyclist, and a nationally-known authority on Complete Streets. Given the large number of retirees in southwest Florida who will need safer and more accessible thoroughfares when their driving days end, FDOT Secretary Prasad could not have made a more outstanding appointment.

Bike Trails Pump $42 Million Into Orange County's Economy Annually

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a LINK to an economic analysis conducted by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council finding that Orange County's bike trails pump more than $42 million annually into the local economy. Downtown Winter Garden's economic renaissance--prompted in large part by the West Orange Trail--should give pause to those who would strip the minimal funding provided for such trails.

Sixty-seven percent of Downtown Winter Garden businesses reported increased sales and revenues from the West Orange Trail.

The Atlantic Cities posted an article looking at the same issue at THIS LINK.

Fed. Highway Admin. Backing Roundabouts

2011-10-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

FDOT Pursuing Roundabouts on U.S. 41 in Sarasota

The Federal Highway Administration extolls the virtues of modern roundabouts, including on State highways, in the following video. When conventional intersections become roundabouts, injury and death rates plummet. The traffic flow benefits of roundabouts--in addition to long-term taxpayer savings--are indisputable.

Roundabouts Slated for U.S. Highway 41

Hooray for the Florida Department of Transportation, which is pursuing roundabouts on U.S. 41 in Sarasota at 10th and 14th Streets. This tremendous news should raise hope for municipalities around the State--including Maitland--desiring more pedestrian-friendly business districts. Every local government--and the Florida Department of Transportation--should conduct a conceptual roundabout study before adding lanes or converting an intersection with stop signs into a lighted intersection. Metropolitan Planning Organizations should add roundabouts to their lists of desired transportation improvements. Click HERE for a news article about long-range plans for U.S. 41.

Here's a video from FDOT's September 22 Community Meeting:

Rural Highway Undermines Horizon West "Pedestrian Oriented" Policies

2011-10-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

County Road 535--a four lane divided rural highway--severs the connection between thousands of homes and Sunset Park Elementary School. Reduction of the posted speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph has had inadequate effect because the County engineered C.R. 535 for comfortable interstate highway speeds. Nothing controls motorist speed more so than thoroughfare design.

Horizon West architect Tory Parish has posted a report about the intersection of C.R. 535 and Overstreet, where numerous children cross to walk to school. You can find a link to her report HERE.

Crossing guard at C.R. 535 and Overstreet helping a bicyclist across eight lanes of traffic, including turn lanes, engineered to interstate highway specifications.

We've lost the art of changing thoroughfare design based on the context. The County should have designed C.R. 535 as a rural highway that changed into an urban boulevard or thoroughfare north of Reams Road. Condominium and apartment residents will need to get into their cars to cross the street in order to shop and dine. Reality on the ground is inconsistent with County policies to make Horizon West "pedestrian-oriented."

Long-term, in accordance with the County's road maintenance schedule, the County should look to reconstruct the quarter-mile of C.R. 535 north and south of the Overstreet intersection to make it safer for the kids who walk and bike to school. Remove the massive shoulders. Plant trees. Narrow the lanes from 12 to 10 feet. Install urban curbs. An appropriate design goal would reduce the comfortable driving speed in this segment to 35 mph. You'll find more thoughts in Tory Parish's report.

Forbes Names Celebration one of America's "Prettiest Neighborhoods"

2011-10-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

Water Street in Celebration. Photo courtesy of John Von Fossen.

Here's the LINK to a Forbes article and another LINK to an accompanying photo essay naming Celebration one of America's "prettiest neighborhoods." It's well-deserved recognition. Local governments ought to make New Urbanist communities, like Celebration, Central Florida's default pattern for new development. But in many instances, we make it illegal. For example, in Orange County, there's no incentive to emulate the Water Street canal, depicted above, because water retention must be at least 100 feet in width, a well-known engineer told me.

Market Street, Celebration, Florida

The building setbacks on Market Street would violate the Orange County Zoning Code. The FDOT's Florida Green Book and Orange County's excessive off-street parking requirements discourage on-street parking. The condominiums above retail would violate the prohibition of the mixing of uses.

Market Street.

Instead of requiring environments like that depicted above, our local codes make sprawl the default development pattern. Sprawl is not a free-market outcome, but the result of onerous on-site parking requirements, setback requirements, open-space requirements, floor area ratios that discourage multi-story buildings, use separation, dumbed-down thoroughfare classifications, the discouragement of gridded street networks in the Florida Green Book, ever-widening thoroughfares that turn walking and biking into deadly pursuits, and a lack of regulation over the form of development.

Celebration reminds us how to do it right.

FDOT Should Consider Pedestrian Refuge Islands

2011-09-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

FDOT held a community meeting on September 14 to engage the public in its planned widening of Maitland Boulevard, between I-4 and Maitland Avenue, which gets congested during peak hours.

The intersection of Maitland Boulevard and Maitland Avenue has a kid attraction--the JCC--and is near the future Maitland SunRail station. In a conversation at the community meeting, a prestigious architect told a Maitland City Commissioner that pedestrians often cross the intersection.

Jurgen Duncan, transportation planner with Canin Associates, proposed a conceptual modification, adding pedestrian refuge islands to shorten the crossing distance. Jurgen's proposal would not reduce the intersection's vehicle capacity.

FDOT should also consider pedestrian refuges at the medians. Countdown clocks would reduce the number of pedestrians getting stranded in the middle of the thoroughfare.

Road Diets = Economic Revitalization

2011-09-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

The City of Orlando put Edgewater Drive in College Park on a road diet. The City has seen substantial economic rewards, not to mention a sharp decrease in motorist crashes. Rush hour travel time barely increased, or even decreased. We should consider road diets as an economic revitalization tool in Pine Hills and other struggling areas built more for pass-by traffic than for nearby residents. Dan Burden, formerly with the FDOT, gave a stellar presentation to the Winter Park Health Foundation last spring, highlighting example after example of economic rejuvenation following implementation of a road diet. Here's a video featuring Dan released by the folks at www.StreetFilms.org:

Thom Rumberger, 1933-2011

2011-09-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

"Some would say that the reaon I have gotten so involved with these public efforts...is now that I'm getting older, I'm looking for a straight shot into heaven...well, okay, as long as the Everglades are protected first."

Thom Rumberger, co-founder of the Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell law firm, where I worked for a dozen years, passed away last night.

Thom relished his stature as a green Republican in the great tradition of Teddy Roosevelt. The Everglades are cleaner and Florida has more manatees thanks to him. He made having an environmental conscience a requirement for elected officials of both parties. Thom's influence in Florida's environmental policies is immeasurable.

Admiration for Thom transcended political party lines:

United States Senate Resolution honoring Thom Rumberger, co-sponsored by Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio.

What Should a Rural Settlement Look Like?

2011-09-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Chancellor's proposed West Windermere Hamlet
Architecture by Tory Parish, Jackson-Parish Architects
3-D modeling by AzulArc, Atlanta, Georgia

The Orange County Commission voted 6-1 to transmit a Land Use amendment allowing Chancellor Investments, LLC, a client of my law firm, to develop the corner of C.R. 535 and Fiquette-Hancock Road, in West Orange County. The buildings face inward, away from C.R. 535, creating the rural village Main Street environment depicted above, which even the project's critics concede is beautiful. The site falls within, and sits at the edge of the West Windermere Rural Settlement.

The application has raised passions about Orange County's rural settlements. At the transmittal hearing on August 30, a half dozen leaders from various Rural Settlements spoke in opposition, concerned that approval of Chancellor's application would set a precedent for more commercial development in their own Rural Settlements.

My law partner, Kurt Ardaman, former president of the Gotha Rural Settlement's community association, created a record demonstrating how the West Windermere Rural Settlement is unlike any other. Suburban subdivisions--mostly gated--predominate West Windermere: Keene's Point, Lake Butler Sound, Glenmuire, Waterstone, Oxford Moor, Tildens Grove, to name a half dozen. Most West Windermere residents live a suburban lifestyle--without the horses, livestock, and large tracts of open land typical of other Rural Settlements. Commissioners Russell, Edwards, Brummer, and Damiani stated that approval would not set a precedent.

Bellaria--A typical gated suburban subdvision in West Windermere.

Upscale new homes in Waterstone, a gated subdivision in West Windermere.

My daughter, Hannah, walking to stables for horseback riding in the Avalon Rural Settlement--an environment very different from suburban West Windermere.

The protections of living in a Rural Settlement are not absolute. The County's Future Land Use policies have permitted intrusion of surburban sprawl into Rural Settlements--both residential (allowed by the County's Comprehensive Plan as "clustering") and commercial:

Glenmuire--A gated subdivision in West Windermere.

Clarcona Rural Settlement--intersection of Apopka-Vineland and Clarcona-Ocoee Road

Christmas Rural Settlement.

Commercial sprawl like that depicted above is of particular concern by Rural Settlement leaders. This raises the question: what should a Rural Settlement look like? The current zoning code--regulating use, intensity, and density--inadequately preserves the look and feel of a Rural Settlement.

In Gotha, where time stands still on a quaint rural village Main Street, a Mediterranean mansion intrudes.

Gotha Rural Village Main Street (Hempel Avenue)

Architectural incongruity. This suburban Mediterranean home, though beautiful, is inconsistent with Gotha's historic, Old Florida structures next door and across the street.

Form-based zoning standards could help avoid architectural debasement of Rural Settlements. Standards proposed by Chancellor--requiring Florida vernacular architecture--could help.

The County removed considerable land from the Lake Whippoorwill Rural Settlement along Narcoosie Road last year--a reaction to the highway's six-laning--for new commercial and office uses. The intersection of Conroy-Windermere and Apopka-Vineland Road, removed from the West Windermere Rural Settlement in the 1990's when the roads became four-lane highways, now features hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial and office development. The widening of Clarcona-Ocoee Road into a multi-lane highway will increase pressures in the Clarcona Rural Settlement. Rural Settlement leaders should pay close attention to the County's Capital Improvements Element, as it goes through the approval process each year, and urge transportation network alternatives to widening roads in and adjacent to Rural Settlements, including improving connectivity. When roads become highways, commercial pressures--and pressures to chip away at Rural Settlements--surely follow.

Appreciation: Hyman Bookbinder, 1916-2011

2011-08-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Regardless of your faith or background, you might appreciate an op-ed I wrote, published in the small Central Florida Jewish community newspaper, The Heritage. Hyman Bookbinder, who I worked for 24 years ago while in college, was a remarkable witness and participant in history. He acted on his deep convictions and played a small role in bringing about a more just society. He influences me to this day.

Here's the LINK.

Rick

Hyman Bookbinder and me, at age 22, at the House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee hearing room.

Hyman Bookbinder (center) flanked by civil rights leaders Roy Wilkins (left) and A. Philip Randolph (second from left) and Howard University Students protesting segregation at the Glen Echo amusement park in suburban Washington, D.C. in 1960. Bookie kept this photograph on his office wall.

Rail Transit Lines Opening Under Budget

2011-08-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

Click HERE a headline won't find on anti-transit websites. It's about two light rail lines in Salt Lake City opening at 20% under budget. The headline goes against the anti-transit narrative.

Here's ANOTHER regarding the Dallas light rail line coming in under budget. And ANOTHER regarding a rail line in Seattle also under budget.

Injustice and a Senseless Tragedy

2011-07-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to read Eliza Harris's blog post (reprinted at http://www.commuteorlando.com/) on the conviction of the Mother whose young child was killed trying to walk from a bus stop to their apartment complex across an arterial thoroughfare. The Governor of Georgia should pardon the grieving Mother and end this injustice. Responsible officials should install a signalized crosswalk as a first step to prevent a repeat of this senseless tragedy.

Here's NBC News video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transportation for America opined:

…This is a major issue in inner-ring suburbs across the country, places originally built as auto-only suburbia that now are home to many lower-income families who don’t have access to cars. Neither the public transportation system nor the highway designs work for those who live, work and walk in these areas. People are being punished and killed simply for being pedestrians. Our research shows that thousands of lives could be saved — and millions more lives improved — by retrofitting these dangerous roads, as many communities are trying to do.

Secretary Prasad: "We Need Transportation Alternatives"

2011-07-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Florida Secretary of Transportation Ananth Prasad at the Ceremonial SunRail signing.

At the future site of Florida Hospital's newly announced statewide corporate headquarters--a future SunRail station--United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Florida Secretary of Transportation Ananth Prasad signed a contract committing an additional infusion of $77 million of Federal funds for construction of the commuter rail line.

"Coming from the road transportation side," Secretary Prasad said, "I know we can't build our way out of congestion. We need transportation alternatives." The Secretary's comments reflected a point I made to him with a graph only weeks ago during his whirlwind tour of SunRail's local government partners.

Congressman Mica emphasized the bipartisan nature of the SunRail effort. He praised Secretary LaHood for resolving issues with Amtrak over liability. He said the question is "no longer whether it will be built" but "who gets the next leg." He showed a graph of more than $6 billion in transit oriented development around the $1.4 billion light rail system in Houston.

Secretary LaHood summed up the Central Florida SunRail effort: "You got your act together."

Governor Scott Approves SunRail

2011-07-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Governor Rick Scott's approval of SunRail today demonstrated that political reality, pragmatism, and economic need can prevail over ideological distrust. It also demonstrated the Governor's confidence in his Secretary of Transportation, Ananth Prasad (who made the announcement), Central Florida's business community (which strongly backed the project), and the fiscally conservative Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. The strong consensus among citizens and elected leaders of both political parties to build the project--from Volusia County to Osceola County--overwhelmed SunRail opponents.

Over the next two years, during construction, Central Florida leaders need to ensure that SunRail emobodies the best practices and not ignore valid points raised by SunRail's fiercest critics. I would suggest the following as preliminary thoughts:

* CRITICISM #1: SunRail will compete poorly with automobiles since trains will run only every half-hour during rush hour. Trains every half-hour during rush hour are, in fact, inadequate. An initial--not long-term goal--should strive for ten minute separation between trains, which may require the purchase of additional locomotives. The built-in $77 million (30%) contingency in the budget for both Phases I and II could allow for such purchases given that contract prices are locked-in. The fear of cost overruns expressed by SunRail opponents should prove unfounded.

* CRITICISM #2: The trains won't serve where people want to go, including the airport, convention center, or Disney. This criticism ignored, or discounted the fact that SunRail is serving central business districts in Winter Park and Kissimmee, Downtown Orlando as well as major employers such as Tuperware, Florida Hospital, and Orlando Regional Medical Center. However, click HERE for a video from the Orlando Sentinel of Mayor Jacobs' recent comments. I agree strongly with her assessment of a need to connect SunRail to the Orlando International Airport and Orange County Convention Center. Ideally, I would like to see the ability for Williamsburg residents--many elderly--to access the rail network.

MetroPlan's vision for a multi-modal Central Florida, with connections to UCF and the theme parks, should remain a long-term goal:

Click to enlarge -- Conceptual Map

CRITICISM #3: People won't travel from car to rail to bus. The need for convenient multi-modal connectivity will remain heightened, especially while SunRail remains only the spine of a rail network. A card system similar to SunPass--the integrated charging system for most Florida toll roads and airport parking--should ensure seamless boarding between buses and rail and vice versa. Lynx will need to schedule buses to connect to the airport, Disney, and other major destinations so they're available as soon as passengers disembark. GPS-enabled signs, with data available on iPhones, BlackBerries, etc. should inform passengers when the next bus and train will arrive. Lynx needs to post maps showing where the buses go. Passengers should also have the opportunity to bring and safely store bicycles onboard.

Ironically, within hours of Secretary Prasad's SunRail announcement, a severe crash blocked traffic in both directions on I-4 in Polk County--a reminder of how placing all your transportation eggs in one basket is unwise.

Overwhelming Community Support for SunRail Greets Secretary Prasad

2011-06-28T17:40:00.001-07:00

Florida's Secretary of Transportation, Ananth Prasad, conducted a day-long tour, from Daytona Beach to Osceola County to gauge community sentiment towards SunRail, Central Florida's decade-long planned commuter rail line.

Overwhelming community support for SunRail greeted him at the Maitland and Orange County Commission hearings I attended, and reportedly at the other hearings as well.

At the Maitland meeting, one SunRail opponent made the mistake of asking audience members to stand if they'd take the train instead of their cars. Virtually the entire audience stood. Many in the overflow crowd already standing raised their hands.

At the Orange County hearing, Mayor Teresa Jacobs similarly asked opponents and then supporters to stand. Again, supporters vastly outnumbered opponents.

At both hearings, pro-SunRail speakers outnumbered opponents, though each side received equal time.

One naysayer accused attendees of comprising of "special interests." The special interests included a severely disabled woman dependent on transit, a young nursing student who intends to reside in a city with rail transit, and, at the Maitland hearing, my Rollins Land Use Law student, Logan Laughlin, who said he was suffering from high blood pressure from driving in congestion. His comments brought a smile to Secretary Prasad.

MetroPlan's Harry Barley warned that, if Central Florida violates Clean Air standards, Federal funding for road construction will grind to a halt. SunRail, he said, is a step towards cleaner air and expressed concern over rising levels of asthma among children. He urged the Secretary to uphold MetroPlan's regional vision.

After the hearing, Mayor Jacobs escorted Secretary Prasad to the Commissioner's conference room, where I sat with an overflow crowd, 90 percent of whom, again, supported SunRail. I had a brief moment to present the following chart to the Secretary, demonstrating that we can't build our way out of congestion.

(The numbers on the left side of the graph are in the millions--you can add "000" to get the reported figures). Increasing vehicle miles traveled on Metro Orlando's highways since 1992 have far exceeded increases in highway capacity. I told the Secretary we need cost-effective ways to reduce the gap. (In fact, SunRail provides an opportunity to obtain the capacity of one lane of I-4 at a fraction of the cost of road construction.) I told the Secretary that I hoped he would recommend to the Governor that we proceed.

If I were the Secretary, I would advise the Governor that he faces acute political risk if he tries to scuttle SunRail.

FDOT Begins Review of Pedestrian, Bicyclist Safety Policies

2011-06-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

The Sun Sentinel published an interview of FDOT's new secretary, Ananth Prasad, in which he announced that FDOT has begun a "thorough review" of its policies relating to pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Here's an excerpt:

Q: In May, a new report ranked four Florida metro areas, including Orlando at No. 1 and South Florida at No. 4, among the nation's most dangerous for pedestrians. You recently testified before Congress that it might not make sense to build sidewalks, landscaping and bike trails. Can you elaborate?

A: My point was we should not have pre-established goals. We need to make sure it's needs-driven rather than a fixed amount of money or a percentage of the program spent on landscaping or sidewalks where they might not make sense.

Florida has been doing very good. Our highways are the safest in their history. (In 2009, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said traffic deaths in Florida dropped to a historic low. The state recorded 2,563 traffic fatalities in 2009, compared with 3,533 in 2005.)

We're committed to pedestrian safety. The numbers are trending downward. We recognize that one accident and one life taken is one too many. We've started a thorough review of our policies. We're going to make sure any changes we need to make continue to make our roads safer for pedestrians, for people in automobiles and for bicyclists.

I'm told by those who know him that Secretary Prasad is an honorable man, so I'm taking him at his word. I'm convinced, after consulting with some of Florida's leading transportion engineers and planners, that we can gradually, over time, improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety by incorporating the Institute of Transportation Engineers' cutting-edge Walkable Thoroughfares manual into FDOT's Florida Greenbook, which sets design standards for thoroughfares maintained by local governments, and the Plans Preparation Manual, for State thoroughfares.

Secretary Prasad is correct that pedestrian facilities do not always make sense. We need to adopt Complete Streets design standards on a context-determinative basis. We need to focus our attention on schools, parks, where pedestrians regularly cross thoroughfares from apartments to bus transit stops, and on compact urban areas, such as downtowns and central business districts.

It's one thing to adopt a Complete Streets policy, which Florida arguably already has by requiring "full consideration" of bicyclist and pedestrian safety needs. It's another to incorporate meaningful design standards for areas where they're warranted. The Secretary and FDOT deserve a chance to improve pedestrian safety standards in suburban, and especially in compact urban areas. It doesn't make sense to endanger pedestrians by designing thoroughfares for 50 mph motorist travel where two minute traffic signal cycles undermine time and capacity gains from such speeds. Where warranted by the context and public safety, we need to slow the traffic.

Turn Florida's Deadly Roads into Safe Ones

2011-06-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Orlando Sentinel ran the following guest column last Sunday. The "Dr. Phillips Club," referred to in the op-ed, is the Dr. Phillips Rotary Club.

Click to enlarge.

Transportation for America posted an interactive map showing the location of pedestrian deaths nationwide. The Orlando map shows FDOT arterials--East Colonial, Semoran, and OBT--as lines of death.

Source: Transportation for America

Transportation for America posted the following message:

Our federal tax dollars actually go to build these streets that are designed to be perilous to children, older adults and everyone else. And yet, right now, some in Congress are considering the total elimination of funding for projects to make it safer to walk and bicycle.

.... But 67 percent of these fatalities over the last 10 years occurred on federal-aid roads — roads eligible to receive federal funding or with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
....
The irony is that fixing these conditions is relatively cheap: Existing funds for that purpose — now targeted for elimination — amount to less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. ....

76% of Voters Support SunRail

2011-05-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

According to an Orlando Sentinel poll, 76% Orlando voters back SunRail, the 61 mile commuter rail system Governor Scott is reviewing.

Another poll, of major employers on the SunRail route including the Orange County Courthouse, Rollins College, and Tupperware, found that huge majorities of workers would consider using SunRail for their commute.

Governor Scott received a packet of more than 100 letters and resolutions from businesses, civic organizations, and local governments supporting SunRail.

Winter Park Commission Urges FDOT to Adopt Complete Streets

2011-05-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Winter Park City Commission unanimously adopted a Complete Street resolution--to gradually make streets safe and comfortable for motorists and non-motorists. Importantly, the City urged the Florida Department of Transportation to follow suit.

WMFE-FM's Mark Simpson reported on Winter Park's resolution at THIS LINK. He interviewed me for the news report in front of an apartment complex across from a Lynx bus stop on Lee Road--a four lane divided highway. There's no painted crosswalk in the highway--or any relatively safe place to cross to the bus stop--for more than a half-mile in either direction.

During the interview, a lady in an electric wheelchair zoomed into the thoroughfare while cars whizzed by her back and forth at 45-50 mph.

Photo by: WMFE's Carly the intern.

The report states that I persuaded lawmakers to start adopting Complete Streets principles. Truly, the credit goes to Florida Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, who has expressed that Complete Streets principles should apply at both the State and local levels. Senator Gardiner had language incorporated into the Community Planning Act of 2011 giving local governments the tools to use Complete Streets and street grids to implement "transportation concurrency," which is Florida's system of widening roads to accommodate new development. Under the old concurrency system, a motor vehicle capacity deficiency would require the widening of an arterial road (making it less safe for pedestrians), despite the presence of a parallel road, or the ability to create a grid or other alternatives for motorists. The new language gives much needed flexibility to local governments.

FDOT has adopted Complete Streets in its 2060 long-range plan. For the lady on the electric wheelchair, we can't wait that long.

Complete Streets Revitalizing New York City

2011-05-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here's link to an interesting StreetFilms video about how "Complete Streets" principles are revitalizing New York City. On-street parked cars buffer the bike lanes, which the City painted green. (The Federal Highway Administration has now approved green bike lanes. They should become more common.) The City installed the bike lanes without reducing the number of lanes by narrowing lane width from 12 feet. You'll find ideas in the video applicable to less dense areas, including Central Florida.

John Mica: Please Streamline the Bureaucracy While Saving Sidewalk, Bike Lane Funding

2011-05-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

Anyone who periodically reviews my posts know I have great admiration for Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. I am asking him to consider modifying a proposal he floated to eliminate a 10% federal funding mandate for sidewalks and bike lanes. The Orlando Sentinel published my strong words last week:

"How many more headlines must we read of kids getting killed or critically injured walking to school, walking to a school bus or riding their bikes?" Geller said. "To shift funding away from bike lanes and sidewalks, when Florida is number one in the nation for pedestrian and bicyclist deaths, is reckless and irresponsible."

Today, for the second time in two weeks, a motorist struck a child waiting for, or walking to a school bus in Central Florida. The child, fourth grader Anthony Moore, died. There were no sidewalks despite numerous subdivision homes nearby.

Minneola Shores Road in Clermont, where a motorist killed a 4th grader today waiting for a school bus. This photo came from the Orlando Sentinel.

The Florida Department of Transportation devotes only about $35 million to sidewalks and bike lanes out of a $7 billion budget. We are literally talking about a drop in the bucket. Removal of the federal mandate would jeopardize this minimal funding.

As I told Fox35 news anchor Keith Landry, if we have no assurance the States will spend the funds where needed, we need to question whether to remove the mandate.

I appreciate Rep. Mica's interest in streamlining the bureaucracy. A federal bureaucrat should not require considerable brain power or time to to calculate 10% of a grant figure and to review a a one page certification that the funds were appropriated for the intended uses. Therefore, the new Federal Transportation Bill should:

(1) streamline the review and approval process for the funds;

(2) eliminate the mandate when States reach certain benchmarks, such as a reduction in the number of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and critical injuries; and

(3) at the very least, eliminate the mandate only for highway landscaping and beautification, and reduce the 10% figure commensurately.

The benchmark idea comes from Professor Bruce Stephenson, director of the Master of Planning program at Rollins College. Ironically, several proposed SunRail stations are on or near State roads. To devote no resources to bike and pedestrian facilities in these areas makes no sense.

Although not scientific, those who responded to an Orlando Sentinel online poll voted decidedly against removing the sidewalk and bike lane funding mandate:

Poll: Should feds cut money for bike paths, sidewalks?

U.S. Rep. John Mica wants to let federal-gas-tax money designated for bike paths and sidewalks to be spent on roads instead. Should the feds cut money meant for bike paths and sidewalks?

Yes. Far more people use roads, and with our infrastructure crumbling, fixing them comes first. (16 responses) 6%

Maybe. How about only if bike lanes and sidewalks are added when roads are improved? (4 responses) 1%

No. We should encourage more people to walk and bike and get out of their cars. (259 responses)
93%

279 total responses

(Results not scientific)

Winter Park Taking the Lead on "Complete Streets" in Central Florida

2011-05-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Winter Park will likely become Central Florida's first local government to adopt a Complete Streets Policy, requiring thoroughfares safe and comfortable for motorists and non-motorists. Click HERE for a story running in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer. The draft I reviewed would encourage the FDOT to adopt a Complete Streets policy, too, and would direct City staff to work with the FDOT on Complete Streets implementation. The FDOT controls Winter Park's principal thoroughfares--17-92, Aloma/Fairbanks, and Lee Road--the City's most dangerous for pedestrians.

New Urbanism Founder, Duany, at Rollins College

2011-04-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

My land use law student in the Rollins College Master of Planning in Civic Urbanism program, Linda Puritz, blogged a good compilation of quotes from Andres Duany, one of the Congress for the New Urbanism founders, during his recent lecture. You can find them by clicking HERE.

Wringing Savings for the Citizens

2011-04-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Orlando Sentinel reporter David Damron did an interesting write-up getting perspectives from former Commissioner Linda Stewart, Rollins College political science professor Richard Foglesong, Commissioner Fred Brummer, and myself, of Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs' first 100 days in office. I commented that, instead of criticizing the Performing Arts Center "just to score political points," she got the County involved in "wringing savings" from the project. I said the citizens will ultimately benefit. Professor Foglesong called it her "finest hour."

Although not included in the story, I told the reporter that Mayor Jacobs' most important task during her next 100 days is using her credibility as a budget hawk and transportation policy expert to try to persuade Governor Scott that it is economically irrational to kill SunRail and the billions in transit oriented development it will generate. Two of our law firm's municipal clients on the planned SunRail line, Longwood and DeBary, passed transit oriented development ordinances. Winter Park is also expecting economic benefits. Here's a link to an article about the "health village" Florida Hospital plans to build if SunRail becomes reality.

Complete Streets--A Key to Economic Revitalization

2011-04-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

Former FDOT engineer Dan Burden, one of the nation's leading voices for Complete Streets, safer for motorists and non-motorists alike, gave a stellar presentation to the Winter Park Health Foundation on Monday. He presented example after example of thoroughfares he reconfigured for slower design speeds. The result in each case: economic revitalization. Here's a new video featuring Dan by Streetfilms showing some of the examples....

Why High Speed Rail Will Return: Third World Infrastructure Surpassing Florida's

2011-03-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

The Interstate Highway System sits at the pinacle of our nation's transportation infrastructure. I recall driving from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. in the early 1990's with my wife's cousin from Uruguay. The system's efficiency and design--linking major metropolitan areas and beltways--impressed him. Soon thereafter, when I drove through Uruguay from the Argentine border to Punte del Este on the Atlantic Ocean on winding, two-lane country roads, I could appreciate his view of our interstate system. Indeed, the Interstate Highway System works efficiently--outside of urban areas during rush hour. Inside urban areas, the daily result is often looks like this:

Congestion, whether caused by rush hour demand, vehicle crashes, or both undermines the time efficiency of highway travel between and within major cities. Columnist George Will proclaims that the automobile represents freedom and liberty. It does, but not always. Don't get me wrong. I love cars. I love mine. I love driving mine--when I actually move and when I'm not exhausted by my long commute. We enhance freedom and liberty by giving people transportation options, when the automobile is part of a more balanced transportation network. My kids--like most others today--have less freedom and liberty than I had because they can't walk or bike to school. The elderly, who can no longer drive and are trapped either in subdivisions or in old age homes, have less freedom and liberty than those of earlier generations, who could walk safely to a grocery store. When people take high quality rail transit (when it's available), they free-up road capacity so we can enjoy our cars more and so that goods can reach market more quickly. Only a minority of Republicans nationally oppose Federal high speed rail funding.

Governor Rick Scott's rejection of high speed rail was rich in ironies. I found it ironic that, the day the Florida Supreme Court denied two State Senators' Petition to require him to accept federal funds (the correct legal result), I paid $3.79 a gallon for a fill-up. I found it ironic that we're sending transportation dollars awarded to Florida to other States while Middle East destabilization is driving up fuel costs (which harms our economy no less than a tax increase).

I found it ironic that Robert Poole and the California-based Reason Foundation (which most Floridians had never heard of before) could have more influence with a flawed anti-high speed rail report than the combined influence of the Mayors of Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, and Miami, the Republican chair of the House Transportation Committee, John Mica, a strong majority of the Republican-dominated Florida Senate, every major newspaper in the State of Florida, and the Governor's own Department of Transportation (which increased its high speed rail ridership estimate from 2.4 million to about 3.0 million).

Ironic that Florida's infrastructure is falling behind that of the Third World.

Argentina is moving ahead with a high speed rail line linking Buenos Aires to the major cities of Rosario and Cordoba.

As Brazil readies to accept bids for new high speed rail line, a Korean consortium offers its case for winning the bidding process:

China's new bullet train:

The new South African high speed rail:

Although not part of the Third World, here's a news report on Russia's high speed rail line:

Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Morocco, are among other developing nations either planning or already operating high speed rail.

A decade from now, with Florida falling farther and father behind the rest of the world, especially the Third World, we will see another push for high speed rail. Unfortunately, the capital costs of construction on the State budget will far exceed, by billions, what Floridians would likely have had to pay this time -- $0.00.

One final irony--a decade from now, Florida taxpayers will still pay, through their Federal income taxes, interest on the $2.4 billion in borrowed Federal stimulus dollars approved for Florida high speed rail, but without receiving any of the benefits.

UPDATE--March 9, 2011--A ridership study commissioned by the Florida Department of Transportation found that Florida High Speed Rail would have turned a $10 million operating profit its first year. No surprise to the prospective bidders, who make high speed rail operating profits worldwide.

UPDATE--Sept. 1, 2011--Click HERE for a link about Turkey's new high speed rail line.

UPDATE--Oct. 26, 2011--Click HERE for a link about Uzbekistan's new high speed rail line.

Altman v. Scott--Excerpts from the Petition

2011-03-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Senator Thad Altman (R-Melbourn), who believes in strictly construing the Florida Constitution, and Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) filed a Petition for Writ Quo Warranto (a common law inquiry into the authority of a public official), a Writ of Mandamus (an Order to perform a ministerial act), or other injunctive relief in the Florida Supreme Court. The Senators are asking the high court to order Governor Scott to perform the ministerial act of accepting high speed rail federal funds. Below you'll find excerpts from the 25 page brief, to which the Florida Supreme Court ordered a response by noon today. Click HERE to read the entire brief.

Court decisions are inherently unpredictable. A University of Florida law professor suggested in the Sentinel the Governor will claim the Senators lack standing to bring the Petition. Standing to bring a court action requires an injury in fact. In Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433 (1939), the United States Supreme Court held, "We think that these senators have a plain, direct, and adequate interest in maintaining the effectiveness of their votes." The Court reaffirmed, "“[O]ur holding in Coleman stands... for the proposition that legislators whose votes would have been sufficient to defeat (or enact) a specific legislative Act have standing to sue if that legislative action goes into effect (or does not go into effect), on the ground that their votes have been completely nullified.” Raines v. Byrd, 521 U.S. 811 (1997).

The legal arguments below appear strong:

Basis for a Writ Quo Warranto, Writ of Mandamus, or Other Injunctive Relief
Instead of completing the ministerial act of accepting the funds for the high speed rail project as he was required to do, Respondent instead requested that the monies be used for other Florida infrastructure projects. Such a claim of authority and the attempt to (1) reject the monies appropriated by the Florida Legislature; (2) reject financing specifically mandated by the Florida Rail Act; and (3) refuse to comply with the express directions of the High Speed Rail Act, all exceed Respondent's constitutional authority.

Governor Scott Wants to Spend $2.4 Billion in Stimulus Funds Elsewhere
It is clear that Respondent is not philosophically opposed to taking the ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) monies. He wants the $2. 4 billion for Florida. He just refuses to apply it to high speed rail. Under federal law, the monies simply cannot be used for other projects.

Florida Supreme Court Precedent: Legislature Has Exclusive Authority to Appropriate Funds and Reduce Funding
As this Florida Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Children A, B, C, D, E, and F, et al., 589 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1991), "This Court has long held that the power to appropriate state funds is legislative and is to be exercised only through duly enacted statutes." .... "Such a provision secures to the Legislative (except where the Constitution controls to the contrary) the exclusive power of deciding how, when, and for what purpose the public funds shall be applied in carrying on the government.... "Furthermore, the power to reduce appropriations, like any other lawmaking, is a legislative function." (Emphases in original). As such, the right, authority, and the power to fund the aforesaid appropriations, and the decision to reduce such funding, whether by state or federal funds, for the implementation of the Florida Rail Act lie exclusively with the Florida Legislature - not with the Governor. Simply stated, whether such funds derive from the state or from federal funds granted to the state, the appropriation of such funds constitutionally lies exclusively with the Florida Legislature.

High Speed Rail in Florida's Comprehensive Plan Since 1985
While there have been amendments and changes to the State Comprehensive Plan since 1985, the high speed rail policy has retained its vitality and continues to be an integral part of the transportation element of the State Comprehensive Plan.

Governor Cannot Lawfully Interfere with the Florida Rail Enterprise
The Florida Legislature intended that, once appropriations were made and authorized by the Legislature, the Florida Rail Enterprise shall have the full authority to comply with its legislative mandate, free from outside interference.

Additionally, and importantly, the Legislature crafted the legislation so that the Florida Rail Enterprise function without interference from other executive branch officials. "Except as otherwise expressly provided [by the Florida Act], none of the powers granted to the [Florida Rail E]nterprise under [the Florida Rail Act] are subject to the supervision or require the approval or consent of any municipality or political subdivision or any commission, board, body, bureau, or official." § 341.839, Fla. Stat. (2010). (Emphasis added). The Governor is an official within the meaning of the Act, and is not permitted to interfere with the implementation of high speed rail.

The delegation of the power and independence to the Florida Rail Enterprise was an intentional element of the Legislature's policy because the evaluation and selection criteria for the award of ARRA funds to the Florida Rail Enterprise included a requirement that the Florida Rail Enterprise "affirmatively demonstrate that it has or will have the legal. .. capacity to carry out [high-speed rail.]" See High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail "Notice of Funding Availability," Fed. Reg. Vol. 74, No. 119 at 29921 (June 23,2009).

Had the Legislature intended for the Governor to exercise significant control of the HSR System, it would have simply delegated authority over the system to the Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, the Governor, or the Executive Office of the Governor.
High Speed Rail Act Is Mandatory

The High Speed Rail Act requires the Florida Rail Enterprise to finance and construct the high speed rail system for the state. There is no discretion. As such, the authority to, and the requirement to, implement and execute upon the financing of high speed rail is imposed upon the Florida Rail Enterprise. Both explicitly and implicitly, the Legislature has set forth a specific methodology for implementing high speed rail. The Florida Rail Enterprise's executive director has no discretion to reject such financing as determined by the Legislature.
The Governor has no authority to refuse to implement the directives of the state law, especially funding that has already been applied for and awarded to the State of Florida when state law mandates the High Speed Rail Enterprise" ... shall locate, plan design, finance, construct, maintain, own, operate, administer, and manage the high -speed rail system in Florida." § 341. 822( 1) Fla. Stat.

The appropriations and the funds which are the subject of this Petition represent the appropriations to implement the high speed rail elements in the State Comprehensive Plan and the High Speed Rail Act. The Governor has no authority to refuse to implement the directives of the state law, especially funding that has already been applied for and awarded to the State of Florida when state law mandates the High Speed Rail Enterprise" ... shall locate, plan design, finance, construct, maintain, own, operate, administer, and manage the high -speed rail system in Florida." § 341. 822( 1) Fla. Stat.

Policy Reason: Hindrance of Major Infrastructure Planning, Financing, and Construction
If every newly elected governor decided to stop the major infrastructure project which [was] underway when he was elected, after the State of Florida has adopted by state law a policy to build the major infrastructure project; the Legislature has appropriated the funds for the project and directed the construction of the project, Florida will not be able to plan, finance, and construct the major infrastructure projects it requires for its people and its future.

Click HERE for a summary of the Governor's Response and HERE to read the entire Response.

Click HERE for a summary of the Senators' Reply Brief and HERE to read the entire Reply Brief.

UPDATE--March 4--Lakeland attorney Kemp Brinson has a good analysis of the oral argument at THIS LINK. A granting of the Senators' Petition would surpise me.

SECOND UPDATE--March 4--Click HERE for a link to the Supreme Court's Order denying the Petition. The Order does not contain legal analysis.

Two-Thirds of Floridians Support High Speed Rail Funding

2011-02-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

A Harris poll released this week found two-thirds of Floridians supporting federal funding for high speed rail. Supporters outnumbered opponents by a three to one margin. Nationwide, only 38% of Republicans oppose federal funding of high speed rail. Also nationwide, 66% of respondents said they would likely use high speed rail for non-business purposes. You can look at the poll details by clicking HERE.

Court May Decide Whether Florida Gets High Speed Rail

2011-02-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

Rejection of High Speed Rail Undermines

Florida Rail Enterprise Act

The Florida Rail Enterprise Act, as amended by the Florida legislature and signed into law by former Governor Crist, binds Governor Scott. Section 341.822 leaves no discretion to the Governor by stating, "The enterprise shall locate, plan, design, finance, construct, maintain, own, operate, administer, and manage the high-speed rail system in this state." Further, section 341.839 states that "none of the powers granted to the enterprise...are subject to the supervision or require the approval or consent of any...official."

Article IV, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution states, "The governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed...." A Governor does not have discretion to choose to enforce only those laws he favors. The Governor cannot, within his constitutional duties, take deliberate steps to deprive the Florida Rail Enterprise of funding or of right-of-way for high speed rail.

As noted in the update to the post below, the Governor is facing the prospect of a lawsuit by lawmakers for acting beyond his constitutional authority by rejecting the Federal government's high speed rail funding.

An alternative to the Florida Rail Enterprise is an interlocal agency formed initially by the cities of Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, and Miami. (The interlocal agency would require legislative approval pursuant to Florida Statutes § 341.8225(1)). The cities' proposal states in part (my emphasis):

I. A. Neither the State of Florida nor any of its departments, agencies or affiliates shall have any liability whatsoever for the costs, fees, expenses or general liability associated with the design, planning, construction, operation or maintenance of the Project. The State and State entities shall have no liability for: (i) the costs of construction, including any cost overruns (“Cost Overruns”); (ii) operating cost shortfalls for the operation of the system for the first thirty (30) years of its operation (“Operating Shortfalls”); and (iii) any obligation to pay back to the funding source or any other lender, any money provided for the Project, due to the failure of the performance conditions to be met in full (“Refund Payments”).
I. D. The Entity shall be non-recourse as to its members and the State of Florida. No other public agency will be liable for the costs of completing the Project or any Cost Overruns, Operating Shortfalls or Refund Payments. All such costs, fees and expenses and general liability of Cost Overruns and Operating Shortfalls shall be passed on to and guaranteed by the winning bidder selected from a concourse of bidders from the private sector to complete the Project (hereinafter “Vendor”) pursuant to a Request for Qualification (“RFQ”) process. USDOT shall waive any right to Refund Payments. The Entity will be responsible to disburse the funds provided to it through the grant and subgrant agreements for the purpose of completing the Project, all as provided herein and any documents executed in furtherance hereof (“Project Documents”).

I. F. The Entity shall obtain appropriate assurances from the Vendor of its ability to guarantee complete construction of the Project including a surety bond, letter of credit or other form of reasonably acceptable financial guarantees, or whatever other assurances, pledges and guarantees deemed necessary to the satisfaction of the FDOT and USDOT, as same shall be incorporated into the bid documents (“Bid Documents”), regarding the capacity of the Vendor to complete the Project in a lien free and liability free manner and to guarantee funding of any Operating Shortfalls.

IV. B. The Project Vendor shall also provide a guarantee, indemnification and if necessary, financial assurances to the reasonable satisfaction of FDOT and USDOT that it will be able to cover any such Cost Overruns, Operating Shortfalls or Payment Refunds.

The notion that the language above leaves Florida taxpayers are "on the hook" is nonsense. Conservatives favor shifting appropriate government responsibilities closer to the people--from the Federal level, to the States, and ultimately to local government. The proposed interlocal agency would further that aim. Conservatives do not support one branch of the government usurping the constitutional authority of another. This partially explains public criticism of Governor Scott from within the GOP and the threat he faces of a lawsuit by lawmakers.

Profits from Airport to Disney High Speed Rail Line Could Support Future Expansion

2011-02-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

Economist Hank Fishkind told WMFE-FM that a shortened Orlando International Airport to Disney World high speed rail line would rely on a common model for funding transportation infrastructure: start with a crowded route that generates a profit to support future expansion. You can listen to his interview by clicking HERE. The Reason Foundation, relied on by Governor Scott, suggested this shortened route as an alternative to lessen its cost and ridership concerns. Rep. John Mica (R-FL) said this route would have some of the best numbers in the world. In fact, such a line would draw from nearly 50 million tourists annually in the Orlando area--twice the population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston combined.

John Mica floated this shortened route idea last Friday, but it reportedly received a chilly reception from the U.S. DOT, according to Senator Nelson, because it does not connect two metropolitan areas.

UPDATE--Feb. 25--Multiple sources, including the Tampa Tribune, are suggesting legislators will file a lawsuit against Governor Scott for exceeding his constitutional authority by rejecting the high speed rail funds. Transportation secretary Ray LaHood has given the Governor an additional week to contemplate a proposal presented by the cities of Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, and Miami to form a new interlocal agency, under which the State of Florida would have no liability, available at THIS LINK.

U.S. DOT: Florida Leads Nation in Pedestrian Fatality Rate

2011-02-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

An "early edition report" issued by the United States Department of Transportation ranks Florida at the top of nation's Pedestrian Fatality Rates, based on 2009 data.

In addition, Florida had 107 bicyclist fatalities in 2009--more than any other State. California had 99 bicyclist fatalities. The next highest, Texas, had 48.

Here are the Top 10 States on the DOT's Pedestrian Fatality Rate chart:

Finding Authenticity in Seaside

2011-02-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

Jim Ward, Orange County's Chief of Urban Design, and I had the privilege of touring the Town of Seaside, in the Florida Panhandle, with town developer, Robert Davis, and planner, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (co-author of the best book describing America at the turn of the 21st Century, Suburban Nation). Thirty years after Davis sold a beachfront lot to pay for construction of the Town's first two bungalows, Seaside continues to inspire a better way of developing our built environment.

Town planner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and developer Robert Davis.

Seaside's main commercial area--a semicircle--reminded me of Celebration. However, the two developments are quite different. While others criticize Celebration's traditional architecture for its aura of "artificial perfection," Seaside's architecture is more eclectic. The town mixes rustic bungalows, Charleston row homes, modern architecture, condominiums, and stately mansions. Ruskin Square is a beautiful urban green surrounded by two and three-story condominiums, many over retail. Dining options range from very fine to food trucks. After thirty years, Seaside looks and feels authentic.

Ruskin Square.

You won't find homes like these in Celebration.

Those who stereotype New Urban development as "artificial" should watch the Seaside Neighborhood Charter School students play field hockey on the Lyceum, or run and bike freely, like kids should. Kids here walk to school safely. Mine can't. Do yours?

Seaside's Neighborhood School--Florida's first charter school.

Davis spoke fondly of his childhood--how he had independence to roam freely, without adult supervision, unlike most of today's kids, hemmed into monolithic, boring subdivisions by arterial highways.

I paraphrased Davis's comments when I addressed the Congress for the New Urbanism statewide conference later that afternoon on the topic of Complete Streets--the principle that FDOT design standards should make thoroughfares safe and comfortable for motorists and non-motorists in the appropriate context (such as road segments adjacent to schools, parks, Main Streets, downtowns, and where local governments want to transform sprawl into walkable town centers). Surprisingly, I made a Top 5 List for memorable quotes tweeted across the internet by several audience members "tweetcasting" the event. You can view the quotes by clicking HERE and by using the hashtag #SeasideAt30 at Twitter.com. (Before the conference, I had not appreciated fully how Twitter is becoming, in the words of Sarasota planner, Peter Katz, a new generation's "historical archive.") My favorite quote came from Los Angeles architect Stephan Polyzoides: "Friends are mortal but ideas are eternal."

Seaside is meant for one to experience personally and is well worth the 6 + hour drive from Orlando. Photographs do not do the town justice. Nor do videos, but here's a short promotional clip that may give you a better flavor of the town:

Seaside documentary trailer from Jillian Tucker on Vimeo.

Reforming Florida's Growth Management Act

2011-02-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

Florida's outdated 1985 Growth Management Act has produced a quarter century of sprawl, economic stagnation on excessively widened roads, an aesthetically deficient public realm, and a pedestrian kill-rate second to none.

Phil Laurien, drawing from his three decades as a planner, co-authored a White Paper outlining ideas for reforming the Growth Management Act. (Please note that he released the White Paper in his individual capacity and not as executive director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council). His ideas have reached members of the Florida legislature and the Governor's office.

A former planner who worked in Tallahassee for the Department of Community Affairs ("DCA"), the agency charged under the Act with reviewing Comprehensive Land Use Plans and amendments, told me she would analyze proposed plan amendments without necessarily having visited and knowing the area in question. Phil's White Paper suggests shifting many of those reviews from Tallahassee to the existing Regional Planning Councils, where at least some board members (and staff) would know the area under consideration.

Under Phil's proposal, each local government would establish a 20 year growth boundary (if one doesn't already exist), beyond which the State would not commit to providing costly urban services. Leapfrog, or proposed Plan amendments to develop beyond the boundary would require analysis and approval by DCA in Tallahassee. However, for proposals to develop within the growth boundary, a developer would need to obtain approvals only from the local Commissioners and the Regional Planning Council. That would ensure consideration of development impacts at the regional level while streamlining the process.

Phil criticizes the Growth Management Act's traffic concurrency requirements, which encourage sprawl by rewarding development in exurbia, where traffic capacity still exists.

Comprehensive Land Use maps assign different colors to different land uses, in Euclidian fashion. A commercial designation could produce an environment as beautiful as Park Avenue or as awful as S.R. 17-92. Phil would require placemaking--the essential element blatantly missing from the Growth Management Act.

Based on public criticism of DCA by Governor Scott and legislative leaders, I doubt the agency will emerge from the 2011 legislative session with its authority intact. Phil's ideas merit discussion and thought in Tallahassee.

UPDATE 2/7/11--Governor Scott's proposed budget, unveiled today, would cut $668 million from DCA's $779 million budget for 2010, slicing its workforce from 358 employees to 40.

63 Million Tourists Missing from Reason Foundation's High Speed Rail Report

2011-01-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

UPDATES-Feb. 16-22--Governor Scott told the U.S. Department of Transportation that he was rejecting Federal funding for the Orlando to Tampa high speed rail line. The Governor's press release making this announcement relies on contentions in the Reason Foundation's report, discussed below. This includes a view that metro Orlando's 2 million and Tampa's 2.7 million populations are too small to sustain high speed rail, while disregarding their 63 million tourists (equivalent to one-fifth of the U.S. population, or in other words, more than twice the population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston combined). The Governor also said he was protecting Florida taxpayers from up to "$3 billion" in cost overruns. That figure, from the Reason report, is based on California construction cost estimates, inflated by the extra expense of engineering and constructing a high speed rail line in a major earthquake zone and over miles of viaduct. (See the video in the blog post below).

Click HERE to read the reaction of House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. John Mica (R-FL) and HERE for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's. (LaHood is also a Republican). Florida Senate budget chairman, J.D. Alexander (R-Lake Wales), and State Sen. David Simmons (R-Orlando) expressed the view that Governor Scott exceeded his authority. Former Republican Congressman Lou Frey stated on WFLA-AM that the Governor was marginalizing the legislature. State Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Tampa), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, and Sen. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) voiced their disagreement with the Governor making this decision before allowing the private sector to submit bids. Congressman Dan Webster (R-FL) told WDBO that, while he agrees the Federal Government spends too much, the Governor's decision will not reduce the Federal deficit.

Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) noted how Florida loses 10 cents of every tax dollar sent to Washington.  "So the money that was sent to us for high-speed rail, those are our dollars, and now we're not going to accept our own money," he said. "We're going to give it away to others states and we're going to have to pay for those dollars that we'll never use."

More than two dozen members of the Republican-led Florida Senate signed a letter to Governor Scott in opposition to his decision. Click HERE for a link to the letter. I have rarely seen this much public criticism of a sitting Republican Governor by Republicans.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Governor Scott relied on a telephone briefing without having reviewed an updated FDOT ridership study, still incomplete.  The Governor also gave no indication of reviewing an analysis from the U.S. Conference of Mayors showing a return on investment of $2.9 billion in the Orlando area alone.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is proposing the Cities of Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando form a new entity that could receive the $2.4 billion in Federal funding, with private bidders to assume the remaining $280 million capital shortfall, maintenance, and operations.  The Spanish rail company, Talgo, stated publicly it was confident it could absorb the State's $280 million capital share. Another prospective bidder, Alston SA, publicly stated Florida taxpayers would incur no bond liability.  Public contracts require performance surety bonds to protect the government from any default.

Late last Friday, Congressman Mica renewed his call for a 21 mile airport to Disney World initial line, which he said, could have some of the best ridership numbers in the world. This shortened route would involve an entity created by Orange County, Osceola County, and the City of Orlando. However, on Saturday, Senator Nelson said Federal officials had reacted negatively to the shortened route concept despite the potential for future expansion.    Ironically, the Reason Foundation proposed this shortened route as an alternative to lessen cost overrun and sustainability concerns.

Here is my original blog post:

Concept drawing for Disney World High Speed Rail Station

The Reason Foundation released a "Taxpayer Assessment" report to convince Governor Rick Scott to either abandon High Speed Rail in Florida or insist upon strict terms "to limit the obligation of Florida taxpayers to the [existing] $280 million commitment...." Despite the report's flaws, reflecting the organization's longstanding anti-transit bias, the latter suggestions are mostly constructive. The report warrants both study and scrutiny.

A Fiscally Conservative Approach to Florida High Speed Rail

Florida's proposed High Speed Rail system is unlike typical government-run transit in that private industry would build, operate, and maintain it. This scenario is similar to airport infrastructure--typically paid for and built by government with private airlines operating the flights.

I agree with the Reason Foundation that private industry should bear the risk of cost overruns. The City of Orlando relinquished authority to the Orlando Magic to build the Amway Center. The Magic bore the risk of cost overruns, which gave the team an incentive to keep construction within budget.

The Reason report cites the negligently designed Boston Big Dig, which had about $10.6 billion in cost overruns, as an example of what could go wrong with Florida's High Speed Rail. The comparison has little merit since the Florida high speed rail system does not include costly underground tunneling. (Nor could it, given Florida's high water table).

The Reason report suggests that Florida should anticipate construction costs commensurate with California High Speed Rail's cost per mile estimate. However, engineering a High Speed Rail line in a major earthquake zone invariably results in higher construction costs. California's Central Valley line would include miles of viaduct construction. The video below may give you an idea why California's construction will exceed the cost of Florida's mostly at-grade construction:

The Reason report raises an idea floated originally by Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the House Transportation Committee's new chairman, to phase-in the project, beginning with a line between Orlando International Airport and Disney World. Governor Scott should, at a minimum, allow this segment to proceed. The Transport Politic, in a thoughtful post, "A Fiscally Conservative Approach is the Right One for Florida High-Speed Rail," opines that phasing is unnecessary if the State of Florida follows most of the Reason Foundation's other cost-containment recommendations.

Criticism of Ridership Projections Omits 63 Million Tourists

The Reason report attacks Orlando-Tampa ridership projections as follows:

3. Comparison to Amtrak Acela Express Ridership: The Tampa to Orlando line ridership projections appear very high in relation to Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express service that runs between Boston and Washington, DC. The Florida project is predicted to carry 2.4 million riders annually, which is two-thirds the ridership on the Amtrak Acela Express service (3.2 million in 2010). This could be difficult, in view of the much smaller size of the Tampa to Orlando market compared to the Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Washington, DC market. The Acela market has approximately eight times the population of the Tampa-Orlando market. The metropolitan areas in both markets have substantial tourist volumes.

The report does not quantify the "substantial tourist volumes" -- a glaring omission, given that the Orlando leg runs through the tourist corridor. The number of tourists in both cities amounts to over 63 million people--far more significant than the Orlando metro area's 2 million or the Tampa area's 2.7 million populations.

City Number of Visitors

Orlando 48.7 million

Tampa 15 million

TOTAL 63.7 Million

Disney World, the nation's most visited tourist destination, would have a station on the High Speed Rail route. The Orange County Convention Center, also with a station, is the nation's second largest convention facility. A rail-to-rail connection with SunRail could generate non-tourist usage.

The 2.4 million annual ridership estimate averages 6,575 riders each day. Despite old passenger cars (one person told me his car was leaking in the rain), inconvenient schedules, and slow travel, Amtrak had about a quarter million passengers board or get off non-high speed trains in Orlando, Lakeland, and Tampa in 2009. Some portion of existing rail riders would use high speed rail when traveling between these cities. Press reports state the Florida Department of Transportation is preparing new ridership estimates for Governor Scott's review.

Over the Christmas holiday, on C.R. 535 outside of Disney World, traffic stood in gridlock for much of the day. While spending an aggravating half-hour getting through one intersection to cross C.R. 535, we checked GoogleMaps Traffic. It depicted I-4 as one long red line, meaning traffic was at a standstill. The tourist district needs options other than automobiles to address transportation (and consequent economic) dysfunction.

State Senator Paula Dockery, a fiscal conservative and early supporter of Governor Scott, knows well how to scrutinize rail projects (as SunRail supporters can attest). Yet she is on record supporting the High Speed Rail system. She said that "private companies are talking about putting $300 million to $400 million on the table, which would cover the $200 million for construction not covered by the federal government." John Mica, another fiscally conservative Republican, has likewise stated that the project is viable with private industry covering the 10% capital shortfall. As part of his vetting, I hope Governor Scott is reaching out for their important perspectives.

General Electric, Siemens, Bombardier, and other corporations, appear interested in building and operating these systems. They would not demonstrate this interest if they did not expect to turn a profit. High speed rail systems internationally--including in Japan, Spain, France, Great Britain, and Taiwan--return profits, though that does not occur in every instance or in every year.

Amrak's Acela line--the closest we have in the U.S. to High Speed Rail--turns a profit, even though it's government-run.

Nothwithstanding the Reason report, now that the Federal Department of Transportation is redirecting to Florida $342 million in funding from Ohio and Wisconsin, the case for rejecting a Florida system has weakened. Any decision to abandon this project will not shrink the Federal deficit, but will instead direct $2.4 billion intended for Florida to California and elsewhere. Governor Scott is too smart to make that his legacy, given the option of making private industry shoulder the risks of proceeding.

A Smarter Built Environment Could Make Kids Smarter, Too

2010-12-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

A study of 9 and 10 year olds in the journal, Brain Research found an association between brain size, cognitive ability, and exercise. You can find an online article about the study, written for a lay audience, at the website of Science Today magazine:

When they analyzed the MRI data, the researchers found that the physically fit children tended to have bigger hippocampal volume -- about 12 percent bigger relative to total brain size -- than their out-of-shape peers.

The children who were in better physical condition also did better on tests of relational memory -- the ability to remember and integrate various types of information -- than their less-fit peers.

The new findings suggest that interventions to increase childhood physical activity could have an important effect on brain development

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Ohio State University, and the University of Pittsburgh, was serious enough to warrant notation in the December issue of Pediatrics magazine, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study provides further evidence that a built environment creating walkable and bikeable schools could improve academic performance. Other studies examined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked physical activity and academic performance.

We have engineered incidental exercise out of our lives. Sprawl development patterns, using dangerous highways to connect schools to subdivisions, have reduced the percentage of children walking and biking to school from over 40% in the late 1960's to around 13% today. Partly as a result, childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions--at about 17% of the pediatric population--with about a third of children overweight. Instead of self-reliance, we are instilling in our children a culture of dependency.

A properly built, smart growth environment can induce up to 80% of children to walk to school. I suspect additional research in coming years will show that smart growth can make kids smarter.

Leave it to Beaver depicted an America we've lost--kids walking to and from school. The sidewalks in our newer, conventional subdivisions are four feet wide--not wide enough for two, let alone three bigger kids to walk side by side comfortably.

The Road Safety Paradox

2010-12-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

Traffic engineers straighten and widen roads, then establish "clear zones" to make roads safer. That was the premise for four-laning Apopka-Vineland Road through Dr. Phillips in the late 1990's into a treeless drag strip with Interstate highway lane dimensions. The result: a faster, deadly road. The high-speed road design contributed to the death of my neighbor, who lived a couple homes away from us in the Emerald Forest subdivision. He left a young wife and toddler.

Charles Marohn, P.E., president of StrongTowns.org, states, "Taking highway standards and applying them to urban and suburban streets, and even county roads, costs us thousands of lives every year." He posted a cartoon illustrating the road safety paradox through a parody of statements he used to make to concerned citizens. Increasingly, leaders in the engineering field are rejecting this old line of thought in favor of context sensitive solutions.

Sidewalks Need Buffers from Traffic

2010-12-08T06:11:00.000-08:00

My heart goes out to the parents of Patricia Martin, 8, run over by a small day care center bus while riding her bicycle on Oakland Road at Cynthianna Circle in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Patricia, who diligently wore a helment (which may have saved her life) remains hospitalized, in critical but stable condition.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, "Troopers are still trying to determine why the girl left the sidewalk and rode into the path of the bus," apparently traveling northbound behind her. The photograph below may help partially explain what happened:

Oakland Road and Cynthianna Circle--Altamonte Springs, Florida.

The sidewalk, where Patricia was riding initially, is four feet wide with no landscaping buffer from the road. Phil Laurien, executive director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council pointed out to me that, if Patricia was distracted and her bike left the sidewalk, nothing buffered her from traffic on Oakland Road. The sidewalk merges with the street at Cynthianna Circle without any painted pedestrian crossing.

A grassy landscape buffer, like that depicted below, might have avoided the incident.

Courtesy: Jurgen Duncan, Transportation Planner, Canin Associates

The photo above depicts a shaded five-foot sidewalk and landscape buffer perhaps ten feet from the road. The cross-street in the background has a painted pedestrian crosswalk, setback from the more heavily traveled road and defining the path for pedestrians and bicyclists. The environment is not perfect. The brick walls eliminate natural neighborhood surveillance of children walking and biking--a crime deterrent. However, the photo provides a good example of a more complete street that could lessen the number of parents who experience the terrible anguish of a critically injured child.

Road Context: A Disconnect

2010-11-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

The Miami Herald wrote a troubling editorial. The Florida Department of Transportation maintains a pedestrian-hostile environment, Brickell Avenue, and then, due to insufficient pedestrian activity, claims FDOT regulations disallow slower design speeds and most other pedestrian safety improvements. It doesn't matter that thousands of condominiums and apartments tower overhead. You can find photographs and an article by clicking HERE.

The agency charged with designing, constructing, and maintaining State of Florida roadways -- the nation's most perilous for pedestrians -- enforces out-of-date policies when it comes to road context. The disconnect results in a grim, mounting death toll--including an elderly woman on Brickell Avenue last month--warranting legislative intervention, if FDOT won't update its regulations on its own. It's time for FDOT to assume a leadership position and provide for "complete streets," safe and comfortable for motorists and non-motorists--and appropriate for the context.

Click here for the Miami Herald editorial.

UPDATE 12/17/10: The Brickell Avenue controversy is heading towards resolution. FDOT conducted additional studies and agreed to lower the speed limits to 35 mph (still not low enough for some) and to add Bike Share lane markings. You can get more details by clicking HERE.

UPDATE 1/5/11: An op-ed in the Miami Herald is criticizing plans for only four new crosswalks on Brickell Avenue, three at existing intersections, out of 25 proposed locations. Click HERE for the Miami Herald op-ed.

Even a 7 Year Old Can Figure Out Urbanism

2010-11-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

Windermere Elementary School teacher Anthony Simms assigned his second grade students the task of creating a city or town. Future planner Max Geller received an A+ for his paper machete town, inspired by Downtown Winter Garden, where we often bike on the West Orange Trail. The elementary school terminates a vista (now illegal in most jurisdictions). A photo of my high school inspired the architecture, including pillars made of straws and a dome made from a paper bowl. The roads are narrow, slow, and safe, with wide sidewalks shaded by trees. Apartments provide a ready source of customers for the retail below. Max didn't even consider creating a town of strip shopping centers and highways that kids can't cross safely.

Child Deaths, Injuries Warrant Road Design Investigations

2010-11-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a lot of kids critically injured and killed on our roads last week. Children with green lights, in crosswalks, walking to school, walking to catch a school bus. Boys losing their brothers. Parents losing their children. Reading about this carnage day after day in the Sentinel is unbearable. I'm hugging my four kids a little harder every night.

A pick-up truck struck and critically injured Douglas Ethan Swayze, 10, walking in the crosswalk directly in front of his elementary school, Spruce Creek, in Port Orange. The road is a typical 45 mph posted arterial highway engineered for 50 mph traffic. The child had about 70 feet of pavement to cross, with no refuge island, exposing him to danger for an extended period of time.

Taylor Road--The highway in front of Spruce Creek Elementary School (lower left-hand part of photo) in Volusia County where Douglas Swayze, 10, was struck and critically injured while walking to school in the crosswalk. The crosswalk, in the upper center of the photo, is not lit.

I cannot comprehend why a school board member, school planner, or official would place elementary schools on highways, where we know children will walk.

A week earlier, in front of nearby Silver Sands Middle School, a car hit Kasey Alexander, 12, and Sarah Griffin, 11, but only injured them slightly. The road is two-lanes, tamer, and safer compared to Taylor Road.

The two-lane road in front of Silver Sands Middle School.

Studies find a correlation between the percentage of pedestrians who survive a collision and vehicle speed. Billy Hattaway, VHB Miller Sellen's director of transportation planning for the State of Florida, gave me the following chart:

To summarize the chart: speed kills.

In East Orange County last week, a motorist ran over and injured Miguel Rodriguez and killed his twin brother, Anthony Rodriguez, both 15 years old. Anothony was an English honors student and football player. The brothers were walking to their school bus stop on the side of Valencia College Lane. There's no sidewalk on the highway, yet that's where Orange County Public Schools designated a school bus stop.

The Orlando Sentinel reported the family was "angered that the teens could no longer use a bus stop close to their house — accessible by a side walk. A school district spokeswoman said that bus stop is for middle school students. Anthony and Miguel couldn't use it anymore because they graduated to high school." This terrible policy had deadly consequences.

In Kissimmee last week, a Lynx bus ran over and injured Mark Robinson, 12, and killed his brother, Mathew Robinson, 10, walking with a green light in a crosswalk in Kissimmee. Look at the well-rounded curb radius--about 35-40 feet--which encourages high speed vehicle turns.

The Lynx bus turned left, heading northbound on Dyer Blvd. to westbound on Columbia Avenue. Numerous apartments are in the northeast corner. The approximately 40 foot curb radii encourages vehicle turns exceeding 30 mph.

Compare those curbs to those in old neighborhoods, or New York City, where curbs are more square than round. That slows vehicle turns to speeds safer for pedestrians.

The Dangerous by Design report came out in November 2009 and--one year later--I am hard pressed to identify substantial measures undertaken by FDOT and our local governments to improve upon our #1 in the nation pedestrian danger ranking.

Putting aside designated sources for transportation funding, it's ironic that we can spend $70 million widening three miles of the Turnpike, $12 million tearing out part of the 429, hundreds of thousands on this and that intersection widening, and not more than a pittance making our existing roads safe for pedestrians.

10/17/10 UPDATE: I received the following information from the Orange County Planning Department regarding $2.4 million in budgeted pedestrian safety items not in the Capital Improvement Element:

The Public Works engineering budget includes $2 million for sidewalks. Last year the County spent $1,774,194. A safety committee meets to prioritize projects for this budget item. Additionally, Traffic Engineering has $419,500 budgeted for FY11 for pedestrian safety. This funding is for safe routes to school. Last year the County spent $675,000 under this line item. In addition to these line items, funding for new roads or road widenings include sidewalks, and new subdivisions are required to construct sidewalks.

I did not find any projects to redesign dysfunctional roads in the DRAFT Orange County Capital Improvements Element probably because the Element is directed to facilities needing minimum Levels of Service (e.g. levels of service for automobile flow). It is counterintuitive that a "road diet"--removing lanes and slowing traffic--can improve a road's level of service. However, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council executive director Phil Laurien told the Council this morning that a road diet, if done correctly, can have that effect.

We should not single out Orange County for criticism. Can anyone name one existing arterial or collector road elsewhere in Central Florida redesigned in the last year to slow-down motorists for the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists?

The new Town of Windermere roundabout next to the Elementary School is a notable exception. The roundabout provides an example how a local government can keep a road safe and narrow. Traffic tie-ups have virtually vanished while low-engineered speed traffic enables motorists and pedestrians (mostly children) to make eye contact. Motorists then ease to a stop and wave the kids to cross. After a Federal SAFETEA-LU grant, the roundabout will cost the Town about $120,000, according to my discussion with town manager, Cecelia Bernier. By comparison, a traffic light would have cost the Town at least $225,000 while imposing ongoing electrical and maintenance costs.

The time has long passed to consider sweeping reform of our road design standards, both locally and at the State level. We need road designs sensitive to the context. Where we know kids will walk--in front of schools and apartments--we need design standards that slow the traffic. We need to narrow the lanes. We need landscaping that gives motorists a better sense of their speed. We need to require lit pedestrian crossings and refuge islands. The Institute of Transportation Engineers has published new standards for designing walkable, urban thoroughfares that warrant adoption. The Federal Highway Administration endorses the concept. A growing national movement advocates "complete streets," designed for all road users, not merely motorists. Local governments take note: Federal grants opportunities are shifting in this direction, as Windermere's experience with their new roundabout demonstrates.

Saving motorists an extra 10-15 seconds (lost at the next red traffic light) was not worth the lives of Anthony Rodriguez or Mathew Robinson. In the meantime, official investigations into their senseless deaths and the other incidents discussed here warrant in-depth consideration of the role played by poor road design.

Voters Give Smart Growth Mandate to Teresa Jacobs

2010-11-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Source: Orange County Supervisor of Elections

Teresa Jacobs' overwhelming 68% victory for Orange County Mayor translates into one of sweeping geographic scope. The election results, and the precinct map above, confirm she is Central Florida's most formidable--and popular--public figure.

In her campaign mailers, Teresa touted her chairmanship of the Central Florida Smart Growth Alliance.

Teresa stated she opposes expanding the Urban Service Area when our population is not growing and so much of our urban core needs redevelopment. Teresa voiced her opposition to Innovation Way East, which included two miles of one acre homesite sprawl next to the Econ River. (That was the basis of my "no" vote on the Planning and Zoning Commission).

On the campaign trail, Teresa promised "frankly, more urban" development for Orange County. That's a good thing. Urban means walkability. It means development patterns shifting to create human-scaled environments like Baldwin Park and Celebration--with safe streets so our kids can walk and bike to school and to interesting places--and less disconnected, traffic-clogged, strip shopping center suburban sprawl based on 45+ mph highways that severely maim or kill our children walking to school and waiting for their school bus.

While campaigning, Teresa spoke of her lost effort in the 1990's to replace a planned arterial highway--Apopka-Vineland Road--with a tamer road that would not have divided her neighborhood. The experience propelled her into public life.

At the West Orange Chamber of Commerce Mayoral Candidates Forum, Teresa spoke in favor of a transportation future that is "multi-modal." At a WMFE debate, she described SunRail as an "insurance policy" to keep our economy moving when we again see gas prices soaring to $4.00 or more.

At the Orlando Business Journal's Mayoral Candidates Forum, Teresa spoke of the need for "predictability" in how development appears. She spoke of the need to streamline bureaucracy so that good development is not stymied. Form-based SmartCodes, like those adopted by Miami and Denver this year, incorporate both principles and merit her serious consideration. Orange County staff will come under Teresa's direction in January. As staff prepares a Unified Land Development Code, you can rest assured that Teresa will read every word and consider every detail.

The voters gave Teresa a mandate to lead Orange County into a Smart Growth future--and that mandate is as strong as anyone can conceive.

For more on the principles of Smart Growth, click HERE.

Mayor-elect Teresa Jacobs and family.

Amendment 4's Defeat a "Wake up Call to End Sprawl"

2010-11-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Eliza Harris, director of the Congress for the New Urbanism's Orlando Division, says, in wake of Amendment 4's defeat, local governments and developers should thank voters for a "second chance" to do better land planning. Amendment 4 would have required voter approval of comprehensive land use plans. She called the massive effort to defeat Amendment 4 a "wake up call" to "end the sprawl that congests our roads, endangers pedestrians, and chokes off transportation alternatives."

"CNU Orlando's Advisory Committee is urging local governments to revise their comprehensive plans to make walkable development--instead of sprawl--the default development pattern," Harris said. "To avoid future proposals like Amendment 4, local governments need to fundamentally change their required development patterns. Miami and Denver did so this year by replacing their zoning codes with SmartCodes and some local jurisdictions like the City of Orlando have started to create space in their regulations for walkable neighborhoods. Local governments in Central Florida should revise their Comprehensive Plans to enable form-based codes and mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods."

You can find her full comments at The Daily City.

Architect Critiques Horizon West's Lakeside Village Siteplan

2010-10-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Lakeside Village Siteplan -- As Shown on the Developer's website

Tory Parish of Jackson Parish Architects posted a critique of the proposed Lakeside Village Siteplan on her blog. Tory, a resident of Horizon West, relied on a siteplan and architectural renderings posted online by the developer, Boyd Development Corporation. (There's no relationship between Boyd Development Corp. and Commissioner Scott Boyd).

Tory writes:

Nothing about the current architectural renderings speak to the history or desirability of this area of Central Florida. The current renderings depict a typical regurgitated shopping center as found anywhere in Florida. Why can't the architecture be timeless? Have some character? Resonate with our history? Reflect elements of the Florida vernacular as found in nearby Gotha and historic downtown Winter Garden?

What about apartments and offices above retail?

The current site plan prioritizes the automobile. Pedestrians and bikers are a distant second. Every building is surrounded by asphalt. ....

The critique comes late, after road and infrastructure construction has begun and when the developer is already seeking Development Plan approvals. Nevertheless, Commissioner Boyd invited Ms. Parish and me to meet with the developer earlier this week.

I respect Boyd Development Corporation as a fine conventional suburban retail and office developer. Its principal partner developed Sand Lake Road's Plaza Venezia, an upscale strip retail center with Publix, Season's 52, Cedars, Shala's Salon, Roy's etc.

Plaza Venezia, Sand Lake Road

Horizon West's pedestrian-friendly, pedestrian-oriented requirements challenge conventional suburban developers, who tend to propose siteplan layouts used in automobile-only, sprawl environments, like that depicted above. Conventional suburban developers find comfort in their formula business and financing models. The transition to a different model is not easy. Resistance is natural. The industry does not widely understand New Urban development's long-term financial return advantage compared to conventional suburban development.

More than a year ago, Orange County approved the Lakeside Village Center's Preliminary Subdivision Plan (PSP), which included a Conceptual Layout. Boyd Development Corp.'s proposed deviations do not necessarily favor the pedestrian.

How To Turn Main Street Into A Parking Lot

Tory writes, "The four central buildings, which could be tweaked to provide a pedestrian-friendly zone [with parallel parking], have been pushed apart" with perpendicular parking. The Conceptual Layout below, approved by the County, shows diagonal parking, a compromise between parallel and perpendicular parking.

Approved Concept Plan--Diagonal Parking narrows the roadway somewhat, keeping the buildings closer together to establish enclosure and a sense of place.

Perpendicular parking, proposed by the developer, pushes the buildings further apart, and creates more of the appearance of a parking lot.

Parallel parking requires parking lanes 7-8 feet in width and allows the narrowest street realm. The charm of old European cities results, in part, from their narrow streets. SmartCode, a model New Urban Code, allows diagonal parking lanes as little as 17 feet in width. The perpendicular parking, proposed by the developer, will require two parking lanes, each 18 or 20 feet wide, as required by Section 38-1479(b) of the Orange County Code.

The developer's explanation for wanting perpendicular parking is that a tenant in Retail Building "D" will not want a customer of Retail Building "C" parking in front of Building "D." The developer--and perhaps their prospective tenants--do not appreciate the irrelevancy of where customers park in a shared parking environment, especially when the customers have a very narrow and safe street to cross.

UPDATE Nov. 4--The Orange County Development Review Committee yesterday approved perpendicular parking.

Lack of Pedestrian-Oriented Outparcels

While the approved Lakeside Village Center PD (called the "Frye PD") allows for more than 800 apartment and live-work townhome units to the west, within a five minute or so walk, the developer contends that "98% of people will drive" to the development. That's the justification for omitting pedestrian amenities at the outparcels. However, the omission will make exclusive automobile use a self-fulfilling prophesy. Tory told the developer she would never walk between their disconnected outparcels.

The disconnected outparcels give weight to Tory's criticism that the Lakeside Village Center plan "is in direct contrast to Orange County's goal of designing and creating sustainable communities designed for pedestrians."

"The McDonald's Will Be Pedestrian Friendly"

We advocated an urban prototype for McDonalds with direct sidewalk connection to the restaurant door and a drive-thru in the rear (see the blog post on McDonald's below). We noted the aesthetic benefits and how they could extend the internal main street's pedestrian experience. Veteran Orange County planner John Smogor assured about 80 Horizon West residents attending a Community Meeting earlier this month that, "The McDonald's will be pedestrian-friendly."

The Gas Station Gateway

The developer proposes to move the gas station to the northernmost parcel along C.R. 535 and face the gasoline station pumps and canopy towards southbound motorists. The view would be similar to this, with vegetation and a knee-wall obscuring much of the vehicles:

Typical suburban prototype gas station.

That is not the gateway view I imagined for a "Village Center." We urged the developer to hide the gas pumps and canopy from C.R. 535 behind the building as shown below:

Pedestrian-friendly gas station. Most motorists, even if not familiar with the area, will recognize the Shell logo and understand where to go.

Orange County required such a layout in Avalon Park, a New Urban development east of the airport.

Horizon West Residents: "Stick with the Vision."

Orange County Planner Luis Nieves-Ruiz is spearheading a "retrospective" study of Horizon West. He told the Planning and Zoning Board that Horizon West residents who responded to a County survey want to "stick with the vision." I'm hopeful the Orange County Development Review Committee, when considering the Lakeside Village Center Development Plan submittals, will do just that.

Aloma Avenue--Dangerous by Design

2010-10-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Commute Orlando posted the video below, taken on Aloma Avenue near where two vehicles killed a sixteen year old Winter Park High School student earlier this month. The crosswalk and street design meet all FDOT requirements. Senseless.

Pedestrian Workshop 10/17 from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.

Commute Orlando opined:

If traffic were slower, many more motorists would be willing to yield since they wouldn’t be as afraid of being rear-ended. I understand FDOT’s concern about placing crosswalks on higher speed roads. The solution, however, is very simple; lower the design speed and speed limits in pedestrian areas. The right to build high-speed arterials through pedestrian-active urban areas needs to be revoked.

UPDATE 12/17/10: The teenager killed on Aloma was intoxicated, according to media reports yesterday. His impaired judgment undoubtedly played a significant role in his death. One can't blame his death entirely on the road design. Tragic.

Horizon West Deserves a Break Today

2010-09-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

Horizon West Frye PD -- Lakeside Village on C.R. 535. McDonald's is the outparcel.

Winter Garden Village--No pedestrian amenities between Target and McDonald's. The drive-thru McDonald's at Lakeside Village in Horizon West would have a similar layout.

Horizon West Drive-Thru McDonald's Approved

Site Plan Needs Adjustments

On September 21, the Board of County Commissioners approved a special exception for a drive-thru McDonald's at the Lakeside Village Center, on C.R. 535 in Horizon West. The location is across from the existing apartments and condominiums. The applicant, Boyd Development Company (no relation to Commissioner Scott Boyd) proposed a suburban prototype McDonald's like the one at Sembler's Winter Garden Village. Try walking (with children) from Target to McDonald's. Without sidewalks, it's dangerous and uncomfortable. The proposed siteplan would undermine Horizon West's pedestrian-oriented requirements and needs adjustment.

McDonald's "Winter Garden Village" auto-only suburban prototype

McDonald's suburban prototypes wrap the drive-thru and parking around the building. When walking to or from the restaurant, one might feel a moment of discomfort worrying about a vehicle pulling out of the drive-thru queue with the driver looking into his bag of burgers and fries to make sure the order is correct. Others might not comprehend the danger to themselves or to their children.

McDonald's "Winter Garden Village" prototype has a typical drive-thru wrap-around.

I asked for help from the Congress for the New Urbanism's Orlando chapter. I recieved overwhelming responses, including from Canada. Toronto banned drive-thru restaurants that wrap around the building and cut-off direct access between the street sidewalk and the restaurant door. McDonald's developed (or adapted) a new prototype placing the drive-thru in the rear.

McDonald's "Toronto" prototype. Toronto disallows drive-thru facilities that cut off sidewalk access.

The City of Orlando similarly requires drive-thru facilities behind restaurants without cutting-off sidewalk access. The Taco Bell at SoDo is a good example. It improves upon the McDonald's Toronto prototype by including a separate queue lane. Here's a GoogleEarth view:

TacoBell at SoDo, Orange Avenue, Orlando.

McDonald's adopted a similar layout--with the drive-thru in the rear--at its Ybor City, Tampa restaurant:

Ybor City, Tampa McDonald's

Ybor City McDonald's outdoor dining.

The Lakeside Village McDonald's in Horizon West should adapt the Toronto or Ybor City prototype. Any pedestrian path crossing the drive-thru lane should rise above the driveway grade. The Lakeside Village McDonald's should add an architectural edge to the development's interior street, enhance the concept plan's grid pattern, and provide direct sidewalk access. The County should also consider parallel, on-street, parking in front of the McDonalds (on the interior street--not on C.R. 535). The McDonald's should become a walkable destination for future apartment and condominium residents who will live in Lakeside Village, on the west side of C.R. 535.

The developer's attorney told me they're amenable to what we're trying to achieve. Commissioner Boyd is in support. Orange County staff wants to work with us to improve the plan. Stay tuned.

Parking Lots -- Too Big and Too Little

2010-08-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

The planned Tavistock development is slated for the upper area of this photograph, to the left of Apopka-Vineland Road and north of the Cascades Publix shopping plaza. The photo captures a typical day when the half of the parking lot closest to Apopka-Vineland Road (and furthest from the Publix) sits as empty asphalt. In contrast, St. Luke's Methodist Church, across the street, relies on grassy areas for overflow parking.

Tavistock is requesting a waiver to remove several hundred parking spaces required under the Orange County Code at a planned development at the southwest corner of Apopka-Vineland and Conroy-Windermere Roads. Tavistock is justifying the request on the basis that calculations for required parking spaces are based on single use, whereas Tavistock is planning multiple uses that will experience peak hours at different times.

For example, Tavistock's planned fitness center will generate the most parking in the early morning and evening whereas the bank and office building will generate the most parking during business hours. Even during the noon hour, when fitness center use increases, total parking generation will not exceed 1,000 spaces, according to a shared parking analysis by the planning firm Glatting Jackson.

These business should share parking spaces. To save unnecessary construction costs, every proposed mixed use development should conduct, and the County Code should recognize, a shared parking analysis.

The County's voluminous parking requirements are based on annual peak demand--for example, the Sunday before Christmas for retail development--which leaves huge expanses of half-empty asphalt 90% of the time. Our off-street parking requirements are generally too large and denigrate the built environment.

Typical half-empty parking lot in front of strip shopping center on Hiawassee Road.

Winter Park K-Mart Plaza. Typical parking patterns with huge expanses of empty asphalt.

Developers pay for all the extra, unused asphalt, which drives up rent, which increases the cost of goods and services to consumers. We pay this hidden parking fee everyday. If the County grants Tavistock the waiver it seeks, it will avoid the cost of building a structured parking garage, which could cost about $10,000 per parking space. Such a garage would drive up rents and consumer costs.

I am the first to concede notable instances when we can't find enough parking. I often find a packed parking lot at The Fountains on Sand Lake Road on Friday and Saturday evenings, when its myriad restaurants (all the same land use) are doing the most business at the same time. Winter Park Village, on 17-92, historically had insufficient parking at peak shopping and eating times.

In most instances, however, when we say we can't find parking, we can't find convenient parking within a few hundred feet of our destination.

ITE Parking Generation Calculations--Voodoo Mathematics

Most local governments base parking requirements on mathematical formulas published by the Institute for Transportation Engineers ("ITE"). For example, a fast food restaurant with a drive-through window must have 9.95 parking spaces per thousand square feet. Consequently, most suburban 3,000 square foot McDonalds and other fast food restaurants nationwide will have 30 parking spaces--regardless of the availability of transit, walkability from adjacent neighborhoods, or actual experience.

Donald Shoup, a University of California at Los Angeles professor of land planning, analyzed the ITE requirements and found them statistically indefensible. ITE bases many of its parking demand graphs on a miniscule number of studies of limited observations in auto dependent environments lacking transit.

Shoup sharply criticizes the parking requirements for drive-through fast food restaurants. ITE reports average parking generation of 9.95 spaces per thousand feet. Shoup argues this precision gives a false sense of mathematical certainty. A closer look at the ITE graph below (from the 1987 edition of ITE's Parking Generation) shows that the 9.95 average per 1,000 square feet bears no relationship to the wide range of parking demand. Square footage is a poor basis on which to calculate parking demand.

ITE plotted peak parking demand on the vertical axis and restaurant square footage on the horizontal axis. The plotted squares measure the various observations. The diagonal line marks the average and serves as the basis for the precise 9.95/1,000 square feet ITE parking generation calculation. Local governments adopt ITE's calculations for maximum, peak demand as minimum Code requirements. However, the diagonal line bears virtually no relationship to the scattered observations.

The chart above plots the basis for a regression equation. (Don't let the mathematical term scare you--read on.) A regression equation measures predictability on a scale of 0 to 1--from zero predictability to complete predictability. If parking demand truly and absolutely related to square footage, the plotted squares would all fall on the average line and the regression calculation (R squared) would be 1. If restaurant square footage was a significant, but not exclusive factor in parking demand, the plotted squares would fall near the diagonal line. However, in the chart above, the plotted squares fall haphazardly all over the chart.

One of the largest restaurants, at over 5,500 square feet (on the right side of the graph) generated only about 20 full parking spaces at peak hour. A restaurant more than half as small, 2,500 square feet, generated about 35 full parking spaces, tying for fourth highest on the chart. The regression calculation on this chart (R squared) stands at an abysmal 0.038--very close to zero. The line drawn by ITE is statistically indefensible. In later editions of its Parking Generation book, ITE removed the R squared calculation.

Our everyday experience confirms that square footage does not necessarily mean more parking usage. Despite voluminous passer-by traffic, most parking spaces at the Burger King at Kirkman and Colonial are empty at dinner time. A parking lot at a much smaller restaurant, the McDonalds on 17-92 in Maitland, is often packed at the same time.

Several years ago, when Professor Shoup asked ITE to publish his article articulating these deficiencies in its Journal, ITE refused. I would have preferred to see ITE acknowledge deficiencies and start a dialogue within the transportation engineering community about how to improve the methodology. I would like to see ITE publish recommendations for shared parking, parking for areas served by transit, transit oriented development, and walkable communities.

Corporate Demand for Parking Spaces

Developers contend the corporations they want to lure are driving large numbers of parking spaces. CVS requests 75-80 parking spaces for each store location. At the Tavistock community meeting last week, attended by several dozen people, I asked how many people had ever seen 80 people in a CVS. Not one hand raised.

Walgreen's at C.R. 535 and Tilden Road in the City of Winter Garden. Typical pattern--fifteen parking stalls used and more than forty empty. The store would have more than sixty empty stalls if this were a CVS with the usual 75-80 parking spaces.

However, even CVS will depart from its prototype. The CVS in Baldwin Park has a limited number of on-street parking spaces in front and a shared parking lot in the rear, in the middle of block, hidden from street view.

Baldwin Park CVS. Limited, shared on-street parking in front and a shared parking lot in the rear.

Many corporations have not grasped that half-empty parking lots make their investments appear economically unhealthy. In the Pine Hills, this contributes to the perception of downward spiraling businesses.

Strip shopping center at Pine Hills Road and Silver Star.

In contrast to CVS, Home Depot conducted a study of its stores and, based on the findings, lowered its parking requirement from over 900 spaces to around 540 spaces per store. Lower development costs can enable Home Depot to gain a price advantage over its closest rival, Lowes.

Orange County staff has grasped the over-abundance of parking and no longer permits developers to pave more than 10% over the minimum requirement. The current code hinders shared parking by requiring Affidavits. As the planning staff works on a Unified Land Development Code, it should incorporate provisions encouraging shared parking, including payment into a fund for shared parking lots, and loosen the virtual prohibition on on-street parking.

UPDATE 8/29: At last week's community meeting, I incorrectly identified Professor Shoup as from the University of California at Berkley. He is at UCLA.

Overstating SunRail's Cost to Orange County

2010-08-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Mayoral candidate Matthew Falconer sent a mailer accusing his opponents of voting "to spend $1.5 billion on a rail system we the people rejected by our vote." (An earlier mailer claimed $1.6 billion.) His opponents did, in fact, support SunRail, but they did not vote for anything close to a $1.5 billion Orange County budget obligation. The SunRail Interlocal Agreement, excerpted below, shows Orange County's actual share of SunRail expenditures will amount to just over $40 million over seven years.

SunRail Interlocal Agreement, p. 14.

$40 million is a lot of money--and Orange County needs to monitor to make sure it's spent wisely--but the cost is in line with expenditures for typical road widening projects. For example, the Planning and Zoning Board voted two months ago on a $75 million road widening project for Southeast Orange County--covering only four miles. (SunRail will ultimately span 61 miles). The Orlando Sentinel reported on August 5 that 3 miles of road widening in East Orange County is costing $27.8 million). For another comparison, the Wekiva Parkway to I-4 interchange will cost about $450 million (slated to come from our tolls unless Congressman John Mica secures federal funds). No politician is making any of these expenditures a central campaign platform.

I'm not certain how Matthew is calculating $1.5 billion for the SunRail system. Here's my understanding of the numbers: capital construction, right-of-way, trains, and soft costs are expected to amount to just under $600 million, according to a 2009 economic impact report:

Aecom Economic Impact Final Report, p. 4.

SunRail is budgeting $615 million for these capital costs. In addition to that figure, the Florida Department of Transportation is paying CSX Transportation, Inc. $432 million for the 61 miles of track, right-of-way, and facilities upgrades, (with a leaseback from CSX to operate freight trains at night). This figure includes $150 million, which CSX committed to spending for upgrading track and facilities elsewhere in Florida to which CSX will divert freight trains.

Second Amendment to the Contract for Sale and Purchase, March 29, 2010

In addition, FDOT is building five bridges to separate the CSX line from grade level in Alachua, Sumter, and Marion Counties for $214 million--work scheduled independent of SunRail. I total all that ($615 million plus $432 million plus $214 million) to reach $1.25 billion. (Matthew's book on p. 169 also computes $1.25 billion). The United States Department of Transportation is covering half with funds they'd otherwise send to other states. I can assume only that Matthew's $1.5 billion SunRail figure includes years of maintenance and operating expenses (a figure rarely, if ever included when we discuss the cost of roads and highways) and potential cost overruns (although construction costs to local governments have declined with the recession).

[UPDATE 9 10 10: Matthew informs me the $1.5 billion figure is the total cost to all local governments over twenty years according to the FDOT. I'll post his entire email below.]

Congressman Mica, Senator Dan Webster (before he left office), and every conservative member of the Greater Orlando legislative delegation presumably compared the cost of the SunRail to the cost of right-of-way acquisition and construction of 61 comparable miles of I-4 lane capacity--SunRail cites $2.3 billion for 30 miles of I-4--and concluded SunRail's $1.2 billion shared price tag was worthy. There's a lot of collective wisdom in that group.

The Voters' Will

Matthew claims the voters rejected SunRail. They didn't. Seven years ago when Mobility 20/20 appeared on the ballot, voters rejected a different system, on a different route (not on the CSX line), intermixed with I-4 toll lanes (derided as "Lexus lanes"), and an acceleration of the State and County's voluminous roadbuilding schedule. Taking Matthew's rationale to its logical conclusion, to uphold the voters' intent, one would also need to oppose all the taxpayer subsidized roadbuilding, too, rejected by the voters. (Not a position I would take).

Property Taxes Not Slated for SunRail

Matthew filed a lawsuit calling SunRail "unconstitutional" on the grounds that operations and maintenance after seven years would require expenditures of property taxes without a popular vote. Matthew faces an uphill legal battle. He will need to demonstrate that the Interlocal Agreement removes local government funding flexibility. The Interlocal Agreement does no such thing and, further, each local government's share of debt service must come from "non-ad volorem sources," that is, not from property taxes.

Interlocal Agreement, pp. 21-22.

I could not find anything in the agreement that would obligate local governments to fund operations and maintenance from property tax revenues. In contrast, shifting more financial burden to road construction and maintenance, the only option Matthew would leave us, would increase long-term pressure to raise property tax millage rates. Orange County's 4,500 miles of roads (which could stretch to Los Angeles) and State roads don't pay for themselves. Their ongoing maintenance, resurfacing, and ultimate rebuilding costs reach truly staggering proportions.

"...shifting more financial burden to road construction and maintenance, the only option Matthew would leave us, would increase long-term pressure to raise property tax millage rates. Orange County's 4,500 miles of roads...don't pay for themselves"

In any event, a proposed $2.00 daily rental car surcharge--less than the cost of a "butterbeer" at Universal's Wizarding World--would provide a plausible source of funding for Orange County's share of SunRail operations and maintenance beginning in the year 2020.

Rail Successful in Phoenix Despite Sprawling Development Patterns

I agree with Matthew that sprawling development patterns are not conducive to rail transit. However, a local traffic engineer who returned from sprawling Phoenix a couple weeks ago told me their new light rail system is successful despite surburban development patterns. The following video confirms ridership exceeding expectations:

Phoenix’s METRO Light Rail Takes Flight from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Ridership on rail transit systems throughout the nation is reaching near record levels (though down from when gasoline was $4.00 a gallon), as many links in the right-hand column demonstrate. When I worked in Philadelphia after law school in the early 1990's, friends would drop off their cars in Cherry Hill or other locations in New Jersey and take the train to their jobs in Center City. SunRail stops furthest from downtown Orlando have considerable parking planned. It's better to under-promise and over-deliver, but all this does bode well for SunRail's ridership, if SunRail is done right.

Time Away From Families

For many who spend around 50 hours annually sitting in I-4 traffic, SunRail can provide a congestion-free option.

Questions for Conservatives

For conservatives pondering all this, I'd pose the following questions:

1. Where are the family values of leaving us with no choice but to spend the equivalent of more than a work week in traffic away from our families?

2. Where's the commitment to providing economic opportunities for small businesses? Opposing rail also means opposing the mixed use, small-business dominated, transit oriented development SunRail would foster. (Light rail lines in Charlotte, Portland, Seattle, and other cities have generated billions in such development around stations. Check out pages 198-202 of the report at this link.)

3. Where's the commitment to our national security by leaving us overly dependent on Hugo Chavez, the Saudis, and other foreign sources for our transportation energy needs? Does it serve our interests to send so many billions of our nation's wealth overseas? Does our susceptibility to oil price shocks--such as those in 1973, 1979, and 2008--advance our economic interests?

4. Don't we want America to be #1? Shouldn't we have a mass transportation system at least as good as the Czech Republic's?

5. Why did Ronald Reagan make no effort to curtail massive federally-funded expansion of the Washington, D.C. Metro system into suburban Virginia and Maryland during his presidency?

Small businesses dominate Transit Oriented Development in Orange, NJ

Roads Alone Can't Solve Congestion

Before the recession, Orange County was spending roughly $355 million each year on capital roadbuilding projects. Our Commissioners trimmed that to around $150 million as property tax receipts and impact fee revenues declined. The reality is that, for nearly two decades, we haven't, and couldn't afford to build our way out of congestion with roads and highways alone:

We haven't come close to keeping pace with our increasing vehicle miles traveled, even while paving over Orange County with extremely wide, high speed roads making us #1 in the nation for pedestrian danger. Matthew claims that SunRail will take away funding for road safety. The reality is that we devote much of our road "improvement" funding to creating awful environments like University Boulevard, shown in the photo below, which place pedestrians (you can find at least two in the wrong place) in danger:

University Boulevard, Orange County, Florida

The bottom line is that, while SunRail won't eliminate congestion, I-4 will have more congestion without it. Matthew is correct that passing trains will delay motorists heading to I-4. However, SunRail is cutting those delays in half by using double-decker trains.

Massive Government Subsidies and Market Intervention

Matthew tells audiences the fact they drove to the event where he is speaking, instead of using mass transit, is a "free market choice." Cultural conservative William Lind would disagree. He wrote a thoughtful article published this month on the conservative case for rail transit. He argues that our rail-free, auto-dependent lifestyles are not a free market choice, but rather reflect massive, decades-long government intervention in the market consisting of road and highway building subsidies. Until the 1950's, the nation's private rail carriers flourished--and paid taxes. However, when the Government taxes one economic activity while subsidizing a competing one, the competing one will undoubtedly prevail. You can find Lind's interesting article at this link.

Here is a video in which Mr. Lind makes these arguments:

William Lind: A Conservative Voice For Public Transportation from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

UPDATE 9 10 10: I told Matthew that, in all fairness to him, I would post his Response:

From: Matthew Falconer

To: Richard Geller

Cc: Paula Dockery
Cc: Beth Dillaha

Sent: 9/8/2010 1:59:03 PM

Hi Rick. I was sent your blog on my overstating Sun Rail cost. The $1.5 billion is the cost to LOCAL governments over the first 20 years as provided for in the FDOT analysis. Given Miami's Tri-Rail loses $87 million a year and has 5 times the rider ship I think Sun Rail will repeat that expense.

Your love for new urbanism and mass transit is allowing you to look at facts that support your desired conclusion. I only look at facts. Our nation is $14 trillion in debt. Our state has a $7 billion budget deficit. Twenty five percent of mortgages in Orange County are in default and 75% of small business are losing money. Twenty Five percent of rental car cost is already tax.

Seminole County is seeking a tax increase to pay for mass transit and Orange County will after the elections. This will take $300 million out of our small business economy. I may have lost the election but I was not incorrect about one thing; we are killing the golden goose of small business.

It is hard for insiders, lawyers, engineers and others to understand how bad the economic conditions are. It can and will get worse if we continue to add to the tax burden of consumers and small business.

Matthew Falconer
Falcon Real Estate Solutions

Goodbye, Don, my friend

2010-07-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

The news is frozen as of June 11. That's the last day Don Prendergast and his wife, Bethany, could operate the Orange County Internet News Service, also known as OCINS.com.

Don, a hero wounded in the Korean War, lost his battle with cancer on Monday. The community lost a steadfast champion, who kept his mind active in retirement by becoming a self-appointed member of the new internet media.

At its height, OCINS.com was drawing 40,000 hits a month from all over the world. Where else could one watch unfiltered and in-depth interviews of county commissioners, Sheriff Demings, Harris Rosen, and others?

During the 1990's, as development pressures ramped up in the Dr. Phillips area, residents were often caught unaware of the latest proposed land use change. As internet pioneers, Don and Bethany sought to inform Dr. Phillips residents by posting community meeting notices, which most citizens would never learn of otherwise.

Thanks to Don and Bethany's community work, Turkey Lake and Sand Lake Roads would never host the Dolly Parton Dixie stampede, now a vacant big box further down I-4 after a succeeding business, a flea market, failed. Thanks to Don and Bethany, we never had the Dr. Phillips Flea Market.

When I ran for office as a political newcomer, Don and Bethany couldn't have been kinder to me. They gave me invaluable experience in front of their video camera and I became a much better candidate as a result. Others, who managed to win office, owe a similar debt of gratitude to Don and Bethany.

Those attending last night's Dr. Phillips Advisory Committee meeting we're saddened to learn of the news and asked me about a memorial service. I'm told Don didn't want one. He didn't want people to make a fuss over him. Well, I just did anyway and I can hear Don's voice now, "Rick, no, no, no."

I'll miss Don's kindness, his political convictions, and his dedication to the community. He and Bethany were inseparable. Don is irreplaceable. My heartfelt sympathies to Bethany and to their daughter.

Rick Geller

Skinnier Lake Underhill Road Will Save Taxpayers $200,000

2010-07-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Orange County Planning and Zoning Board unanimously recommended approval of the proposed four-laning of Lake Underhill Road as consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.

The new Lake Underhill Road will function as an arterial highway. I expressed concern that the engineering--12 foot wide lanes (as wide as an interstate highway) without curves--will induce speeding far in excess of the intended 45 mph posted speed. I saw striking similarities with Apopka-Vineland Road, where the road's engineering encourages speeds of up to 60 mph. When I lived in Dr. Phillips, one of my neighbors died in crash on Apopka-Vineland Road, leaving a wife and toddler. A year or so ago, the daughter of friends of ours learned one of her classmates died on Apopka-Vineland Road. Our arterial roads are similar to Afghanistan or Iraq in one regard--they have an acceptable level of casualties we rarely question.

I asked the public works representative, Brian Sanders, if we could achieve speeds closer to the intended 45 mph with 10 foot wide lanes in an area passing numerous cul-de-sac subdivisions. The following month, Brian presented a revised plan, scaling-down to 11 foot lanes. As a result, public works said taxpayers will save about $200,000.

I expressed my view that we should require shade trees over sidewalks. Mr. Sanders said public works should revisit their standard landscaping in view of the County's shift towards multi-modal mobility. In response to some expression of concern over cost, I said, "Sapplings will be fine."

Lake Underhill Road between Goldenrod and Rouse Roads.

"Wizarding World" Outshines Suburbia

2010-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry--The first "high school" in Orange County in many years geared to pedestrians, without a massive parking lot in front and blank wall architecture.

Olympia High School. The dismal setting awaiting thousands of Orange County teens in August. Blank walls, conducive to crime, require that we surround our high schools with guard houses and chain link fences.

Village of Hogsmeade at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Numerous windows provide "eyes on the street" and a feeling of comfort, even though no one truly lives above the shops. Universal pulled the buildings to the street to give architectural definition.

Back to reality...single use, mostly windowless, massive (half empty) parking lot development required and encouraged by our zoning laws. Development similar to the Village of Hogsmeade is illegal under the Orange County Code, without obtaining numerous variances.

The New York Times reported one 21 year old Wizarding World visitor giving a "tearful admission" that, “I really wanted to live here; it was so much better than our real lives.” It's sad commentary about our built environment when, to find authentic places, we must go to a theme park.

Walkable Schools Trim Childhood Obesity

2010-06-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Orlando Sentinel published the op-ed above yesterday. Click to enlarge. More on "Walkable Schools" below.

Craig Ustler is Right: Isolated Land Use Can Undermine LEED Benefits

2010-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Darden Headquarters (under construction in GoogleEarth image) sits on an isolated pod, bound by the 528 Beachline Expressway, John Young Parkway, Central Florida Parkway, and the Shingle Creek wetlands. Employees have no realistic and safe option to walk or bike to work.

In comments published in the Orlando Sentinel, developer Craig Ustler observed that poor land planning can undermine the benefits of LEED energy efficiency certification. He pointed to the Darden world headquarters--which attained the second highest LEED certification--but which sits on an isolated, drive-only pod bound by the Beachline Expressway and two arterial highways. Biking and walking aren't a realistic and safe option for Darden employees. Darden had to incur the expense of providing employees with a gymnasium, bank and other amenities.

Another alternative is to incorporate corporate offices--including headquarters--into an urban fabric. Here's an aerial view of the Redmond Town Center, in Redmond, Washington, home of the AT & T Wireless world headquarters, a Marriott hotel, and offices for Microsoft:

The buildings screen most of the parking lots, a technique used in Baldwin Park and Celebration. The Marriott Hotel sits at a terminated vista. Here's a closer view:

Redmond Town Center

The Harvard Business Review has observed a trend in which large corporations, including United Airlines and Quicken Loans, are moving from suburban to urban locations. The Review opined that, insofar as attracting talent, "Companies that recognize the larger trend...may gain a competitive advantage in the process."

"Walkable Schools" Presentation to the Orange County School Board

2010-04-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Planner and Central Florida Congress for New Urbanism coordinator Eliza Harris, transportation designer Jurgen Duncan, and I appeared before the Orange County School Board on April 27, and presented, "Walkable Schools: How Smart Growth Principles Can Help School Districts and Kids."

To view the presentation, please CLICK HERE.

Gotha Middle School students crossing high speed traffic on Old Winter Garden Road. The lanes are 12 ft.--as wide as those on an interstate highway.

Children walking to Celebration Elementary School, built into the urban fabric. The narrow lanes, the bulb-out to reduce the pedestrian crossing distance, and on-street parking reduce speeds to safer levels. Windows on the rowhouses and on the school places "eyes on the street," and deter crime.

After the presentation, I sent the following email to the Orange County School Board:

Dear Chairman Cadle, Vice Chairman Flynn, and Board Members:

Jurgen Duncan, Eliza Harris, and I so much appreciated the opportunity to address you yesterday on the important issue of walkable schools. The analysis we shared demonstrated that walkable schools tend to reduce bus eligibility and associated OCPS transportation costs. We were delighted to hear of your strong support for, and efforts to achieve walkable schools within neighborhoods.

Chairman Cadle raised an important concern about societal attitudes. You may not know of an impressive group of Colonial High School students working to change them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0lfqShrRlE

You may find instructive a Smart Growth "Report Card" at: http://smartgrowthschools.org/SGSReportCard.pdf

OCPS planners and others can download the new Walkable Thoroughfares manual from the Institute of Transportation Engineers' website without charge at: http://www.ite.org/emodules/scriptcontent/Orders/ProductDetail.cfm?pc=RP-036A-E

Congress for New Urbanism chapter members have a breadth of expertise to share. I certainly have learned much from them. Please advise if we can assist you in any manner on these issues. Your advocacy for pedestrian-friendly street design and appropriate school sites can play a crucial role with local governments in improving the health and safety of our children.

Thank you again,

Rick Geller

Olympia High School--disconnected from the adjacent residential neighborhoods and on a four-lane arterial road. The 1960's-era suburban layout requires virtually everyone to drive to the school, resulting in a parking lot consuming about as much land as the buildings, at enormous cost to taxpayers.

Jumping the Shark on Sprawl

2010-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Fonzie about to "Jump the Shark"--The phrase refers to a gimmick marking the downward slide of something once popular that should have ended already.

I told the Orange County Planning and Zoning Board that we've "jumped the shark" on sprawl development. The Board voted 5-3 to recommend transmittal of Innovation Way East to the Florida Department of Community Affairs. If ultimately adopted, the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for this area south of the Beachline and east of the beltway in Southeast Orange County would change from Rural to a designation allowing considerable development.

Village B2's gimmick is a "Conservation Zone" of 535 "executive homes" featuring Energy Star appliances, native landscaping, and other "green" elements. Fran Pignone (appointed by Commissioner Linda Stewart), Marvin Barrett (appointed by Commissioner Fred Brummer) and I voted against transmittal. Sprawl development such as Village B2 isn't so green.

Village B2 would spread over two miles (measuring top to bottom) at a density of one home per acre. The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council expressed concern that residents would find themselves two miles from a Village Center commercial area. That means the residents will drive virtually everywhere.

Innovation Way's policies require mixed-use, "compact villages," designed as Transit Oriented Development. Transit Oriented Development requires a density of at least 8 residential units per acre. One unit per acre would not support the transit line drawn on the applicant's map through Village B2. Village B2 would perpetuate auto-dependent sprawl.

To their credit, Innovation Way East's planner and engineer signaled a willingness to redesign Village B2. Clustering of development, encouraged by an Innovation Way policy, would preserve more land in a rural and undeveloped form. I would suggest looking at the development pattern for luxurious, sought-after executive housing in Celebration as a model.

Home in Celebration. One acre lots aren't necessary for Disney and other tourist area executives.

Hannibal Square, New England Avenue, Winter Park, FL--Restaurants and retail below with apartments or condos above. An appropriate Main Street scale around which to cluster housing at a five minute walk.

****

UPDATE 6/22/10: On 3-3 tie votes, the Board of County Commissioners denied transmittal of the Innovation Way East application to the Florida Department of Community Affairs. The applicant cannot apply again for two years.

Roundabouts: An Alternative to Road Widening

2010-04-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Orlando Sentinel published the following op-ed:

(click to enlarge)

A Roundabout As a Potential, Long-Term Solution for Wallace Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard

2010-03-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

Concept Drawing for a Roundabout at Wallace Road and

Dr. Phillips Blvd. (Courtesy: Canin Associates)

Click HERE to link to a presentation to Orange County staff made by Billy Hattaway, VHB's Florida director of transporation planning, Jurgen Duncan, Canin's transportation planner, and myself on March 11, 2010. The presentation includes data from a computer simulation conducted by a senior VHB traffic engineer, which demonstrated that a roundabout would significantly reduce driver delays during the afternoon rush hour.

After the meeting, I sent Commissioner Boyd the following email:

Dear Commissioner Boyd:

Thank you for attending yesterday's meeting with David Heath, [public works director ] Mark Massaro, and public works staff. Billy Hattaway, P.E., VHB's Florida director of transportation planning, Jurgen Duncan, Canin's transportation planner, and I were grateful for the opportunity to present our proposal for a a roundabout feasibility study for the intersection of Wallace Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard. A roundabout could alleviate congestion, improve the area's aesthetics, and provide a safer environment for children walking between Dr. Phillips Elementary School and the Dr. Phillips YMCA.

Unfortunately, it appears we began our effort too late, and the budget contains too little money for a roundabout. As explained below, my recommendation is that public works should proceed with the road widening in the short-term, while considering a roundabout as a long-term solution.

The Case for Road Widening as an Interim Solution

Mark Massaro presented a good case that funds for the additional lanes are available immediately for relief to motorists while the County budget lacks the larger funding necessary for a roundabout. Public works accepted bids for the additional lanes on March 2, 2010, receiving a low bid of $127,992, significantly less than the $230,200 budgeted for the work. The City of Orlando provided Orange County with $100,000 for intersection improvements as a result of litigation between the Orange Tree HOA and Pulte Homes. Childrens' Legacy Program funding will cover the balance. Long term, the intersection needs mast arm traffic signals, which will cost at least $250,000. (UPDATE: Public Works advises the cost is $200,000-225,000). However, the County has no short-term requirement to incur that expense.

Engineering plans call for adding right-turn lanes on Wallace Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard and extending the northbound left-turn lane on Dr. Phillips Boulevard. The intersection is congested during peak hours (in part due to the multiple traffic signal movements). We learned yesterday that the right turns account for about 30% of the traffic movements. Therefore, the new lanes should provide relief for at least for a few years until enough motorists divert their travels from Sand Lake Road's congestion. I was glad to see, based on our closer review of the engineering plans, that the additional right-turn lanes will not increase the pedestrian crossing distance on Dr. Phillips Boulevard, already at 115 feet.

The Case for a Roundabout as a Long-Term Solution

However, I remain concerned about pedestrian safey at this intersection. We learned yesterday about 140 children walk the intersection on a typical school day. In 2006, a pedestrian and bicyclist were involved in crashes. I met a woman at the Clubhouse Estates Homeowners Association meeting this week whose child was riding a bicycle and hit by a car at the intersection, which she said went unreported. In 2009, according to information obtained by your staff, the intersection experienced more than forty crashes, including four with injuries and four blocking lanes.

The road widening plans do not preclude what we would propose as a long-term solution for Dr. Phillips' heart: a pedestrian-friendly roundabout. As we discussed, roundabouts slow traffic speeds to 15-20 mph, and virtually eliminate T-bone and head-on crashes. As a result, roundabouts reduce injuries 76% and fatalities 90% compared to signalized intersections, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In recent years, the United States Department of Transportation has become a proponent of roundabouts in part because, "Slower speeds are generally safer for pedestrians."

With a roundabout, motorists and pedestrians can make eye contact. When this occurs in Windermere, motorists ease to a stop and motion pedestrians to cross the street. A motorist traveling at 20 mph will more likely yield to a pedestrian than when driving at 45 mph. The Windermere roundabouts ended traffic back-ups of up to a mile.

Town of Windermere Roundabout--15-20 mph traffic with short crossings are conducive to pedestrian safety

View across Dr. Phillips Boulevard
115 feet of pavement with 45 mph traffic.

Notwithstanding the four-way, all-red stop condition at Wallace and Dr. Phillips Blvd., the 115 foot wide intersection with 45 mph traffic is intimidating from a pedestrian's standpoint. The conceptual plan we presented would reduce the pavement distance to two 26 foot crossings to a center split island. Pedestrians could cross more quickly, reducing motorist frustration. A roundabout would become an amenity for the Dr. Phillips community--a seam that brings the various subdivisions together as a neighborhood, rather than a fragmenting intersection.

Recommendations

I would encourage you to schedule a community meeting about the Dr. Phillips transportation network to allow a broad-range of residents to have meaningful input into a long-term vision. If a consensus of the community would like consideration of a roundabout, I would then encourage you to ask the County to conduct the roundabout feasibility study we suggested yesterday. (The County should secure funding for the study from the $100,000 savings between the low bid and budgeted intersection widening.) If a roundabout appears feasible, we should attempt to secure a Federal Safe Routes to School grant and look for other funding sources. Based on Billy Hattaway and Jurgen Duncan's experience, the study, engineering, and construction of a roundabout should cost between $300,000 - $500,000, depending on the level of amenities and cost of right-of-way acquisition. Jurgen's conceptual plan required only a small triangle of land for right-of-way acquisition, which the County could swap with the school district for unneeded right-of-way.

Mark Massaro estimated that a roundabout would take several years from concept to completion. In the meantime, the current road widening will provide some relief to motorists. I hope that, in the long-term, we can provide a safer environment for the children crossing the 115 foot intersection.

I look forward to working with you and public works to identify other intersections in District 1 that may serve as viable candidates for a roundabout. I was pleased to learn that staff views the Windermere roundabouts favorably and will consider the possibility of roundabouts going forward.

Respectfully,

Rick Geller

(UPDATE: 3/22/10--I received heartbreaking news. The son of friends of ours, an 11 year old, well-liked student at Southwest Middle School, is in intensive care at Arnold Palmer Hospital. Last Friday after school, a car struck him while he was trying to cross Wallace Road in front of the Sand Lake Hills neighborhood to go to the YMCA. Please include Daniel and his family in your thoughts and prayers.)

Reflections on Teaching Our Children About September 11

2010-02-21T04:37:00.001-08:00

The Town of Windermere's 9-11 Memorial. The idea for using steel from one of the fallen Twin Towers to commemorate those who lost their lives came from Boy Scout Jeff Cox.

The anguish of September 11, 2001 flooded back as the Town of Windermere yesterday dedicated Florida's first memorial--a chunk of steel from one of the Twin Towers.

I brought two of my children, Melissa, 5, and Max, 6, to start learning. My lesson: some people want to hurt the United States because it stands for freedom and democracy. But many protect us. The photographs of a firefighter with a mustache, placed on the memorial by family members who loved him, transfixed my children. The concept of selfless sacrifice is a profound one. Bravery is easier to understand at their age.

As I told WKMG-TV Channel 6, we want our children to grow into citizens who love America and what it represents. WKMG's camera captured Melissa asking me questions.

"Daddy, were you even alive when this happened?"

"Yes, I was."

"Were you a baby?"

"No, I was not a baby. I was all grown up."

"Did you get to see it?"

"Yes, I was watching it on TV."

While we bear witness for our children, we must teach beyond the difficult images they will one day encounter on the internet. Windermere placed the Memorial midway between the library and Town Hall--institutions representing learning and democracy. The Memorial's simplicity and beautiful small town America setting make it ideal for the teaching to begin and to continue.

Church Street Stumble

2010-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Eliminating Half of Sidewalk At Odds with City Code

A crowd of pedestrians on the part of a sidewalk slated for elimination for a right-turn lane. The orange cone marks the traffic signal pole's planned new location.

Mayor Dyer's administration normally is friendly and "gets it" when it comes to implementing walkable urbanism in the City of Orlando. Perhaps that's why many find the City's plans to eliminate on-street parking and half of Church Street's sidewalk at Orange Avenue so maddening.

This intersection, at downtown's heart, may have some of Central Florida's heaviest pedestrian traffic. SunRail, the new Arena, and 55 West will combine to increase the number of pedestrians exponentially.

Queues on Church Street rarely amount to more than several vehicles, and Church Street closes to vehicles in the evenings when Arena events will occur. Traffic load can further disperse by making Pine Street two-way, as City Commissioner Daisy Lynum proposes.

The City is attempting to solve a non-existent problem, and in so doing, will make the public realm more dangerous and less business-friendly. Cafe Ritazza depends on the on-street parking for part of its customer base.

The City of Orlando's Code (§ 61.253) classifies Church Street at Orange Avenue as a "primary pedestrian street." The Code defines "primary pedestrian street" as follows:

Primary Pedestrian Street. These streets, although they sometimes play an important vehicular traffic role, are the ones which have been designated to receive strong pedestrian emphasis, either because they carry heavy pedestrian flows or because they play an important visual role or because they link important activities or open spaces. Emphasis on the pedestrian requires wide sidewalks, frequently-spaced street trees, and other amenities to make walking a pleasant experience.

Eliminating half of the sidewalk is at odds with Orlando's Growth Management Plan's Downtown Element and ordinances, whose goals and policies are intended "to create Florida's Premiere Downtown by...enhancing the street-level pedestrian environment...." This is no enhancement.

One Orlando City Commissioner informed me he had no idea of the City's plans until he read about them in the Orlando Sentinel. I would like to see the City reconsider, and, going foward, would ask Mayor Dyer to consider establishing a more thorough means of review for street-widening plans Downtown and in other areas intended for pedestrians.

As a "primary pedestrian street," pedestrian traffic should have priority at Church Street and Orange Avenue.

(UPDATE -- March 1, 2010 -- I received word that, in view of concerns expressed by land planners, transportation engineers, and members of the Orlando City Commission, the City has placed the sidewalk narrowing on hold pending a full evaluation.)

SunRail and High Speed Rail Need to Connect

2010-02-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

This map submitted to the United States Department of Transportation for high speed rail funding omits an intermodal connection to SunRail commuter trains. The legislature approved SunRail after the submission.

Florida's application for High Speed Rail--submitted before the legislature approved SunRail--proposed two intermodal stations in the Orlando area for connections to other transporatation--one at Orlando International Airport and the other at the Orange County Convention Center. The application, however, left open the possibility of an intermodal connection with SunRail. Final plans should include it.

United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote on his blog about the various high speed rail grants:

We know that people already want to travel between these cities; we're here to begin making that downtown-to-downtown travel significantly easier, faster, and more productive.

The Florida Department of Transportation's representative stated to the Florida High Speed Rail Commission, "[T]he SunRail project ties well with the overall objective of high speed rail where you do need to have interconnectivity with the local systems in order for both systems to be productive and beneficial to the communities."

Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas lampooned the notion of people driving to the Orlando International Airport and paying exorbidant parking fees to take the train to Tampa. A connection between SunRail and High Speed Rail would eliminate the need for many to park at the airport.

The possibility of Lynx bus service between SunRail and the Convention Center and Airport seems wasteful. The point of rail systems is to eliminate sitting in traffic, not to needlessly create more traffic, especially when the systems will cross each other.

The other proposal for Airport/SunRail/Convention Center transit--a light rail system running parallel to the High Speed Rail line--seems redundant and wasteful.

A connection between SunRail and High Speed Rail would enable downtown Orlando workers and many Central Florida residents to travel by rail to Disney, the Convention Center, the Airport, and downtown Tampa, bypassing our traffic-choked highways. Likewise, residents from Tampa and Lakeland should have an ability to travel exclusively by rail to downtown Orlando, Winter Park, and beyond.

The significant ridership and revenue that both systems can generate to each other overwhelms the criticism that adding a SunRail intermodal stop will slow High Speed Rail's travel time. High Speed Rail trains won't travel anywhere near 160 mph between the Airport and Convention Center, with or without a SunRail stop. Tourist taking High Speed Rail from the airport may endure an extra two or three minutes for a SunRail stop--a pittance compared to the time they will spend in line at Disney World. The officials who will make the final decisions on intermodal connectivity should ensure that these two very expensive transportation investments provide maximum service and benefit to the people who live and work in Central Florida.

Planning for Congestion in the Tourist Corridor

2010-01-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

International Drive and Sand Lake Road--Tourist-oriented development based on the auto-dependent sprawl model. The outcome: poor aesthetics, severe traffic congestion, and a place locals would rather avoid.

Orange County has long-planned tourist corridor development on a segregated use, auto-dependent sprawl model. Hotels, timeshares, and retail are generally spread-out from each other. One finds vertical mixed use limited mainly to major hotel interiors. The tourist corridor incorporates comparatively little housing for workers, though an apartment complex for Universal workers is back on track. Sign control is inadequate on the Orange County section of International Drive north of Sand Lake Road (pictured above), contributing to poor aesthetics. Little is pleasant for a pedestrian.

Transit

Mass transit in the tourist corridor is limited. Most bus stops lack shelter from rain and summer sun. Lynx bus service to Disney requires a transfer from most parts of International Drive, though few know where the buses go. The bus stops I've observed do not have maps showing the routes--a simple step that could increase Lynx's ridership. Lynx could learn from the International Drive trolley:

The I-Drive trolley provides no service to Disney or Universal. No fixed rail or dedicated transit lanes exist yet, though Disney is now offering 50 acres for a high speed rail station. I suspect Disney has learned much--and benefitted economically--from its experience with EuroRail, which connects Disneyland Paris to major cities throughout Europe.

Road Construction and Traffic Trip Entitlements

Since the 1990's, Orange County's planned tourist corridor expansion has centered mainly on extending International Drive southward into Osceola County and constructing the Palm Parkway. The latter road, which runs parallel to I-4, acts as an extension of Turkey Lake Road into Lake Buena Vista. To help fund the Palm Parkway's construction, the County freely awarded traffic trip entitlements and impact fee credits. Vested average daily trips among the properties fronting the future intersection of the Palm Parkway and the future Wildwood Boulevard connector stand at over 91,000, as demonstrated by the following chart:

Properties within a short drive of the future Palm Parkway/Wildwood intersection also contribute traffic to the area, including a WalMart SuperCenter, Dr. Phillips Hospital, and Westgate Resorts. Future development of more than 1,500 residences on the Kerina property to the north and west will also contribute traffic. Even when one excludes all of these contributing traffic trips, the number of vested trips at Palm Parkway/Wildwood will far exceed the average daily trips for some of the County's most congested intersections, including Sand Lake and Turkey Lake Roads, Colonial Drive and Semoran Blvd, and Colonial Drive near the Florida Turkpike, as the following chart demonstrates:

To get an idea of the scope of development at Palm Parkway and Wildwood, click HERE to view a video of the first two of seven timeshare towers built by Hilton on the Marbella PD.

Carter/Hannah Smith Property

Last December, the present owner of Smith Tract 1, Maury Carter and Associates, appeared before the Orange County Planning and Zoning Board to request a land use change allowing replacement of over 600 planned apartment units, including workforce housing, with additional lodging units. The existing future land uses are Low Medium Density Residential (LMDR), which allows up to 10 residential units per acre, and Activity Center Residential (ACR), allowing 20,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial and workforce housing. The proposed land use, Activity Center Mixed Use (ACMU), is an intense tourist commercial designation used predominantly in the International Drive Activity Center.

A prior owner, Hannah Smith, made a similar land use change request in 1999, which the Board of County Commissioners rejected unanimously.

The following map shows existing future land use:

The heavy dotted line denotes the Smith/Carter property, about midway between I-4 and Apopka-Vineland Road. Wildwood is the middle connector road between Palm Parkway and Apopka-Vineland. Low density single family homes (LDR) and the Dr. Phillips Community Park (PR-OS) border the property to the north, low-medium density residential (LMDR) to the west, and tourist commercial uses (ACMU and vested ACR) to the south and east. The International Drive Activity Center encompasses the ACMU land use.

To entice the County to allow the land use change, Maury Carter and Associates offered 175 feet of buffering from single family homes in Dr. Phillips, more stringent height limitations than required by the Buena Vista North overlay ordinance, as well as tree preservation and plantings. (The offer was similar to a deal I had tried to make with Ms. Smith on behalf of the Dr. Phillips neighborhoods in 1999.) The applicant argued that lodging use would decrease vehicle trips northbound on Apopka-Vineland Road compared to the number of trips residents living in apartments would take and, further, would have no impact on school attendance. The applicant made good arguments and I wrestled with how I would vote.

I ultimately determined the application was inconsistent with Orange County's comprehensive land use plan. The comp plan contemplates a residential transition from the core of the International Drive Activity Center. The Evaluation and Appraisal Report approved by Orange County last June, states on page 59:

Transition areas should be an intervening area between the intensity of the core and the less intense surroundings and contain more residential uses than the core.

In addition, "[T]he County is seeking...integration of higher residential densities around employment centers and commercial districts to achieve a greater balance of land uses" as well as "[o]pportunities for affordable housing." (p. 229).

The present ACR parcel "facilitates residential development in proximity to employment areas to minimize travel distances between uses" and is "[i]ntended to promote workforce housing for tourist-oriented employment." (p. 34). Workforce housing on the Carter/Smith property would attract families whose children would attend the excellent schools in Dr. Phillips, and would buffer low density residential development in Dr. Phillips (long a concern of the Southern Dr. Phillips Coalition leadership, who were opposing the application). Given the large number of vested vehicle trips, Palm Parkway/Wildwood would benefit from workers living within walking distance of their employment (especially if residences are interconnected with the adjacent, future hotel, timeshare, and retail development). I urged the Commissioners to view our land-use decisions with a twenty-year, long-term time horizon, instead of a real estate investor's shorter time-horizon (whose goal is to increase entitlements and sell for a profit). I did not view eliminating all residential uses as wise or as "smart growth."

My motion to deny the requested land use change as inconsistent failed on a 3-3 vote (technically no action). Another Commissioner's motion to approve of the land use change to ACMU also failed. The request now heads to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration without a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Board.

Given the very large number of traffic trip entitlements conferred on Palm Parkway/Wildwood corridor landowners--and the probability of traffic concurrency ending--Orange County has little choice but to utilize mixed use strategies (including residential) to internally capture traffic trips, establish interconnectivity between uses off arterial roads, and pursue meaningful mass transit options. The alternative may be some of the County's worst congestion yet.

(JAN. 26, 2010 UPDATE--Maury Carter and Associates withdrew the application before the Board of County Commissioners could act on it.)

Text of Email to Neighbors of Windermere Community Church

2009-12-22T03:09:00.001-08:00

I wanted to thank all of you for emailing me about the Windermere Community Church application [to add independent and assisted senior living], which the Orange County Planning and Zoning Board heard last Thursday.

I considered all testimony and evidence carefully and made a motion to deny the application's transmittal for lack of consistency with the County's comprehensive plan and compatibility with the adjacent neighborhoods. My motion carried 6-1. The Planning and Zoning Board's recommendation will go to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration in the next month or so.
The ballfields, a condition in the development plan approved by Orange County in 2000, fulfilled the Church's 5% open space/civic requirement under the Horizon West Code. (Our revised Code increased the requirement to 7.5%). As I pointed out, the County's Future Land Use Element made the civic space contribution "permanent." In any event, I can't imagine a school on the church property without ballfields.

I presented information from the County's demographic study. Over the next two decades the need for senior housing to accommodate our aging population will become acute. The Lakeside Village Special Area Plan and the County's Comprehensive Plan require a mixing of uses and housing choices for all age groups.

My sense, at the end of the hearing, was that no one felt good about the discord in our community. Perhaps no one felt more pain than Pastor Matheson, who had no intention to upset the Church's neighbors.
I am hopeful that, before the Board of County Commissioners considers the application, representatives of the Church and the surrounding neighborhoods can come together and reach a consensus that: (1) preserves the ballfields and establishes a time-frame for their establishment; (2) preserves and extends a pine tree buffer between the Church property and the neighborhoods; (3) allows a reasonable amount of senior housing in a pleasing, aesthetic form that enhances our community.

I would ask those neighbors who walked door-to-door, conducted research, organized the email campaign, and otherwise took the lead, to form a committee to meet with Pastor Matheson and other Church representatives. I am asking for everyone's reasonableness and good faith.

My role with this application is officially done, but please let me know if I can assist you in any way. I am truly appreciative for the community's very passionate interest and involvement--and wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Rick Geller

(Jan. 26, 2010 UPDATE: Windermere Community Church withdrew the application before the County Commission could act on it. The Church indicated an intent to submit a revised application.)

Florida Senate Vote Removes Last Barrier to Rail Transit

2009-12-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge

The Florida Senate's lopsided 27-10 vote yesterday removed the last barrier to rail transit in Central Florida.

If the links in the right-hand column under "Rail Transit Ridership Surging" hold true, SunRail's ridership will exceed expectations. Estimates place ridership at about 7,500 daily passengers after completion of Phase I. One lane of I-4 during rush hour accommodates about 2,500 vehicles.

SunRail's capital cost to State and Local government--$600 million--is roughly the cost of building a freeway cloverleaf interchange. I don't recall comparable debate over constructing the 429/Florida Turnpike interchange a few years ago or any similar highway infrastructure. We accept spending tax dollars on roads without serious question. (UPDATE 9/21/10--The Orlando Sentinel is reporting the cost of connecting the Wekiva Parkway to I-4 is $450 million.)

The debate over SunRail, Tri-Rail, and rail transit in general revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about transportation subsidies. Opponents describe highway and road spending as an "investment" while describing mass transit spending as a "subsidy" for "losses." The reality is that taxpayers highly subsidize all forms of transportation. According to a research arm of the Pew Charitable Trust, at least 50% of federal highway spending is subsidized (not counting gas taxes, classified as user fees). We "lose" quite a bit on roads, even locally. A few years ago, Orange County was spending $350 million annually on road construction and maintenance. That figure was down to around $155 million the last time I checked, but still represents a large sum, and does not include the roadway spending of all Central Florida muncipalities. The cost of drive-only sprawl is not cheap.

Fiscally-conservative members of the Central Florida legislative delegation--Andy Gardiner, Eric Eisnaugle, Lee Constantine, Steve Precourt, and, last year, Dan Webster--have all supported SunRail. SunRail is cost effective compared to acquiring right-of-way, building, and maintaining 60 miles of interstate highway lane.

We don't have the resources to build enough roads to support demand as the decades unfold. Between 1980-2000, vehicle miles traveled increased 76%, while highway lanes increased 1.5%. Our drive-only sprawl patterns have resulted in the congestion that wastes more than a week of our time every year, imposes enormous hidden costs on the economy, and takes us away from our families. Either we pursue the vision in the map above, or it gets much worse.

50 mph sign mocking drivers at a standstill on I-4.

The cost of reducing hours of delay in Orlando this decade has included the addition of lanes on the interior median of I-4, construction of the 429 and 419 beltways, re-construction of the John Young Parkway interchange, partial reconstruction of the 408/I-4 interchange, and two economic recessions. We still spend more than a week of our lives every year sitting in congestion.

Enormous highway capacity building projects in Central Florida cannot keep pace with demand.

Construction of the 429 and 417 beltways have taken vehicles off Central Florida's arterial roads, helping to hold vehicle miles traveled fairly steady on arterials this decade, but at a cost to drivers in expressway tolls. The Orlando/Orange County Expressway authority collected about $205 million in tolls for its entire system in the fiscal year ending June, 2009.

The hidden cost of traffic congestion is over $800 million annually for the Orlando area, according to the Texas Transportation Institute's assumptions.

Click HERE for the data underlying these charts.

Click HERE for a MetroPlan transit vision map.

Nehrling Society Purchases Historic Gotha Homestead

2009-12-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Angela Withers, Theresa Myers, and the rest of the Henry Nehrling Society on achieving an elusive goal--purchasing the Henry Nehrling homestead. This decade-long effort demonstrated perseverence and triumph.

Only six acres remain of the original forty--the rest lost to development. The property and historic home's restoration becomes the Society's next goal.

The Henry Nehrling Home

Click HERE to link to the Nehrling Society's webpage and click on "Play Video" to learn about the Nehrling property's historic significance.

Change Zoning Laws for Safer Roads

2009-11-18T06:01:00.001-08:00

The Orlando Sentinel published the following op-ed:

(Click to enlarge)

Sidewalks three feet from travel lanes with cars whizzing by at highway speeds--about a half-mile from Windermere Preparatory School.

C.R. 535 in front of Windermere Preparatory School. Posted speed: 40 mph. Actual typical speeds: 40 - 50 mph. No crossing walk across C.R. 535. No wonder we don't let our kids walk to school anymore.

Our zoning laws require, or encourage development in the sprawl pattern, represented by the bottom of the diagram. All travel must go to, and concentrates on the collector or arterial road. Form-based codes can facilitate development in a more traditional, walkable form, represented by the top of the diagram.

The Orlando Sentinel published a very kind and supportive letter-to-the-editor from Marilyn Marks, on November 22, 2009:

Three cheers for Ideas that favor pedestrians

Rick Geller's down-to-earth My Word column, "Change laws for safer roads," on Tuesday was superb.

I never realized why I shudder while driving on West Colonial Drive's long, endless blocks of parking-lot fronts. It is maddening and just plain ugly.

You can forget parking at one place and attempting to walk to another store across the street. Why not consider the Miami plan, which creates better environments for the pedestrian? We should not continue to duplicate these Neanderthal-like massive concrete blocks of parking-lot frontages.

After all, this is Orlando, the City Beautiful, right?

Metro Orlando Most Dangerous for Pedestrians in the Nation

2009-11-13T06:30:00.001-08:00

Typical road sprawl on Colonial Drive--Economically failing and unsuitable for pedestrians

Colonial Drive--An Alternative Vision (Courtesy: Canin Associates)

The report released this week by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership ranks Metro Orlando #1 in the nation for pedestrian danger. The report states 50% of pedestrian deaths are occurring on road sprawl. Instead of balancing the needs of motorists and pedestrians, we're engineering roads with the dimensions and encouraging the speeds of interstate highways. Click HERE to link to the report.

In its lead editorial this morning ("Walk the Walk, Nov. 13) the Orlando Sentinel correctly identifies poor planning as a culprit and suggests more vertical mixed-use development, like in Chicago and Portland, instead of sprawl development patterns.

However, our zoning laws make that illegal in many instances.

Central Florida's local governments should look to the example set by Miami last September--a comprehensive new zoning code that integrates road planning with creating attractive, pedestrian-oriented environments. Click HERE to link to Miami's new zoning code website.

Rick

Mike Thomas slams Horizon West

2009-10-30T07:27:00.001-07:00

Horizon West Neighborhood Center Walgreen's--Cross a highway with 55 mph traffic for a tube of toothpaste? A pedestrian's daunting view.

Baldin Park CVS--A drugstore in a true New Urbanist community to which people can walk or drive. In addition to on-street parking, a parking lot is behind the building.

The Winter Garden Historic Downtown District. Unlike Horizon West so far, Downtown Winter Garden contributes a real mixed-use, New Urbanist business district in West Orange County, within safe walking distance from numerous homes. The West Orange bike trail connects Downtown Winter Garden to nearby Oakland Park, the County's first certified green residential development.

Home in Oakland Park with no garage in front. The garage is loaded from an alley, which improves the aesthetics.

Typical front-loaded garage home in Providence, Horizon West, with a very wide driveway. Providence lacks the alleys found in New Urbanist communities.

Mike Thomas's column in yesterday's Orlando Sentinel describes accurately how Horizon West strays from the principles of New Urbanism. In my view, Horizon West's problems stem from drive-only suburbanism, not walkable New Urbanism. New Urbanism's guiding principle is to establish environments for the pedestrian--not six lane arterial highways with strip shopping centers. In a comment published afterward on www.OrlandoSentinel.com, Mr. Thomas clarifies, "It is the bastardization of the original intent of New Urbanism that I'm condemning."

I'm grateful that a strong consensus has developed in Orange County Government to improve Horizon West. My fellow Planning and Zoning Board commissioners and County staff (chief of urban design Jim Ward, assistant county attorney Vivien Monaco, among others) indulged me with dozens of hours as we re-worked the ordinance to eliminate loopholes, upgrade design standards, and provide incentives for mixed-use development off the arterial roads. The County Commission unanimously approved our revised Village Code last June on a motion by Commissioner Boyd, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez.

The Planning and Zoning Board backed me unanimously, and Commissioner Boyd and his fellow commissioners followed suit, when we refused to accept Seidel Road as another typical multi-lane arterial highway, cutting off the ability of people to walk between where they live, shop, dine, and go to school.

Here's Mr. Thomas's column:

Nothing 'new' here--It's the same old sprawl
Mike Thomas COMMENTARY

October 29, 2009

Developers have unlimited imagination when it comes to concocting real-estate scams.

Here at Horizon West, we see the latest one.

It is called "new urbanism."

Horizon West is a sprawling, fledgling 59-square-mile development in the boondocks of southwest Orange County. It should not be here.

Until a few short years ago, there was nothing here but swamps and dead citrus trees.

But the landowners got together to decide how best to get it paved. And they sold glassy-eyed county officials on ... new urbanism!

They would build self-contained, densely packed villages where residents would talk on quaint front porches, enter the garage through the back alley, and walk or bike to village centers and town centers to work and shop. No expansive yards to maintain, no ugly driveways emptying into the street.

Green paving!

And there was a precedent.

Only a few years earlier, the County Commission approved Avalon Park out in the hinterlands of east Orange County.

Only in Florida could you have new urbanism without the urban.

"I think this is extraordinarily good planning," said then-County Mayor Linda Chapin about Horizon West.

"In 20 years of experience, this is the most sophisticated planning I've seen," state planner Charlie Gauthier said at the time.

"Horizon West ... is a perfect example of how government can encourage development without encouraging urban sprawl," said our editorial board.

They were about to put 60,000 people in the middle of nowhere, all without encouraging urban sprawl.

New urbanism has become a virus that spread the illness it was supposed to cure.

This is not to say Horizon West, or at least the part of it that has been built, is hideous. It is what it is: a network of sprawling commuter subdivisions far from any urban center.

There is little mixing of homes, condos and apartments, as you see at Baldwin Park. There is no coherent whole created from a tapestry of different parts.

Residents don't walk to stores, don't walk to schools and don't walk to parks. When they go to work, they get in their cars and take their place in the long rush-hour lines.

"It has not developed into the vision we all wanted," says Rick Geller, a county Zoning Board member appointed by Commissioner Scott Boyd. "People were expecting Horizon West to look like Baldwin Park or Celebration. But instead it looks like suburban sprawl."

Like Avalon Park to the east, the homes went in at Horizon West, but the job centers did not. And so people drive to work, often long distances on the expressway. To ease the traffic jams, rural two-lane roads such as County Road 535 are being expanded into four-lane thoroughfares.

They slice the development into pieces-parts.

County ordinances require walls for developments situated on these roads.

What you have are people who live across the street from a Walgreens getting in their cars, driving to their development entrance, then driving across the street to get toothpaste.

A guiding principle of new urbanism is that you put the stores in village centers, creating easy access for residents living around them. This was done at Baldwin Park.

But the chain stores wanted to be on thoroughfares in Horizon West, and the county naturally caved in. The result is strip shopping centers and parking lots — prettier than most, but strip centers and parking lots nonetheless.

On a tour of the place, I saw a total of two people on sidewalks.

In some developments, they even left out the back alleys — a big no-no in new urbanism. Instead of quaint homes and front porches facing the street, there are lines of garage doors and wide driveways. The reason for this, of course, is that alleys take up land that developers don't want to give up.

As Geller explains, Baldwin Park was built by one developer with one plan. Horizon West has dozens of landowners, developers and builders, each looking to maximize return on investment.

Baldwin Park also has the advantage of being in the urban core, with the roads and infrastructure in place. There are no thoroughfares cutting through it.

Geller led a charge to scale back plans to widen one road. He wants curbside parking to lower speeds and make it more pedestrian-friendly. Boyd wants to move a proposed high school closer to residential areas.

It seems too little, too late. But Geller says most of the development remains to be built — including the main town center — and can be improved upon.

"If we're going to have sprawl," he says, "I'd like it to be new-urbanist sprawl."

Architecture, Not Parking Lots, Should Define Streets

2009-09-24T06:40:00.001-07:00

At the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, I failed to win approval of a motion to "minimize" parking in front of a proposed 12,000 square foot, two-story professional office building on Apopka-Vineland Road. (The vote, 3-3, was technically "no action.") The applicant is proposing the new building to replace an existing one-story medical office building at the "Four Corners," just south of Conroy-Windermere Road, to continue and expand her medical practice.

We have degraded Central Florida's roads by lining them with parking lots.

The Windermere and Dr. Phillips communities opposed development at the "Four Corners" for many years. In the 1990's, the County Commission approved development along with expanding the intersecting roads to four lanes to support it. The concession to the community was a "Community Village Center" ordinance. The ordinance required "pedestrian oriented" development with a "streetscape" that would have "definition." The ordinance required development that would have a "sense of place."

I have never seen a parking lot with a "sense of place." A streetscape requiring "definition" needs architectural definition in addition to landscaping. We lose architectural definition by moving buildings far from our roads.

A huge parking lot in front of a building is not, by any stretch, "pedestrian oriented." Most people will not walk more than a 1/4 mile before opting for their cars. When we set back development 1/8 of a mile or more from the sidewalk, we make walking less convenient and encourage automobile travel, even by those who live in the subdivision next door. This development pattern unnecessarily adds to automobile congestion.

A professional office building, Perkins, and a CVS hide much, but not all of the parking on the northeast side of the Four Corners intersection. At the southeast corner, the stunning Tavistock Financial Center hides parking below and behind the building. Tavistock has set the correct example.

Tavistock Financial Center--No parking lot in front--Across from the proposed professional medical office building on Apopka-Vineland Road

Unicorp learned from the aesthetic mistake of placing huge parking lots along Sand Lake Road. Unicorp's most spectacular development to date, Dellagio, hides parking below and behind the buildings.

Dellagio. Sand Lake Road is to the right.

View of Sand Lake Road toward Plaza Venezia. Parking lot placement in front of buildings is an aesthetic error.

Celebration and Baldwin Park internalize their parking in the middle of blocks, which allows for on-street parking to buffer pedestrians.

Aerial View of Celebration Town Center. Buildings brought close to the street hide parking lots.

Aerial view of Baldwin Park. Buildings hide parking lots, in the middle of blocks.

Street-level view of Post Lake Apartments in Baldwin Park. Notice the parking lot hidden by the building at the far left.

Grocery stores and big box stores, where numerous customers make large, bulky purchases, can justify parking lots in front. But even in those instances, like the Baldwin Park Publix, developers should plan for future buildings to hide much of the parking lot. Another possibility: corner entrances can disperse parking at half the depth on two sides of the building, like at the Publix in Watercolor, Florida, in the Panhandle. One side can have a pedestrian orientation--ideally with small businesses wrapping an otherwise empty wall. The pedestrian side can connect to a residential area.

Watercolor, Florida Publix--Entrance at the corner to disperse parking on two sides.

The application for the 12,000 square foot Four Corners professional office building goes to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration in October. Section 38-1476 of the Orange County Code requires five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office use. Sixty more parking spaces lining Apopka-Vineland Road is too much. The County should insist on a parking lot to the building's side and rear, with perhaps a limited amount of parking in front for medical emergencies.

I agree with the Commissioners who did not support my motion, who took the principled position that we should amend the ordinance Countywide for uniformity. The more predictability we give developers and the community, the better for everyone.

JCC Grand Opening Draws Hundreds

2009-08-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

District 1 Commissioner Scott Boyd addressing the crowd at the JCC Grand Opening ceremony. He paid special tribute to Harris Rosen for his philanthropic efforts on behalf of the entire community.

Rick with Melissa and Caroline at the Grand Opening ceremony.

New JCC Opens in Dr. Phillips

2009-08-11T10:51:00.001-07:00

Friends--The Jack and Lee Rosen Campus JCC had a "soft-opening" in early August. The architecture, designed by Helman Hurley's Mike Chatham, is iconic. At 34,000 square feet, it's larger than I ever advocated, and the inside is nicer than I ever imagined. Harris Rosen and his construction superintendent, Daniel Guttierez, made sure it got done right.

The gym floor "floats," cushioning shock on the knees. Above you'll find a photo of probably the first-ever documented basketball game at the new JCC, within hours of the doors opening. Having grown-up shooting baskets at the old JCC in Cincinnati, it was wonderful to see the kids running out there and grabbing basketballs.

The JCC's crown jewel--and the reason I became fundraising co-chair with Val Denner in 2003--is the award-winning preschool. No longer housed in trailers, our smallest children now have a school facility worthy of the community. Special thanks to the Dr. Phillips Foundation for the infant and toddler rooms.

The Darden Food Pantry will help families of all faiths who find themselves in short-term, urgent need, as a result of illness, divorce, job loss, or other unexpected event. Special thanks to Patty DeYoung and the board of directors of the Darden Foundation.

The JCC is open to the entire community.

Rick