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Adpating The Garden Cities Concept |
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| Carol Stricklin, AICP and Bruce W. McClendon, FAICP | |||
| Session: Wednesday, April 19, 2000, 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. | Author Info | ||
Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow proposed limiting the size of garden cities by surrounding them with an agricultural greenbelt. This paper explores six principles of sustainability and identifies their application to the Horizon West project in southwest Orange County, Florida. This large scale, innovative planning concept adapts the Garden Cities model as a growth management strategy to deal with a dispersed development pattern while responding to consumer wants in the Orlando marketplace.
Garden Cities of Tomorrow
In Garden Cities of Tomorrow, written over one hundred years ago, Ebenezer Howard proposed a bold new planning initiative that was based on the ancient Greek concept of "natural limits" on the size or growth of an organism or an organization. As best explained by Lewis Mumford in his classic book, The City in History:
"Howard proposed a more organized kind of city, a city limited from the beginning in numbers and in density of habitation; limited in areas organized to carry on all the essential functions of an urban community, business, industry, administration, education; equipped too with a sufficient number of public parks and private gardens to guard health and keep the whole environment sweet."
To limit the size of each garden city, Howard proposed surrounding them with a permanent agriculture greenbelt. This greenbelt "wall" served the dual purpose of prohibiting the coalescing of cities while ensuring the lasting presence of nearby open space. Each city would be self-contained having a mixed, maximum population of 32,000 people with different vocations; a variety of businesses and service enterprises; and a thriving social life. It was in essence a marriage of town and country.
According to Robert Fishman, author of Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century, Ebenezer Howard’s proposals embodied all the ideals that are now so strongly advocated by the New Urbanists. Fishman points out that:
"The Garden City is the locus classicus of the New Urbanist ideal of the planned community that combines work and residence, housing for a wide range of incomes, and a town center with well-defined civic space-all at a walking scale, with easy access to parkland."
Howard’s Garden Cities also reflected many of the modern principles of sustainability. Stephen Ward, writing in the Journal of the American Planning Association, concluded that:
"To a greater extent than has ever been possible in commuter suburbs, the Garden City allowed a genuine celebration and renewal of nature, even within an essentially urban industrial economy."
Principles of Sustainable Development
Sustainability is an important concept for today’s planners and an increasingly enlightened public. While there are many definitions of sustainability and some confusion about its real world application, we like the following working definition articulated by Philip Berke and Marla Conroy in their article entitled Are We Planning for Sustainable Development. In their view,
"Sustainable development is a dynamic process in which communities anticipate and accommodate the needs of current and future generations in ways that reproduce and balance local social, economic, and ecological systems, and link local actions to global concerns."
In support of this definition, Berke and Conroy derived the following set of six comprehensive development principles for evaluating the sustainability aspects of local comprehensive plans: 1) harmony with nature; 2) livable built environments; 3) place-based economy; 4) equity; 5) polluters pay; and 6) responsible regionalism. Later in this paper, we will be using these principles to evaluate our adaptation of the Garden Cities model for managing growth in southwest Orange County, Florida.
Dissatisfaction with Growth Management in Orange County, Florida
The physical form of the City of Orlando and urbanized Orange County, is a polycentric, deconcentrated, scattered agglomeration of clusters and corridors. Orange County has a population of approximately 850,000 with about two thirds of its residence living in the unincorporated portion of the County. The overall land use pattern has been shaped by market forces and by Orange County’s primary growth management tool – the Urban Service Area (USA) boundary concept. The USA, which was first established in 1980, is the land area where a full range of urban services and facilities either exist or are planned to exist during the County’s twenty year planning period. Urban services include, but are not limited to, central sewer and water, transportation access, primary drainage facilities, fire protection, and libraries. Uses such as shopping centers, office and industrial parks, and full range of residential densities (from single family to apartments) can be developed in the USA because of the availability to services and facilities.
Through the use of the USA with an emphasis on clustering, Orange County has attempted to implement a phased, anti-sprawl growth management strategy designed to expand urban uses primarily from the core and from existing urban areas in an incremental fashion with an emphasis on compact and contiguous development. Expanding from the urban core, encouraging higher densities, and promoting infill development are all strategies that reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of public facilities and services.
Within the USA, there are a number of important nodes of activity. The Orlando Central Business District has the single largest concentration of employment. Other significant areas of activity include the Walt Disney World, Universal Studios/International Drive tourist commercial area, the University of Central Florida/Research Parks, the Maitland Center area, and the Orlando International Airport. With the exception of the Central Business District and the Naval Training Center, all the significant areas of employment are located at the periphery of the urban area.
This pattern of peripheral employment clusters or nodal activity centers is characteristic of most urban areas and can be traced to such natural forces as market accessibility, peoples’ desires for shorter journeys to work, agglomeration economics, burgeoning communication technology, the reduced need for concentrations of allied business and industry, and lower land prices at the edge of central cities. A study prepared for the Urban Institute based in Washington, D.C., found that from 1976 through 1986 two thirds of the employment growth in the nation’s sixty largest metropolitan areas occurred outside the central city.
In addition to the employment driven expansion of the Orlando area land use pattern, a combination of lower land prices, transportation accessibility, and a preference by many people for a lower density, smaller scale suburban living environment has been responsible for the growing success of the small towns in western Orange County and much of the growth in adjacent predominately rural counties. Despite the best efforts of County planners, it was estimated that over 100,000 people were commuting into Orange County from surrounding counties in 1990, and the number of commuters was projected to reach 250,000 by the year 2010.
The general development pattern in the Central Florida region is not unique. Recent national surveys have shown that many people are more influenced by the appearance of neighborhoods and security form crime than they are by such considerations as convenience to work and availability of public transportation. Arthur Nelson and Kenneth Dueker found in their academic research that despite the best efforts of planners, people continue to move to exurbia. They attributed this unrelenting movement to "the desire by households to escape urban environmental diseconomies and socioeconomic heterogeneity; the pursuit of the classical ‘Jeffersonian’ rural ethic; the desire to locate within or near open spaces and recreation opportunities; and the ability of households to select locations that offer levels of public services more commensurate with their needs." They concluded from their research "a large share of exurbanization exists because of the failure of urban areas to meet their promise as cities."
The real challenge for planners and not just those in Central Florida, is how to create a land use development pattern that achieves the laudable goal of controlling sprawl while still meeting consumer wants and needs for fresh air and sunlight, pure water and green open space.
An Innovative Strategy for Accommodating Growth: Horizon West
In response to dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the USA growth management strategy, Orange County decided to formulate a new development concept and growth management strategy that ended up reflecting many of the principles and ideals of the Garden Cities movement. The irony of Orange County interest in the Garden Cities model is that the development trends in England in the late 19th Century that led to the development of the model were just the opposite of what is happening today in America. Back then, people were leaving rural areas in large numbers and pouring into the congested, concentrated and often unhealthy city centers. This contrasts sharply with today’s pattern of out migration and flight from the urban core to the urban fringe and outlying rural areas.
The Horizon West Plan
The Horizon West Plan resulted in the implementation of innovative planning concept now termed, "sector planning." The broad-based and inclusive nature of the project made possible the development of a plan for a sustainable development pattern. An overview of the project provides an understanding of the ways in which the plan responds to the six principles of sustainability discussed above.
Horizon West is located in southwest Orange County, adjacent to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the location of Disney World. The 38,000 acres in Orange County are former and current citrus lands, containing sandy soils, along with sand-bottom lakes and major wetland systems. Due to a decline in the citrus industry in Orange County, development trends in the area, and the future development of the Western Beltway, a limited access expressway, future development of the area was seen as likely. The question was how the transition from rural uses to urban uses would occur.
The Horizon West area was designated on Orange County’s Future Land Use Map as Rural/Agricultural, with densities of 1 dwelling unit/10 acres. Located outside of Orange County’s Urban Service Area boundary, no mechanism was available in the County’s Comprehensive Policy Plan, to provide for alternative land uses. The incremental transition to urban land uses had the potential to create an undesirable land use pattern. The solution was to embark upon a new planning process called Horizon West.
Landowners and interested parties formed Horizon West, Inc. to mobilize a planning effort for the area. Orange County joined the effort in a public-private partnership, and retained a professional land planning firm, Miller-Sellen Associates (now Miller Seller Connor and Walsh, Inc.) to under take a detailed planning process for the area in 1994. Initially the study included a regional perspective; however, this paper will focus on the planning efforts as they pertain to Orange County, Florida.
The Planning Process
The Horizon West Visioning process produced a development blueprint for the area and created a mechanism to create a sustainable urban form. The build-out planning process is unique in Orange County’s experience due to the Florida model of requiring planning with a typical twenty–year planning horizon. Goals for the planning process included the inclusion of the project within Orange County’s Comprehensive Plan, the creation of implementation mechanisms such as policies and performance standards and effective planning for transportation and utilities systems
The planning process employed three participatory workshops using consensus building to develop a vision for the area. The first workshop raised awareness of the process, provided education based upon extensive background studies, defined existing conditions, and defined opportunities and constrains. The first stage analysis concluded that the existing rural land use designations did reflect existing economic conditions, such as the presence of the adjacent Disney World, or market demand. The rural designation did not allow planning for changing conditions and future infrastructure needs, and created unintended consequences for land values and promoting regional sprawl.
The second workshop sought to develop consensus regarding values for the community and the alternative future development patterns to achieve them. Crucial to this effort was scenario building to analyze development of the area based upon existing development trends. This key strategy opened the door for consideration of alternative strategies. Trend plans were developed for three time horizons, short range (six years), middle range (2015 –2020), and build-out. The build-out analysis concluded that conversion from the rural 1 unit/10 acres to urban land uses would be haphazard and create both sprawl and incompatible land uses. Participants also worked through issues and solutions in a facilitated discussion.
Specific problems identified in the buildout plan included environmental resources, transportation, land use and urban form, all representing key concerns for sustainable development. Examples of potential negative consequences of development included the inability to link preserved wetland systems, loss of wildlife habitat due to smaller project sizes, and loss of functional open space. Development patterns would discourage transit use, allows congestion, and prohibit development of a network of gridded streets. Typical land use patterns foreseen in buildout planning would allow for the segregation of land uses, low-density incremental development, poorly integrated commercial uses, and a lack of housing diversity.
The third step in the process created alternative land use patterns; Planned Development, Town, and Village, that addressed the identified issues and solutions. The Village concept was the preferred plan because of the values inherent in the development pattern, as described in the Horizon West Study Report by Miller-Sellen Associates, Inc.
…its sense of place and neighborhoods, it provision of neighborhoods schools within walking distance from homes and the diversity of housing types and range of lot sizes…There was consensus for the overall protection of wetlands, wildlife corridors and open space in the Village Concept to be accomplished through a system of connected open spaces defining villages and neighborhoods.
The Village Concept
The Village concept organized the Horizon West planning area into a series of Villages and a Town Center oriented towards a future interchange with the planned limited access expressway, the Beltway. The Village concept called for integrated, mix-use neighborhoods providing housing, retail opportunities, schools, parks, and civic uses. Land uses are designed to relate to a Village Center within a pedestrian radius. A hierarchy of streets organizes the space and encourages pedestrian and bicycle alternatives. Each Village must have a defined edge, such as greenbelt or wildlife corridors. Natural features are into the design, providing separation between Villages and creating amenities for neighborhoods. The development pattern is designed to create a sense of place and community.
The Village concept was incorporated into Orange County’s Comprehensive Plan in 1994-95. The County amended the County’s Future Land Use Map to designate the planning area. New future land use policies outlined planning requirements for the Villages and Town Center and process requirements for future approvals. The areas designated Village on the Future Land Use Map retain their Rural Agricultural 1 unit/10 acre land use designation until such time as an SAP is adopted. Properties within an SAP who do not participate in the development also retain their rural development rights. Vested planned developments and zoning special exceptions also retain their development rights.
Designation of Village boundaries and land use approvals occur with the adoption of a Specific Area Plan (SAP) and Village Code. Process requirements for planning the SAP are included within the policies. The County committed to complete the first SAP within one year of adoption of the Village concept. As of April 2000, the Lakeside Village SAP and Bridgewater SAP have been adopted as part of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan.
Village Standards. Villages must contain between 1,000 and 3,000 gross acres, and have a gross density of 3.5 units/acre and a net density of 5 units/acres (variations are permitted based upon natural features). Each village must contain between two (2) and four (4) neighborhoods. Each neighborhood cannot exceed five hundred (500) acres organized around a central public focal point. All housing must be within a one half-mile radius of a neighborhood school site. Each neighborhood must contain a central focal point such as civic uses, parks, or the neighborhood center.
Implementation Mechanisms. Innovative mechanisms to implement the SAP were adopted with the Lakeside Village and Bridgewater Specific Area Plans. Creation of greenbelts and buffers is implemented through a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) ordinance that allows property owners to transfer densities into designated neighborhoods. The TDR ratios are established with each SAP, based upon the specific ratio of open space to developable land.
The SAP also identifies Adequate Public Facilities (APF) lands required to provide collector road rights-of-way, utility sites, elementary and middle school sites, park and community lands, and bikeways. School and parks sites and adequate public facilities lands to support a proposed development must be in place prior to neighborhood development proceeding. A variety of public facilities financing mechanisms will be necessary to implement the Village concept. The County has is continuing to evaluate proposals, including the potential for a Community Development District. For the first stages of the development, the County has entered into an interlocal agreement with the Reedy Creek Improvement District for wastewater services, pending implementation of a regional system.
Individual developments within the SAP must be approved as Planned Development, demonstrating compliance with the Village Code. It is at this stage that adequate public facilities lands are addressed. In the early stages of project approval, location of the elementary school site has been a critical issue in obtaining approval of the first residential development. Negotiations over density have also have unintended consequences. Market conditions and development rights transfers have resulted in higher than expected densities in early projects. These proposals have sparked some public controversy and a debate over the flexibility appropriate in implementing a conceptual Specific Area Plan.
Coordination with State Planning Requirements. The task of implementing the Village concept as part of the County’s Comprehensive Plan required extensive coordination and cooperation with the state land planning agency, the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Ultimately, the County was able to enter into a processing agreement with the State that allowed the project to move forward within the state’s planning requirements. The success of this process resulted in the passage of "sector planning" legislation in 1999. Sector planning allows other jurisdictions to pursue area-wide build-out planning, and eliminates duplicative planning requirements for comprehensive planning and development of regional impact review.
A Sustainable Community
How does the Horizon West Village concept continue the Garden Cities planning tradition? The creation of suburban villages nestled within agricultural and natural systems alone does not implement this concept. It is the addition of the sustainable principles combined with a plan that addresses consumer wants that allows the Village concept to stand within this tradition.
Harmony with Nature. The 28,000 acres within Horizon West contain 6,000 acres of lakes and water bodies, and 12,000 acres with some form of environmental constraint. The overall plan incorporates environmentally sensitive areas in to greenbelts and buffers, maintains the natural hydrology of the area, and serves to protect the aquifer recharge potential. Each SAP requires a detailed environmental analysis.
Livable Built Environment. From concept, to detail, the neighborhood building blocks are designed to create a sense of place. The requirement for a neighborhood school, parks and civic uses focus land the arrangement of land uses. Requirements for the pedestrian radius, bike paths, and hierarchy of streets reduce auto-dependency. The Village Code provides detailed standards for roadway treatments, lot and block design, and land use mixtures.
Place Based Economy. The Horizon West study placed growth in the area within the regional context of population and employment growth. The project not only provides housing opportunities proximate to the Disney employment base, but also creates work places within the development. As the area transitions from agricultural use, the plan accommodates continued production on active agricultural lands. These features combine to allow the plan to respond to and support the area’s economy.
Equity. Equity considerations were a specific concern during the planning process. The area’s 1 unit/10 acres land use designation created inequities and dislocation in land values. Development was leapfrogging into adjacent counties, creating and undesirable regional development pattern. The plan was designed to provide a sustainable development plan that did not create the windfalls and wipeouts present in a typical incremental development scenario. Requiring cooperation planning within an SAP, the provision of TDR's and APF lands, serve to reduce the normal inequities inherent in the development process. Equity was also present in the inclusive planning process.
Polluters Pay. The shared responsibility for the provision of greenbelts and village buffers through the TDR mechanism allows development within the village to pay for the cost of retaining natural systems. Other examples include the reuse of wastewater for irrigation and aquifer recharge.
Responsible Regionalism. The planning approach initially included a two-county area, and analyzed growth within the regional context. This effort continues with a regional transportation study underway to address multi-county roadway needs. The plan is designed to curb the regional sprawl pattern resulting from the lack of regional land use coordination.
Conclusion
The Horizon West concept reflects ideals and concepts of the Garden Cities movement in developing defined villages of a limited size. The concept responds to consumer preferences in the Orange County for a suburban setting. Minimum densities, requirements for a mixture of densities, and other planning tools achieve important planning objectives for compact urban development. The unique public private partnership, inclusive planning process, and long-range horizon have allowed Orange County to create a planning model that has implications for other communities in the State of Florida and elsewhere.
Copyright 2000 By Author
Carol Stricklin, AICP is a Chief Planner with Orange County, Florida, responsible for administering the County’s Comprehensive Policy Plan. She has over sixteen years of experience in local government planning. She received a Bachelors degree in Political Science, with honors, from the University of Florida and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Central Florida. Ms. Stricklin is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Affairs, also from UCF.
Bruce McClendon, FAICP is the Director of Growth Management and Environmental Resources for Orange County (Orlando) Florida. He has a Masters in Regional and City Planning from the University of Oklahoma and over thirty years of professional experience. He is the author, co-author and or coeditor of five books and over one hundred articles.
For more information, contact, Carol Stricklin, Orange County Planning Division, P.O. Box 1393, Orlando, FL 32802-1393, (407) 836-5600, or email Carol.Stricklin@ocfl.net