2012 APA Florida Project Awards Award of Excellence
2035 Transportation Plan Post – Referendum Analysis Serving Up Transportation Choices Like Soft Drinks: The Role of Product Market Research in Planning CATEGORY:
Best Practices
With a $20 billion shortfall in transportation funding and a countywide vote of 58 percent against a sales tax during the worst of the recession, the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is using a private‐sector technique to retool its long range plan. Focus groups with randomly selected registered voters, conducted by a market research firm behind mirrored glass, have told the MPO its citizens’ preferences in their own words. The MPO is now scaling back rail plans to a demonstration line; stepping up pedestrian and bicycle safety investments; and pursuing legislation to allow large cities to hold their own sales tax referenda.
Awards of Merit Innovation Square CATEGORY:
Planning Project
Innovation Square is an urban redevelopment project that transforms 12 underutilized blocks in Gainesville, Florida into a walkable urban research district that capitalizes on the entrepreneurial energy of the University of Florida. For decades, an aging hospital and its surface parking lots created a gulf between the University and the revitalized downtown area. Working with the University, the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency, Shands Healthcare, the City of Gainesville, private development groups, and diverse stakeholders, Perkins+Will created a long term development plan that projects future building programs with a flexible urban framework.
Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center and Adrian Archbold Lodge CATEGORY:
Planning Project
The Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center and Adrian Archbold Lodge is a new public facility located at Archbold Biological Station (www.archbold-station.org), a not-for-profit ecological research, conservation, and education organization in Highlands County, Florida. The buildings, awarded LEED Platinum certification, serve as a gateway to Archbold’s globally threatened scrub preserve, and showcase approaches to environmental sustainability including planning, architecture, construction, engineering, technology, energy and water conservation, native landscaping, and history, combined with a deep understanding of nature, ecology, conservation and science.
City of Winter Springs’ Town Center District Code CATEGORY:
Neighborhood Planning
The Winter Springs Town Center District is a mixed-use urban center where community cultural events and activities are hosted year-round. The Town Center District Code was written by Dover-Kohl & Partners and adopted by the City Commission in 2000. This Code was one of the first “form-based” codes adopted in the United States and was written as a “street-based code” where building standards are tied to street types. Developing the outer edges of the Town Center was challenging with this approach because of compatibility issues with existing Euclidian zoned subdivisions. In 2011, Dover-Kohl & Partners and city staff recommended a re-write of the code utilizing a transect-based approach, while preserving several of the existing elements in the original code. A revised code, prepared by City staff, was adopted by the City Commission in 2012.
2012 APA Florida Project Awards Awards of Merit
Pinellas Alternatives Analysis CATEGORY:
Best Practices
Through a partnership of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), and Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA), the Pinellas Alternatives Analysis (AA) examined options to implement premium transit service connecting major residential, employment, and activity centers in Pinellas County, with a regional connection to Hillsborough County. The study team, led by Jacobs administered a unique and expansive engagement and coordination program that blended traditional and cutting‐edge techniques to increase public participation and awareness in the planning process, reduce project costs, and enhance coordination among project partners.
Clearwater Beach Walk CATEGORY:
Great Places in Florida
Clearwater Beach Walk is a winding beachside promenade with lush landscaping, artistic touches and clear views to Clearwater’s beach and the water beyond - a place where bicyclists, rollerbladers and pedestrians all have safe and convenient access and where visitors and locals can socialize, dine, or simply enjoy the spectacular sun and surf. Beach Walk is revitalizing Clearwater’s popular south beach area. The $30 million Beach Walk project has transformed the look and feel of south Clearwater Beach, delivering new vitality to the area, and providing a setting that complements the beauty of the true destination - the city’s pristine, white beaches.
First Coast Vision CATEGORY:
Grassroots Initiative
The northeast Florida region challenges include growth, preservation of valuable eco-systems, improving economic viability, and maintaining a high quality of life. Previous rapid change and recent economic challenges have heightened awareness that growth-related issues are interconnected and best addressed on the regional level. To this end, the Northeast Florida Regional Council (NEFRC) created the Regional Community Institute of Northeast Florida, Inc. to facilitate and generate a regional vision in advance of the update to the regional plan. RCI developed a quality document of the regional vision in spite of severe financial constraints.
Sustainable Zephyrhills Community Action Plan CATEGORY:
Grassroots Initiative
Preparing for a future with dwindling critical resources is one of the most significant challenges we face in our communities. What will be our legacy to the generations to come? To begin to meet the challenge, the City of Zephyrhills and community stakeholders created a strategic plan guiding all levels of community involvement toward a greener, more sustainable city. The aim of the Sustainable Zephyrhills initiative is to protect the environment, conserve natural resources, grow a more resilient local economy and enhance overall quality of life. Community input is the most important part of the Sustainable Zephyrhills initiative. In pursuit of a vibrant and resource‐efficient Zephyrhills, this plan addresses several sustainability topics and a range of recommended actions to move the community toward its near‐term sustainability targets.
Creating a Community of Scholars CATEGORY:
Student Project
The Florida State University Department of Urban and Regional Planning Spring 2012 Capstone Studio developed a plan for the future of graduate student housing titled “Creating a Community of Scholars.” In an effort to deal with the complex issue of housing, the Studio offered recommendations on how to design housing that creates a sustainable, vibrant, and supportive environment that fosters a community of scholars. The project is a multi-volume report that includes a technical document, plan recommendation, and a map book that guides the methodology of the project. The report contains a step-by-step guide of the technical methodology, and the site plan recommendations include graphic illustrations and maps.