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Winter2013/2014 In This Issue What is Tactical Urbanism?...1 2014 Activities Plan…………….2 Section 2014 Budget…………..3 Around the section.....………..4 Legislative Update……………...5 From the Chair……………........6
Upcoming Events January 25– 15th Annual Great Air Potato Round Up 30– “Planning, Ecology, and the Emergence of Landscape” Lecture by Charles Waldheim
February March TBD– AICP Exam Preparation Course 22- Kohl’s Bike Ride Rodeo and Summer Safety Fair
April 16- “Dead End” Brown Bag lunch with author Ben Ross at Gainesville Community Design Center
For updated event information, please visit our website: http:// www.floridaplanning.org/ sanfelasco/index.asp
“2014 Section Theme: Tactical Urbanism” By Katherine K. Henderson, AICP, LEED-AP The San Felasco Section of APA Florida has chosen Tactical Urbanism as its theme for 2014. Tactical urbanism, named by Planetizen as one of planning’s top trends in 2011-2012, is an umbrella term for a wide variety of “light, quick, cheap” urban interventions. These small-scale projects bring together citizens, planners, activists, and politicians in a shared burst of creativity. By quickly demonstrating what a space or a place could be, tactical urbanism often sets the stage for adoption of larger projects or programs with long-lasting environmental and quality of life impacts. As a result, these strategies are gaining traction and generating excitement in cities all over the U.S., and throughout the world. Tactical urbanism interventions are characterized by their small scale and narrow focus. Examples include: pop-up restaurants; guerrilla gardening; pavement-to-parks; and open streets. Building on initial success, some tactical urbanism strategies are now growing into organized, international events, like Park(ing) Day. This annual worldwide event inspires artists, designers and citizens to transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks. In 2011, Park(ing) Day created 975 parks in 162 cities, and the event continues to grow each year. Some of tactical urbanism techniques, like yarnbombing, fall more into the category of public art. Others, like open streets, aim to achieve long-term physical change. One of the most famous examples of tactical urbanism is the recent transformation of the streets around Times Square in New York City. According to a blog post on Citiwire, a 1969 plan for pedestrian improvements on Broadway “sat on a shelf until 2009, when a tactical urbanism event closed the street in Times Square so people could bring folding chairs and hang out.” This test run was wildly successful, and resulted in permanent changes to Broadway.
Newly-opened street near Times Square, Manhattan (photo credit: Forgotten New York)
A firm called the Street Plans Collaborative has written two guidebooks on tactical urbanism, with one of their principals, Mike Lydon, as lead author. According to Lydon (as quoted in Atlantic Cities), “tactical urbanism is how most cities are built. Especially in developing nations…It’s stepby-step, piece-by-piece.” The key message: to make things work. Tactical urbanism strategies should seek to make something, even temporarily, that will change how a place functions and is perceived by its citizens. If enough people experience and appreciate this change, it has a greater chance of becoming permanent. —CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 —
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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Winter 2013/2014
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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Winter 2013/2014
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT UPDATE If you are interested in participating in a study group for the AICP exam, please contact Leslie McLendon at lmclendon@alachuacounty.us; 352-374-5249. Dates, time, and location of the study group will be determined by those in the group. And if you are not able to participate in a study group, but would still like information on study materials, then contact Leslie. Opinions Wanted for CM Opportunities Is there anything about Planning that you wish you knew more about? Do you have information that you would like to share with fellow fellows? Do you just need AICP Certification Maintenance (CM) credits? The San Felasco Section would like to host events that would provide AICP CM credits and be of interest to planners in general. If you have ideas for seminars or lectures, or if you think you would like to present information to fellow planners that would be applicable for CM credits then please contact Leslie McLendon at lmclendon@alachuacounty.us.
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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Winter 2013/2014
Advertisements The San Felasco Section will now be selling ad space in our newsletter. For $10 a year, local firms can place a business card size advertisement. Specifications:
Business card size ad (3.5” x 2”)
Must be in .JPG format
To advertise, please contact Adam Hall at adam.joseph.hall@gmail.com
Upcoming special event ? Working on a big project? Any personal or professional news you want to share with the Section? Send us a line at adam.joseph.hall@gmail.com!
Join us on Saturday, January 25th, 2014 for the 15th Annual Great Air Potato Round Up !
As a participant in the 2014 Kohl’s Bike Ride Rodeo and Summer Safety Fair, the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council will have an exhibit on the Archer Braid Trail. The family-oriented event will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the University of Florida Stephen C. O’Connell Center parking lot.
Join us at noon on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at the Gainesville Community Design Center for a speech by Benjamin Ross, author of the forthcoming book Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism. Please bring your own lunch for this event.
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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Winter 2013/2014
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Provided by Julia “Alex� Magee , Executive Director of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning
The House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee moved favorably PCB EDTS 14-03 which includes language that would prohibit a local government from applying transportation concurrency or proportionate share contributions to new business developments before July 1, 2017 unless authorized by a majority vote. It would also prohibit a municipality, county or special district from imposing a new or existing impact fee or any new or existing fee associated with the mitigation of transportation impacts on a new business development before July 1, 2017 unless authorized by a majority vote. It should be noted that several subcommittee members expressed concern with this language. Additionally, this week Senator Simpson filed SB 644 which would authorize the owner or residential property in an area zoned for single-family use to construct an ancillary dwelling unit for a related senior, disabled person or caregiver, notwithstanding any provision of law, ordinance, regulation, resolution or comprehensive plan to the contrary. The provisions would not apply to residential communities with deed restrictions that prohibit the construction of accessory dwelling units. Representative Beshears filed HB 611 related to Rural Areas of Opportunity. This bill also renames "rural areas of critical economic concern" to "rural areas of opportunity" and specifies that these area shall be designated as rural enterprise zones. The bill also makes a number of changes to various tax credits and tax provisions related to rural areas of opportunity be designated as rural enterprise zones. The bill also makes a number of changes to various tax credits and tax provisions related to rural areas of opportunity.
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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Winter 2013/2014
From the Chair...
receipt of $1,268 for the 2013 On behalf of your dedicated and energetic San Felasco conference), and Section officers, I welcome all of our members (we number unlike most APA175 as of December 31st, including student members) and FL Sections, we encourage your active participation and input in 2014. A have not adopted very ambitious 2014 Section Activity Program and related (and therefore do 2014 Budget were adopted after considerable discussion at not charge) Section the annual Section meeting on December 12th, 2013. The dues. We do show Activity Program has a 2014 Section Theme of Tactical $100 in revenues Urbanism (don’t miss the article in this newsletter on Tactical for Section Newsletter advertisement, and have recently begun Urbanism by Member At-Large, Katherine Henderson, contacting planning/planning-related professional firms to offer AICP). Several luncheons with guest speakers pertinent to them the opportunity to place their business card in the the theme are in the preliminary planning stage – please Newsletter at a very modest cost. We also show $500 in watch for future announcements. The “Signature [tactical revenues for Theme Events [tactical urbanism], so the urbanism] Event” will be held in the Fall, possibly as early as committee that is being formed will need to address that need, Friday, September 19th, which is “Park-ing Day” (annual possibly by seeking sponsors for the Signature Event. international event related to tactical urbanism). Please For those that might have missed these two events, I am contact me or another one of the Section officers if you wish pleased to tell you that our co-sponsored (with the School of to join a committee that is now being formed and that is Landscape Architecture and Planning), November 20, 2013 needed to bring the 2014 Section Theme to successful lecture by Town Planner Victor Dover, FAICP was wellfruition. attended (with a good turnout by our membership) and wellThe adopted Section activity program and budget include, as received by the multidiscipline audience that ranged from they have in recent years, AICP Certificate Maintenance planners to developers. The other event was the San Felasco Webinars that are funded by the Professional Development Section booth at Gainesville’s Downtown Arts Festival on Grant Program of APA-Florida. The most recent webinar was November 16th and 17th. We had handouts and planners onheld on January 15th (“Administering Zoning Codes”). Two hand both days (even though the weather and our booth’s more are scheduled for June (“Introducing New Density to location were less than ideal) to meet passersby, answer the Neighborhood” on June 4th, and “Planning Law Review” questions, invite participation in the My Gainesville Map on June 25th). project, and promote planning at this annual, popular festival. 2013 was our second consecutive year of participation, and The 2014 Section Activity Program includes additional this year will be our third. professional development activities. An AICP Exam Preparation Course will be held if there is sufficient interest. The Section will be participating in the 15th Annual Great Air If you wish to take this very helpful course, please contact Potato Roundup that will be held on Saturday morning, our Professional Development Officer, Leslie McClendon, January 25th, as was recently announced on our list serve. I AICP. For the second year in a row, the Section is coam pleased to note that this will be our third consecutive year sponsoring a speaker series with UF’s School of Landscape of participation as a Section in this fun and important Architecture and Planning. This series begins on January Community Service Activity. As yet unspecified Recreation/ 30th at 6:00 PM in Room 170 of UF’s Pugh Hall with a lecture Nature Activities are also in the 2014 Section Activity Program, by Charles Waldheim, FAAR, on Planning, Ecology and the so please contact any member of the Executive Committee Emergence of Landscape. AICP CMs are pending. Another (your Section Officers) if you have any suggestions. professional development activity in the 2014 budget is the Thank you for your interest in and commitment to planning UF Planning Student Fund (a modest sum, but it is tangible and for your support of your professional organization. support for the next generation of planners). Keep up your good work, and please participate in Section activities (and committees!) as much as possible. I would be remiss to say nothing about revenues. We get limited funds from APA-FL ($1000 non-competitive professional development grant, and a formula-based share Dean Mimms, AICP Chair, San Felasco of profits from the annual APA-FL conference – we anticipate Section
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—CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 — Our Section will bring tactical urbanism to Gainesville this year via a “theme event” in Fall 2014. All details of this event are currently up for discussion and input, bound (of course) by local laws and regulations. Initial brainstorming by the Executive Committee suggested that we create a pop-up urban park for a day on a parcel of underutilized land, perhaps in conjunction with a food truck rally. If you have thoughts for what this event should involve, or potential partners, or would like to help in any way, please contact Dean Mimms, Section Chair. We look forward to your thoughts and participation in bringing this theme to life!
PARTIALLY PLANNING RELATED INFOGRAPHIC We polled our members to find out what they thought about the following question: What are you planning for?
WHAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR
DRONES! 21%
End of the world Zombie TODs
14%
Next Friday 29%
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36%