Corridor Preservation: Current Practices in the State of Florida

ABSTRACT: Corridor preservation is the application of measures to prevent or minimize development within the right-of-way of a planned transportation facility or improvement within a defined corridor. Corridor preservation helps to ensure that a transportation system will effectively and efficiently serve existing and future development within a local community, region or state. Corridor preservation provides numerous benefits to communities, taxpayers and the public at large. This paper provides a brief background on corridor preservation and describes current corridor preservation practices in Florida.

INTRODUCTION

Corridor preservation is the application of measures to prevent or minimize development within the right-of-way of a planned transportation facility or improvement within a defined corridor. That includes corridors, both existing and future, in which a wide array of transportation improvements may be constructed including roadways, bikeways, multi-use trails, equestrian paths, high occupancy vehicle lanes, fixed-rail lines and more.

Corridor preservation is important because it helps to ensure that a transportation system will effectively and efficiently serve existing and future development within a local community, region or state. Corridor preservation policies, programs and practices provide numerous benefits to communities, taxpayers and the public at large. These include, but are not limited to:

Reducing property damage and displacement of homes and businesses,
Minimizing environmental, social and economic impacts of the corridor,
Preventing foreclosure of desirable locations
Promoting orderly development of transportation facilities concurrent with land development, and
Reducing the costs of developing and maintaining an efficient and interconnected multi-modal transportation system.

This paper provides a brief background on corridor preservation, including legal and policy issues, and describes current corridor preservation practices from a sample of counties across Florida.

FLORIDA BACKGROUND

Local jurisdictions in Florida have been engaging in corridor preservation activities as early as the late 1960s. In 1995, the Florida legislature amended state transportation planning law (Chapter 337, F.S.), as well as the growth management act (Chapter 163, F.S.), adding new language related to corridor management. The amendments replaced the term "corridor protection" with "corridor management" to reflect the desired emphasis on providing for compatible development along designated corridors, as opposed to strictly limiting development. The amendments also promoted an expanded local role in right-of-way preservation through designation of state highway corridors in local comprehensive plans, rather than corridor designation in the State of Florida Transportation Plan.

Local governments were authorized to adopt transportation corridor management ordinances to manage development along designated corridors. This policy shift was designed to encourage closer coordination between the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and local governments on preserving right-of-way for planned facilities. It was also a logical outgrowth of court opinions supporting corridor management efforts in the context of local comprehensive planning and growth management programs. Past efforts by the state to protect right-of-way through state official maps had been found unconstitutional, Joint Ventures v. Florida Department of Transportation, 563 So. 2d at 625, 626 (Fla. 1990).

Transportation corridor management ordinances are to establish regulations and procedures to preserve and acquire needed right-of-way and protect future transportation, including the following (Managing Corridor Development, Kristine M. Williams, Center for Urban Transportation Research, 1996):

Criteria to manage land uses within and adjacent to the corridor.
Restrictions on residential and nonresidential construction within the corridor.
Uses that are permitted within the corridor, such as interim uses that allow some economic use of land until it is needed for construction.
A public notification process for notifying affected property owners of the corridor designation, and for notifying the Florida Department of Transportation of development activities that would substantially impair the future viability of a state corridor, and
A process for intergovernmental coordination to facilitate consistency and collaboration among jurisdictions that share the facility.

Unlike state transportation agencies, local governments have authority to guide and manage land development, and can apply a variety of measures to avoid unnecessary hardship on property owners. In addition, as indicated by the Florida Supreme Court in Palm Beach County v. Wright, 612 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), providing transportation facilities to serve land development is essential to the ability of local governments to plan for future growth.

CURRENT CORRIDOR PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES IN FLORIDA

In 2001, the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida contacted a sample of Florida counties to determine whether they had active corridor preservation programs and if so, the nature of program policies and practices. An overview of these findings is provided below.

Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County first developed a Thoroughfare Right-Of-Way Identification Map (the map) in the mid-1970’s as a component of the Transportation Element of the County’s approved comprehensive plan. The map identifies the network of roadways required to meet future traffic demands. While rudimentary traffic modeling was employed, the map was primarily developed based on local knowledge of existing and anticipated growth patterns.

The map is primarily composed of a grid system of roadways with an approximate spacing of 1-mile in the eastern portion of the County with a much looser pattern of connected roadways in the western portion of the County. Roadway corridors identified on the map are not classified according to functional use, but are instead identified by the right-of-way width required to preserve the corridor (example: 80"’ roadway width requirements are identified by a dashed line on the map).

The map is the basis for the preservation of roadway right-of-way within Palm Beach County. Policy 1.4-d in the Transportation Element of the County Comprehensive Plan states that, "the County shall require conveyance of roadway, intersection and interchange rights-of-way consistent with the adopted Thoroughfare Right-Of-Way Identification Map when there is a rational nexus between the required dedication of land, the needs of the community, and the impacts of the transportation network due to the development." The requirements of this policy are implemented during the development review process. The County allows interim use of the right-of-way by special agreement and provides for on-site density transfers and grants impact fee credits under certain conditions.

As mentioned previously, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the Thoroughfare Right-Of-Way Identification Map in Palm Beach County v. Wright. The courts affirmation was based primarily on the County’s need to provide adequate transportation facilities to achieve the concurrency requirements of Florida’s growth management law, the foundation of the map in the comprehensive plan and the flexibility afforded the local government to amend the map on two occasions every year.

Broward County
The Broward County Trafficways Plan was developed in the early 1960’s by the Broward County Area Planning Board and adopted under the Board’s enabling legislation. The responsibility for the Trafficways Plan was transferred to the Broward County Planning Council in 1975 when the Broward County Area Planning Board was replaced by the Broward County Planning Council under the Charter of Broward County as the government entity responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the countywide land use plan. The membership of the Broward County Planning Council provides for representation as follows: one member is a County Commissioner selected by a majority vote of the Commission, each County Commissioner individually appoints two members from their respective seven County Commission districts (one member in each district being an elected municipal official and one being an elector not holding elected public office), and one member representing the Broward County School Board.

The Trafficways plan is the ultimate roadway right-of-way preservation plan for Broward County. It is used to provide for an adequate regional roadway network and is implemented through the County and local government development review processes. Proposed plats, and in some cases those that are exempt from platting, must dedicate, by deed or easement, right-of-way consistent with the requirements of the Trafficways Plan. Staff reviews plats and other development proposals to ensure that proposed uses are consistent with the effective land use designation and the Trafficways Plan. Staff also provides technical assistance to local governments and citizens in interpreting the countywide platting requirements.

Amendments to the Trafficways Plan can be initiated by any unit of local government, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, the FDOT or the Broward County Planning Council itself. The Council also considers requests for waivers of the right-of-way dedication requirements of the Trafficways Plan. Council’s review of waivers focuses primarily on the specific characteristics of individual parcels of land and the corresponding impacts of proposed developments.

The right-of-way dedication process in Broward County has been highly successful. Staff attributes this success to the following factors:

The long standing nature of the practice,
A recognition that some development would not occur without the infrastructure provided by the process due to concurrency (1) issues,
The significant development representation on the Planning Council Board,
The Trafficways Plan can be amended twice a year, and
There is a clear and fairly administered waiver process.

Indian River County
The Indian River County Thoroughfare Plan is contained in the Transportation Element of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. The Thoroughfare Plan identifies the County’s additional estimated advanced right-of-way needs for roadways and is based entirely on the MPO 2020 Long-Range Transportation Plan model and traffic analysis. Only that portion of the county within the Urban Services Boundary is subject to the thoroughfare planning requirements. The Thoroughfare Plan outlines timeframes, locations and amounts of right-of-way required to meet the projected infrastructure needs based on 20-year land use projection in the county.

Objective 4 of the Transportation Element of the Indian River County Comprehensive Plan governs right-of-way protection. Policy 4.2 requires appropriate land dedication from property owners through the plat and site plan review and approval process based on the right-of-ways needs outlined in the Thoroughfare Plan. Right-of-way dedication is required, without any monetary or other compensation, up to the standards for local roads (60 feet). Dedication for right-of-way exceeding local road standards (anything more than 60 feet) is compensated through traffic impact fee credits, density transfers or purchase. Additionally, policies call for the acquisition of additional rights-of-way at intersections and landscaping areas and that the county shall use available funding, such as the one cent local option sales tax revenue, to pursue advance right-of-way acquisition.

An interesting implementation issue recently arose that has led the County to consider developing mechanisms for acquiring right-of-way dedications from property owners outside of the Urban Services Boundary. The recent case involved the development of a golf course outside of the Urban Services Boundary, but in the natural path of an identified Thoroughfare Plan corridor. Because the property was outside of the Urban Services Boundary, the corridor preservation policies and regulations did not apply. Fortunately, the golf course was a conditional use providing negotiating leverage. The County was able to negotiate a settlement with the developer to retain an option to purchase right-of-way up to 30 years in the future at current land prices. Also, the developer agreed to develop the site leaving an envelope for the eventual extension of the identified Thoroughfare Plan corridor. While the situation was resolved, this brought to light the limitations of ending corridor preservation programs at Urban Service Area boundaries.

Pasco County
At the end of 2000, the Pasco County Board of Commissioners adopted a map identifying future roadway corridors in Central Pasco County. The map consists primarily of a grid system of roadway corridors evenly spaced across central Pasco County. The system was based primarily on the Future Land Use Element of the adopted Comprehensive Plan, physical and environmental constraints and existing roadways and future roadways as identified in the 2020 Cost Feasible Transportation Plan. The corridors were not based on modeled needs, but rather based on physical and environmental constraints, established median and signal spacing guidelines, and the availability of undeveloped land. Existing and planned roadways in Hillsborough County (a neighboring county) and FDOT access management standards were also taken into account where applicable.

The future roadway corridors map received approval from both the Board of County Commissioners and the MPO Board. Pasco County has no formal implementation process for acquiring or otherwise preserving the identified future corridors. The County attempts to negotiate right-of-way and construction agreements with developers during the site review and approval process. There has been some success with those developments that require new or improved transportation facilities to meet concurrency standards. Impact fee credits have been granted when necessary.

In a separate effort to preserve right-of-way, Pasco County has implemented "clear zones." Section 607 of the Pasco County Land Development Code governs the establishment and management of clear zones. Clear zones are implemented through building setback requirements based on roadway functional classification as identified in the Comprehensive Plan. For example, if a property fronts on a roadway classified as a Principal Urban Arterial, no development-related structures are permitted closer than 100 feet from the centerline of the ultimate right-of-way (based on a required right-of-way of 200 feet for a Principal Urban Arterial). In this manner, a swath of undeveloped land is maintained for the ultimate use as roadway right-of-way. A waiver process is in place in cases where the required setback would render the property unusable for the zoned use of the land.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that corridor preservation is becoming an important throughout Florida. St. Lucie County has adopted a right-of-way preservation map and policies in the comprehensive plan. The County has also developed land development regulations that implement the comprehensive plan map. Leon County and Escambia Counties are both in the process of creating a corridor preservation program. Several other counties have requested corridor preservation training in order to familiarize themselves with the legal and technical requirements of corridor preservation.

The reason for such widespread interest in corridor preservation is clear. Florida has seen several decades of phenomenal growth and the costs of providing transportation infrastructure to support that growth is growing every day. Those costs range from environmental damage, adverse community impacts, business and property damages and the actual costs of right-of-way and construction. If the costs become so high that jurisdictions are unable to provide needed transportation infrastructure in the future, the existing transportation system will fail to function as intended and the quality of life of Florida’s visitors and residents will be adversely affected.

Corridor preservation is a proactive strategy to help address Florida’s future transportation infrastructure needs. The Florida Supreme Court has provided a roadmap and the legislature has provided the statutory guidance for successfully implementing corridor preservation programs at the local level. Several counties have followed the legislature’s guidance and are actively engaged in corridor preservation activities. Several more are moving in that direction. As development pressures across the state continue to consume the remaining prime rights-of-way for future transportation corridors, still more will undoubtedly follow.

NOTES

Concurrency requires that public facilities and services are available concurrent with the impacts of development. It involves withholding development permission when public facilities or services are not adequate to serve a project, unless the developer provides those necessary facility or service improvements.

Author and Copyright Information

Jeff Kramer, AICP, is a Senior Research Associate with the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Kristine M. Williams, AICP, is the Director of the Transportation Planning and Corridor Management Program at the Center for Urban Transportation Research. They can be reached at www.cutr.usf.edu or by phone at 813/974-3120.