San Felasco: Summer 2012

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

Summer 2012 In This Issue DEO stakeholders meet…….2 Atlantic hurricane season Begins…………………………3 FAPA reception………….…..3

Innovation Square wins APA economic development award B y

Groundwater groups form......3 Student update……...……….4 Section Lines….………………6 Gainesville pursues formbased code….………………...6 Policy challenge…...…………6 From the Chair.……...……….7

Upcoming Events First Mondays, Third Tuesdays

J a c o b K a i n T h e

AICP Study Group, NCFRPC, 6:30 pm

Every Friday SPA-sponsored Happy Hour, Swamphead Brewery, 6 pm

June 6 – Adapting Cities to Climate Change webinar, NCFRPC 27 – 2012 Law Review webinar, NCFRPC

July 5 – Old Florida Heritage Highway Photo Contest Deadline. To learn more visit www.scenicus441.com.

For more events, please visit our website: http://www.floridaplanning.org/sanf elasco/index.asp

The Innovation Square district is the winner of the 2012 APA Donald E. Hunter Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award.

Innovation Square is a cooperative effort between the University of Florida, Shands at UF, City of Gainesville, and Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency. Perkins+Will were the planning consultant for the district’s master plan.

The award criteria included originality, transferability, quality, implementation and results, comprehensiveness, and contribution to community.

According to the APA announcement, “The panel was impressed with the project's high quality, establishment of a vision that is not only aspirational but implementable, and the collaboration of a widerange of stakeholders to create and implement a framework to create a transformative project that will make a lasting contribution to the economic condition of the community.

The panel was unanimous in its selection of Innovation Square as the 2012 Award recipient.”

The award was officially presented at the National APA Conference in Los Angeles on April 16th.

To learn more about Innovation Square, visit http://innovationsquare.ufl.edu/.

SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

Florida DEO hosts regional forums

- To obtain insights from each region to determine what actions or direction the state should consider Spring 2012 adopting to assist with economic growth; and

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

- To identify the most important strategies to support the promotion of regional business formation, expansion, recruitment and retention.

By Scott Koons, AICP Executive Director, North Central Florida Regional Planning Council

Section 20.60, Florida Statutes requires the Department of Economic Opportunity to develop a five-year strategic plan, Florida’s 2012-2017 Economic Development Plan. This is the first plan of its type and it will be designed to address new trends, technologies and infrastructure needs that have developed and are anticipated for the future of Florida. Additionally, the plan will provide the foundation for the second level of effort that will create a long-range state-wide vision and plan for Florida’s future. The regional forums provided invited stakeholders an opportunity to assist the Department of Economic Opportunity with the development of the Plan.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Division of Strategic Business Development, in partnership with the 11 regional planning councils, conducted regional forums throughout the state during the months of February and March to gather insights related to the creation of Florida’s 2012-2017 Economic Development Plan.

On March 2, 2012, the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council and the Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council co-hosted, along with the Department of Economic Opportunity, one of the regional forums on economic development at the Santa Fe College Kirkpatrick Criminal Justice Training Center, Institute of public Safety, located at 3737 Northeast 39th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. A total of 78 stakeholders were in attendance at the forum.

The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Six Pillars framework was used to focus the discussions held at all of the regional forums and the same organizing framework is being used to structure the Department of Economic Opportunity’s five-year strategic plan. The Six Pillars framework focuses on the following areas:

The objectives of these regional forums were:

(1) Talent Supply & Education, (2) Innovation & Economic Development, (3) Infrastructure & Growth Leadership, (4) Business Climate & Competitiveness, (5) Civic & Governance Systems and (6) Quality of Life & Quality Places.

For more information about Florida’s Statewide 5-Year Strategic Plan for Economic Development, visit www.floridajobs.org.

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

Atlantic hurricane season begins

Florida Ex

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

Spring 2012

By Jeff Bielling, AICP Assistant Emergency Management Director Alachua County Fire Rescue June 1 marks the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Our hurricane season lasts until November with August to October being the most active part of the season.

Even though we are in North Central Florida we can still experience significant rain and high winds associated with hurricanes and tropical storms. With this wind and rain often come localized flooding, road closures, the loss of electrical power, and the potential for structural damage. Any or all of these events can significantly disrupt daily life, cause hardship, or present a threat to life and property. Now is a good time to prepare yourself, your family and your home.

Executive Committee visits Gainesville for annual retreat th

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On Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12 , members of the Florida APA Executive Council held their annual retreat at the Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites in Gainesville.

A first step in preparing for the hurricane season – or disasters in general - is to develop a Family Disaster Plan. The Florida Division of Emergency Management Family Disaster Plan website provides a step by step process to create a family disaster plan in a few minutes that outlines basic preparation activities for family members, children, pets, suggested provision of food and water supplies, evacuation routes for your area, and local emergency contacts.

In recognition of that visit, the San Felasco section hosted a reception at Blue Water Bay in downtown Gainesville.

Attendees were treated to a presentation on the Innovation District by Linda Dixon, AICP from the University of Florida Facilities Planning and Construction and Erik Bredfeldt, AICP, from City of Gainesville Planning and Development Services.

Above: Dixon speaks with attendees about the Innovation District Master Plan.

During hurricane season Alachua County Emergency Management actively tracks storms that may affect our area and provides up to date watches, warnings, and advisories from the National weather Service. The ACEM StormWatch page provides a quick link to current storm information such as storm tracks and wind swath maps.

Groups form to address groundwater decline

By Steven Dopp Senior Planner, North Central Florida Regional Planning Council

On the Alachua County Emergency Management website you will also find links to other sources of information for current weather conditions, weather updates and forecasts, emergency preparedness, hazard mitigation, post disaster redevelopment planning, and other emergency management information for our area.

Two groups have recently been formed in response to concerns regarding groundwater decline in north Florida.

The Suwannee River Water Management District and the St. Johns River Water Management District have CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

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necessary to permanently secure abundant fresh water supply so adequate levels and flow are assured for The Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union formed the North Florida Regional Water Supply People, Agriculture, Business, Industry, Tourism, and Spring 2012 Partnership. Meanwhile, in a separate effort, a group of Environment of North Florida.” north Florida local governments have formed a working group known as Florida Leaders Organized for Water.

In addition, the working group has created four committees to develop action strategies. The four North Florida Water Supply Partnership committees are Science, Legislative, Legal and Public In September 2011, the St. Johns River and Suwannee Information.

River Water Management Districts and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection entered into an Current members of the working group include Alachua agreement which formalizes the coordination of water County, Bradford County, Clay County, Columbia resource management in north Florida. The agreement County, Dixie County, Gilchrist County, Hamilton is referred to as the North Florida Water Supply County, Lafayette County, Levy County, Suwannee Partnership.

County, Taylor County, Town of Branford, City of Keystone Heights, City of High Springs, City of Lake As part of the agreement, the two water management City, Town of Lee, City of MacClenny, and Town of districts will jointly conduct a study to evaluate regional White Springs. groundwater decline in the Upper Floridan Aquifer, develop a regional water supply plan, and create For more information on Florida Leaders Organized for consistency and coordination in the setting of minimum Water, visit www.flflow.com. flows and levels for surface waters.

UF URP students conclude another academic year

The two water management districts have also formed a stakeholder committee. The committee is an advisory body to the districts and to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The committee consists of two representatives from the following categories: agriculture, water utilities, commercial power generation, mining, local government and environmental organizations.

Each water management district appointed one member from each of the categories to the stakeholder group.

By Caitlin White Outgoing President, UF Student Planning Association It’s hard to believe another academic year has passed, but summer break has officially arrived! The past few months were busy ones in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and we have a lot of fond memories to look back on.

For more information about the Partnership and the stakeholder committee, visit www.northfloridawater.com.

At the end of March, the program’s Advisory Council came to town for their annual meeting, and was kind enough to engage in a panel session/Q&A with students and faculty. Discussion topics ranged from interviewing do’s-and-don’ts to trends in planning, and we were once again reminded of what a great resource our program’s friends and alumni are, both to current students and one another. Indeed, we value our fellow planners, and encourage you all to stay involved with UF’s Planning Department, whether by attending Department social events, volunteering to present a lecture to planning

Florida Leaders Organized for Water Florida Leaders Organized for Water is a recentlyformed working group of North Florida local governments concerned with declining groundwater levels of the Floridan Aquifer in north Florida.

The group has held four meetings and is in the organizational phase. The Columbia County Board of County Commissioners has appropriated $250,000 to fund the group. The working group has developed an interlocal agreement as well as the following mission statement: “To identify and implement measures

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

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I want to begin by thanking Caitlin White for being an outstanding leader. She has led the University of Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union students, or by some other means; we welcome your Florida’s Student Planning Association with integrity, Spring ideas! URP alumni are also encouraged to stay up to wisdom, passion and purpose. Such qualities are2012 rare to date with program happenings by signing up for find in any student organization’s leadership and I count PERSPECTIVE, the DCP alumni magazine (more myself absolutely privileged to have experienced it here information available here: at the University of Florida’s Student Planning http://dcp.ufl.edu/news/perspective).

Association.

The annual Student Awards Banquet also took place in March, with a number of deserving award recipients being honored at that event. The awards and winners are listed below:

My name is Juan Castillo, Jr. and I am the incoming Student Planning Association president. I look forward to the opportunity to follow the tradition of great leadership imparted by Caitlin White.

 Teacher of the Year: Andres Blanco  Distinguished Alumnus of the Year: Tracy Crowe  AICP Outstanding Student: Caitlin White  WRS Infrastructure & Environment Inc. Award in Memoriam of Mario Ripol: Lara Holimon  Margaret E. Raynal Award: Josette Severyn  Florida Planning and Zoning Association (FZPA) Award: Juan Castillo  Carl Feiss Urban and Environmental Design Award: Hongtao Xie  Peter A. Kanavos Award: Allison Schutes  Ulla Rydberg Award: Katie Fields

One of the things I am really excited about is the opportunity to create situations and events which will familiarize professionals and students to each other. As future planners, urban regional planning students need the wisdom, guidance, and leadership of professionals already seasoned by the demands of an exciting but challenging career. However, due to the polarization between academia and practice such familiarization is at times difficult. One of my goals is to make such difficulty obsolete and instead create a community where students are not only involved with their professors, but also with practicing professionals.

Student Planning Association elects new president

I also look forward to increasing the awareness of professional development opportunities, such as conferences and workshops among the University of Florida Urban Regional Planning students. I had the privilege of attending the 2012 American Planning Association (APA) conference and I was blown away by the lectures, workshops, displays, and opportunities to explore the host city. I found myself in conversations with professionals from other states and cities who dealt with theories discussed in our classrooms, which in turn made these theories concrete and tangible.

The experience for me was priceless however, only a few of us were able to go. I believe that all Urban Regional Planning Students need this kind of exposure; therefore, I look forward to working with my fellow Student Planning Association officers in order to increase the awareness of the availability and value of these opportunities.

By Juan Castillo, Jr. Incoming President, UF Student Planning Association

Thank you for your service to our community. I look forward to working with you in the coming semester.

A new crop of SPA (Student Planning Association) officers were elected for the 2012-2013 academic year, including incoming president Juan Castillo, also featured in this newsletter. Congratulations to them! And finally, congratulations to the 12 students who graduated from the URP master’s programs this semester! For those of you staying in the area, I look forward to seeing you at future San Felasco Chapter events. To everyone else, best of luck and stay in touch.

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

Gainesville pursues form-based code

Spring Congratulations to Ken McMurry, who recently passed2012 the AICP exam.

By Dean Mimms, AICP Chair-Elect, San Felasco Section

Adam Hall, Planner for the City of Williston, married Lindsay th Knauff on May 27 . Best wishes Adam and Lindsay!

Section Lines

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

Congratulations to Spring 2012 graduates of the UF MAURP program: Lara Holimon, Ivelisse Justiniano, Gareth Hanley, Max Shmaltsuyev, Brian Caper, Allison Schutes, Angeline Jacobs, Forrest Eddleton, Kevin Ice, Robert Narvaez, John Kirkendall, and Daniel Greenberg.

The City of Gainesville Planning & Development Services Department has begun a major update of the City’s Land Development Code (LDC) that will incorporate form-based code principles. As stated on the Department’s website, “the creation of the formbased code will be completed with adherence to the community’s vision centered on the Comprehensive Plan update, community-driven priorities, and existing neighborhood characteristics.”

Alachua County is the recipient of the 2012 Better Community Award, presented by 1000 Friends of Florida.

Alachua County received the award, “for adopting and implementing an innovative plan and implementing ordinances to promote multimodal transportation and sustainable patterns of development.” Congratulations to all involved in receiving this recognition!

Two community workshops have been held. The first, on March 28, 2012, was for the purpose of educating stakeholders about form-based codes, and to solicit community input on the proposed study area. The second workshop, on April 17, 2012, was for the purpose of conducting a community preference survey to create a vision for each character district within the formbased code study area. Thirty-two people attended the first workshop, and 50 attended the second workshop.

Jeff Hays, was recently promoted to Transportation Planning Manager for Alachua County. He was previously the Senior Transportation Planner for Alachua County.

Chris Dawson, AICP was recently promoted to Senior Transportation Planner for Alachua County. He was previously a Planner for Alachua County.

Jonathan Paul, AICP recently established Nue Urban Concepts, a private consulting firm focused on land use, mobility plans, traffic impact analysis, and creative financing.

He was previously the Transportation Planning Manager for Alachua County.

Drafts of the form-based code and revised LDC should be ready in December 2012. A Joint Board Review Workshop is anticipated in March 2013, a City Plan Board hearing in April 2013, and a City Commission public hearing in June 2013. City staff contacts are Scott Wright, Senior Planner and Ralph Hilliard, Planning Manager.

Sympathies to the family of Dr. John DeGrove, a founder of 1000 Friends of Florida and longtime advocate for growth management in Florida, who passed away in April.

To submit a Section Line, email Jacob Kain at kainji@cityofgainesville.org.

“Community Compost Collectors – Turning Waste into Food,” which would expand the model of local startup Gainesville Compost to include school composting. The proposal was selected as a finalist at the competition for the Department of Education category. The Startup America Policy Challenge was sponsored by Arizona State University.

Learn more at http://policychallenge.asu.edu/.

Discussions are continuing in hopes to start a local school composting pilot project. Kathleen can be contacted at kpagan@alachuacounty.us or 352-3745249.

County staff participates in policy challenge

By Jacob Kain Secretary, San Felasco Section On May 21st, Kathleen Pagan, AICP, Senior Planner for Alachua County Growth Management, participated in the Startup America Policy Challenge in Washington, DC. Pagan led an interdisciplinary team that proposed

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Summer 2012

From the Chair

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

Spring 2012

APA Florida Chapter's Executive Committee (EC) held its bi-annual retreat in Gainesville on May 11-12th. The retreat was a success and the entire EC complimented San Felasco on its reception, which included a presentation on Innovation Square by Linda Dixon and Erik Bredfeldt.

While in Gainesville, the EC evaluated and updated the Florida Chapter Strategic Operating Plan (SOP) and the result is a clear and concise SOP. I have the privilege to be part of the EC on behalf of our section and I am pleased to announce that the changes to Chapter's goals, objectives and tasks in the SOP emphasize professional development, section support, strengthening the Legislative Program, and efforts to engage our allied professions. The SOP will be presented for adoption at the APA Florida annual meeting in Naples this September.

Please contact me or the other section officers to get involved and share your ideas to provide opportunities for networking and professional development.

APA President Mitchell Silver recently stated, "It's time to lead, inspire, and innovate". What better way to sustain our efforts to lead, inspire, and innovate especially in a time of slow economic recovery and seemingly growing distrust in government than to continue to offer opportunities for increased member interaction and professional growth. By meeting regularly at social events, lectures, or trainings to share our knowledge, experiences and ideas with other members we will strengthen our section as a source for continual enrichment that in turn strengthens the communities we serve.

More interaction will enrich our planning knowledge and support our common goal to create great places. I cannot think of a better medium to lead, inspire, and innovate than your APA San Felasco Section.

San Felasco recently received grant funds through a Chapter Professional Development Program to pay speakers to visit our section. The funds are limited and eligible expenses include travel, lodging and speaker fees. We will be working on a list of potential speakers and venues to fit our budget, so please contact us if there are any topics or speakers that you know would appeal to a majority of our members. We prefer speakers to have previous participation in APA Certification Maintenance events.

Finally, to stay connected during the summer season, please join us Fridays at 6:00 pm for Happy Hour at the Swamphead Brewery located at 3140 SW 42nd Way near Archer Road and I-75 in Gainesville.

Thanks to the Student Planning Association for coordinating that event.

Did you know that your San Felasco membership is free when you pay your national and chapter dues?

So help us lead, inspire and innovate our community!

Doug Doug Robinson Chair, San Felasco Section

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