In coordination with the City of Stuart and with funding from the Department of Economic Opportunity the developed Master Plan provides clear design recommendations for detailed urban design and redevelopment scenarios along the Federal Highway in Stuart.
For the City of Stuart, the workshop, surveys, and interviews offered an opportunity for citizens, property owners, and others to identify and evaluate land-use patterns and lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the study area. This visioning process expanded the role of citizen input, highlighting the relationships between land use, mobility, economics, and other factors. With an adopted Master Plan, the City can clearly communicate its expectations to citizens, business owners, investors, and agencies, well ahead of the capital investments necessary to enable a vibrant and sustainable City. Over time, the implementation of the Master Plan will encourage safer mobility and a more resilient economic corridor. This is crucial as issues of sustainability, growth, and transportation are paramount to local governance in Florida.
STUDY AREA
The study area runs from St. Lucie Crescent Road to SE Dixie Cutoff Road and includes about a mile of Federal Highway. Relatively little redevelopment has occurred in the last thirty years along this section of the corridor which sees frequent vacancies in plazas and unfulfilled infill development opportunities. Much of the existing development is characterized by large parking lots and buildings set far back on their site. A storage facility and gas stations are recent redevelopments. It has been clearly expressed that these uses so near the downtown of Stuart are misaligned with the community vision of the area. There are numerous challenges for pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users, and vehicles which
have stifled mobility and are contributing to the economic stagnation along the corridor.