07-08-13 Meeting of the La Porte Development Corporation Board of Directors

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Action and Initiatives 1) Prepare a master plan for the Greater Downtown area. The purpose of the plan is to establish a clear and collectively supported vision and then an implementation framework to guide reinvestment and new investment in the Greater Downtown area of La Porte, including the areas of Main Street, Sylvan Beach and waterfront. This plan should build off the City's revitalization initiatives in Downtown (e.g., Five Points Town Plaza, the San Jacinto off-street trail/sidewalk, and the City/County improvements at Sylvan Beach and waterfront), identifying opportunities to bolster Downtown as an attractive and lightly functional center of activity based on its unique assets. The plan should identify the appropriate land uses and the arrangement and form of development/redevelopment, along with well-planned and designed improvements to streets and parking areas, vehicular and pedestrian access and circulation, streetscape the amenities, signage, lighting, and infrastructure upgrades. In addition, this master plan should: a. Assess the constraints to redevelopment and the effective use of Downtown properties and buildings. Such factors as land and buildings ownership, traffic and pedestrian circulation, parking, building sizes, building code issues (such as ADA accessibility), lease rates, and other contributing factors should be addressed in the plan. b. Address the fringe and/or transitional areas immediately adjacent to identify measures to secure their integrity. c. Include details on the use of design elements and unifying treatments (could include wayfinding signage), in addition to the gateway monuments, to demarcate the boundaries of this area so that it is distinguished from other areas of the community. 2) Consider revising regulatory provisions in the Main Street District to ensure new development creates an urban form. This could include: a. Modifying the Main Street purpose statement to include intent of creating a human -scaled urban form comprised of mixed uses. b. Specifying front yard setback provisions as build -to lines, rather than an "average of the existing structures on that side of the street on the same side of the street or the setback of the closest structure on an adjacent lot." The existing provisions will not ensure an urban form over the long-term. ACC ION FOP, 1A POKYE, 8 1E A -201.2 012 UPDAI:'E