For many years, Volusia County has lagged behind the Orlando metropolitan area in terms of economic development. There is a severe imbalance in the East Central Florida region's economic activity. Orange County clearly is the dominant employment and income attractor and generator in the region while the surrounding counties have a negative outflow of employment and income. In recent years, Seminole County has emerged as the focal point for new economic activity north of Orlando. Due in part to the availability of affordable housing, the southwestern portion of Volusia County has historically been viewed as a "bedroom community" serving the Orange/Seminole County market. In order to reverse this trend, the southwestern part of Volusia County needs to become an active partner in the north Orlando suburban market. Strong business and civic leadership must be demonstrated soon or the modest opportunities for the future may be lost. The development of the I-4/SR 472 Activity Center is envisioned to be one of the most significant steps necessary for Volusia County to compete and link up with Orange and Seminole Counties by becoming an economic focal point of West Volusia.

The vision is that the Activity Center will become one of the major centers or places of synergy in the urban network of Central Florida. The Activity Center will become one of the principal employment centers in Volusia County, especially generating well paying jobs in the office and industrial oriented sectors of the economy for residents of Volusia County, especially West Volusia. The Activity Center can provide the residents and consumers of West Volusia with a greater array of comparison and shopping goods choices by having these additional retail opportunities in the County. The Activity Center's development will be controlled by an overall master plan to avoid the negative impacts of unplanned piecemeal development. The time has come for southwest Volusia County to plan for its share of the north Orlando suburban market and to develop the I-4/SR472 intersection as a focal point for the urbanizing area of southwest Volusia. Our vision is that the Activity Center can provide a more identifiable place for community life for West and Southwest Volusia than currently exists today.

Volusia County, in coordination with the City of Deltona, has initiated an Areawide Development of Regional Impact (DRI) for the Activity Center. A primary purpose of the DRI is to have key approvals in place to facilitate the timely development and marketability of the Activity Center. The Areawide DRI may modify the land use guidelines which follow.

In the County's efforts to promote the Activity Center, guidance is needed in pursuing appropriate economic growth and to maintain a focus on the ultimate goal of developing a key employment area for Volusia County. The following land use guidelines will be utilized throughout the planning and implementation process of bringing the Activity Center to fruition.

Develop part of the Activity Center in a manner so that it will be considered a major competitor along the I-4 Corridor, north of the City of Orlando, with existing and other proposed office centers along this corridor such as: the Maitland Center, Heathrow Business Park, Seminole Town Center area, and other similar significant office centers.

Develop the Activity Center in a manner that contributes to the creation of quality light industrial space market for Southwest Volusia which can compete with the Lake Mary/Heathrow area and other areas in north Orange County and Seminole County for this land use product.

To use the Activity Center's proximity to both Interstate Four (I-4) and Interstate Ninety Five (I-95) as a major asset to become one of the County's (especially for West Volusia) principal centers for warehousing/distribution activities.

(a) To facilitate the development of a major regional scale facility(s) which can offer the residents a wide variety of "comparison" or "shoppers goods" which can reduce the need for West Volusia consumers to travel outside Volusia County to obtain such goods, and enjoy such shopping experiences.

(b) To facilitate the development of neighborhood scale retail facilities which will supply the residential areas within the activity center, and generally residents/households within an approximate three mile radius from the activity center with convenience goods and services which are typically required to support households/families on a weekly or frequent basis.

To provide a far wider range of leisure time opportunities for leisure and neo-leisure activities for the residents of West Volusia, plus having the potential of attracting residents from adjacent and nearby counties who can bring new dollars into the community.

To develop an adequate range of lodging facilities and services to support the business travel functions related to the office and industrial segments of the Activity Center, as well as to help develop the tourism, especially the eco-tourism potentials for SW and West Volusia markets.

Encourage the necessary retail, service, institutional, and other uses necessary to support large scale office and industrial markets envisioned for this activity center.

Development within the Activity Center shall be consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies enumerated below. These goals, objectives, and policies shall not be interpreted, either individually or collectively, as relieving compliance with other elements of the Comprehensive Plan and/or other County land development regulations. Rather, it is the purpose of these goals, objectives, and policies to supplement, not substitute or supersede, the Comprehensive Plan and other land development regulations.

Industrial _____27,630 ADT

Commercial _____59,660 ADT

Residential ____ 3,710 ADT

A development within the CDD which would not exceed the total available traffic volume per land use for the CDD shall be permitted in a manner consistent with the County's Land Development Regulations. Transferring of trips between land uses may be permitted up to 20% of each land use, but cannot exceed the total maximum number of trips. Any proposed development or aggregate of developments which exceeds this threshold shall require an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. The actual number of trips generated by a development will be determined through an approved site plan or an approved preliminary plat. The number of trips designated per site plan or plat will be valid for the life of that site plan or plat.

provide for a unified appearance by utilizing such mechanisms as sign control (i.e. number, height, and copy area), landscape screening/buffering requirements (i.e. width and composition), underground utilities, and building setbacks and height requirements;

use shared parking, access and loading facilities, as practical in an effort to reduce impervious surfaces;

promote vehicular, pedestrian and non-vehicular movement throughout the Activity Center;

provide a network of unifying open spaces (said open spaces shall be in, or predominately in, a natural state) which promote linkage with other adjoining developments; and

cluster in order to protect listed species and their habitat;

use common frontage/service roads, and

use shared or joint facilities such as storm water, bus stops, and utility easements.

It is not intended that each development within the Activity Center be aesthetically identical. However, by 1996, the County's land development regulations shall be amended to include certain minimal standards addressing the items listed above which will be applicable to development within Activity Centers. Until those regulations are adopted, development of properties fronting upon Blue Lake Avenue, Howland Boulevard, West Volusia Beltline, and Normandy Boulevard shall be consistent with the intent of the Thoroughfare Overlay Zone Regulations contained in Zoning Ordinance 80-8, as amended.

Each of the future land use designations shown on the Activity Center Plan map and their relationship to the Comprehensive Plan's Future Land Use Element are presented below. Phase II is described under Policy SW 1.8.1.13.

All of these designations are considered to be urban and require the provision of urban facilities and services as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan.

Due to the intensities of the anticipated uses within the Activity Center and other long range transportation efforts from the I-4 corridor and the southwestern portion of the County, this Plan assumes that there may be a need for a transportation center to serve several modes of transportation. The support document describes such a facility and the impact it would have on the surrounding land uses. Locating a transportation facility inside the Activity Center may require an amendment to this Plan. The information and material contained in the support document will be used as a guide in determining location, land uses, and additional infrastructure requirements, if any.

Three residential designations of differing densities are contained in the Activity Center. The permitted principal uses allowed by these designations would be exclusively residential. The exception to this definition is presented in Policy SW 1.8.1.7. The density of residential development to be permitted by each of the residential designations is outlined as follows:

(I) tier I (2 to 8 units/acre)

(II) tier II (8 to 20 units/acre)

This category will have its own zoning classification with the same name Coordinated Development District (CDD). The CDD designation and zoning classification, will not require a Planned Unit Development (PUD) (See note below). Only a site plan or a subdivision plat need to be submitted for review and approval. The uses and design criteria area listed below.

The exception to the omission of the PUD requirement is that if a development within the CDD includes area outside of the CDD, then the project will have to be processed as a PUD. Suggested amount of land outside the CDD would be 10% or more of entire project to require the PUD.

In order to promote the vision of the Activity Center, the following land uses are recommended for inclusion in the CDD zoning classification. If a particular land use is not listed below or considered a comparable land use, then it is not recommended for inclusion inside the CDD. The actual intensity or density of each development will be dependent upon Policy SW 1.8.1.14. The uses listed below are described in the beginning of this section (page 1-89).

Office
Lt. Industrial (flex-space)
Power Center (shopping center)
Neighborhood Comm.
Support Comm.
Tourist Comm.
Residential (Tier II)
Public Transportation Facility
Mall (type varies) *

Provide a unified appearance through sign control, underground utilities, landscaping (including streetscaping), building guidelines (height limits and floor areas) and ground floor uses if vertical mixed use buildings are utilized.

Provide setback guidelines that will help protect incompatible uses from one another, consider greater setbacks next to existing residential along the periphery and reductions if public open space is provided.

Provide traffic circulation guidelines including local street patterns, common frontage or service roads, parking areas (includes shared parking, parking ratios and loading), access, and non-vehicular movements (includes pedestrian).

Provide for joint facilities such as storm water, parking, bus stops, and utility easements.

Provide open space requirements that will include the required landscaping, but in addition will address the need to protect certain habitat (if required) and creation of a centralized public open system instead of the usual piecemeal approach.