The second Public Open House for the Santa Rosa County District 4 Master Plan was held on Monday, January 11, 2018, at the Navarre High School. During this Open House, attendees were presented with two Land Use Alternatives, a Vehicular Circulation Plan, Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan and Recreation and Open Space Plan. Over 120 people came out from the community to participate and provide comment on the alternatives and plans. This information will be used to create a preferred land use alternative for the Master Plan and to develop policies, regulations and guidelines. Thank you to all who came out to support the District 4 Master Plan effort!

CLICK HERE for a summary of the public input.

The Community Survey is closed. Thank you to all those who provided their input by completing the Community Survey. More than 470 participants completed the survey over the course of six weeks. This feedback will greatly help guide the direction for the development of the Santa Rosa County District 4 Master Plan. Click here to view the results of the Community Survey.

The first Public Open House for the Santa Rosa County District 4 Master Plan was held on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, at the Navarre High School in Navarre. During this Open House, attendees were guided through various stations and encouraged to provide their input on issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the future of District 4. Information gathered will be used to develop the Master Plan.

Thank you to all who came out to provide input critical to the development of the Master Plan. CLICK HERE for a summary of the community input from the Public Open House.

What was the goal of the Open House?

Because the Master Plan is a community-driven project for the citizens of District 4, it is important to obtain their input on issues, opportunities, goals, aspirations and vision for District 4. The Open House was an opportunity to introduce the project to the community and seek their input and ideas that will be used to establish common goals and priorities.

There was a great turn out at the Open House with participants from throughout District 4. The room was energized with the participants’ enthusiasm and the feedback very positive! Close to 200 citizens came out to share their thoughts, ideas and vision for District 4.

What were some of the work stations about?

All of the stations were staffed with facilitators from Matrix Design Group and the County planning department. The “land use” station focused on citizens’ zoning and density preferences, while the “transportation” station sought input on identifying intersections in need of improvements and locations for alternative routes to relieve congestion from high traffic areas.

What was the main emphasis on the wall map workstation? What was biggest “problem area” people identified?

The wall map station was used for people to identify issues and assets in geographic areas of District 4 using color coded tabs, i.e., problems that needed to be fixed OR high-value assets that should be preserved or enhanced. The most common issue reported from participants was congestion on Hwy 98. The total number of issues was balanced by the number of assets identified in District 4 such as the tremendous value placed on parks and open spaces.

What was the Visual Preference Survey (VPS) intended to accomplish?

The VPS is designed to help people identify with the community character that they prefer in topic areas such as transportation, housing, commercial development, signage, outdoor lightings, parks and recreation etc. People intuitively place value on the character of their environment but don’t always know how to articulate what it is that they value about that character. Character is most often associated with design, spatial relationships, appearance and function, such as the built form and their surroundings, the relationships of streets and the pedestrian environment, and scale of blocks, lots, buildings and other man made features. It can also be measured by natural features, culture, history and demographics.

All of these attributes influence people’s perceptions of community character. The VPS helps to identify characteristics that people prefer using visual cues as opposed to esoteric planning jargon that can focus on elements like setbacks, building heights, density etc. The preferences in a VPS can help to develop policies and guidelines to create that preferred character.

How does the feedback from this workshop get translated into the next steps and final report?

Based on the findings from the community input, a plan will start to emerge and set of actionable items developed to implement that plan. The tools needed to implement the plan, i.e. policies, land use overlay district, recommended changes to the Land Development Code, etc., will be determined from the community input that is now being gathered and processed.

Moving forward, the goals and vision of the community will be identified and developed as conceptual plans for District 4. These plan alternatives will be presented to the community for discussion at a forthcoming public open house. Based on the community feedback to the alternatives, a single master plan will emerge which could be one of the alternatives or a hybrid of elements or features from each.

Two public engagement events will be conducted for the Santa Rosa County District 4 Master Plan. The first public meeting will be conducted to introduce the community to the District 4 Master Plan process and seek community input on the future vision for District 4. The second public meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to review and provide feedback on the land use alternatives that will form the basis of the Master Plan. The public is also invited to provide comment at the Zoning Board and Board of County Commissioner public hearings for the District 4 Master Plan.

The public meetings for the Master Plan are being coordinated with Santa Rosa County. The meetings will be posted on this website and through other established methods by Santa Rosa County. This page will provide information about upcoming events and the results following, including presentations, summaries, and meeting photos (when available).