Fort Lauderdale Central Beach district requirements and limitations

This rule establishes design requirements and limitations for Central Beach in order to implement sustainable practices that include, but are not limited to flood resiliency, additional stormwater storage capacity in flood prone areas, solar access to reduce demands for cooling and lighting, cool roofs, and green roofs (two (2) points); […] C.Open Space. Open space, for the purposes of this section, shall include all areas on the development site not covered by structures, other than covered arcades, or not covered by vehicular use area. Open spaces can include, but are not limited to public plazas and pocket parks. Covered, double-story arcades with a minimum width of ten (10) feet and at least one (1) side open to a street shall be credited towards open space requirements. The required open space shall be shaded through the use of trees, canopies, trellises or other unenclosed shade structures and may include seating, fountains and other elements that enhance the public realm. A minimum of twenty-five (25) percent of the required open space at grade shall be in pervious landscaped area. At least forty (40) percent of the required open space shall be provided at-grade and the remaining open space may be accessible to individual residential units or through common areas, or both. Pervious surface area, for the purposes of this requirement, may include, but not limited to open planting beds, porous paving systems, sand-set pavers, or any combination thereof. […] D.Central Beach Streetscape Design. Streetscape may be required to mitigate, avoid or minimize the impacts caused by the development to surrounding public spaces in a manner that is roughly proportionate to the actual impact of the development. All streetscape improvements shall consider the incorporation of travel lanes, on-street parking, landscape strips, and sidewalks. Alternative streetscape designs may be considered if conflicts with existing utilities prevent placement of street trees Placement of on-street parking shall be subject to City Engineer review and approval. […] 5.Street Design. The design of the streetscape abutting a development site shall provide a minimum width for landscaping, sidewalks and on-street parking as provided in this section. Alternative designs may be considered based on existing conditions or when there is an identified conflict with infrastructure and shall be subject to approval by the City Engineer. The setback of structures shall be increased to accommodate the minimum landscape, sidewalk and on-street parking requirements through the establishment of an access easement on private property, should the existing right-of-way width prove insufficient to accommodate.a.Travel Lane. Travel lanes are required to be a minimum eleven (11) foot width.b.On-Street Parking. On-Street Parking shall be designed in accordance with this section or adopted streetscape plans.c.Sidewalks.i.Primary Street. Sidewalks are required to be a minimum of twenty (20) foot width.ii.Secondary Streets. Sidewalks are required to be a minimum of seven (7) foot width.iii.Other streets not identified as primary or secondary streets. Sidewalks are required to be a minimum of five (5) feet.d.Street Trees. Street trees shall be planted and maintained along the street abutting the property to provide a canopy effect. The trees shall be planted at a minimum height and size in accordance with the requirements of Section 47-21, Landscape and Tree Preservation Requirements. The requirements for street trees, as provided herein, may be located within the public right-of-way, as approved by the entity with jurisdiction over the abutting right-of-way.i.Plant selection should be based on the plant’s adaptability to the existing coastal conditions and native plant communities, particularly considering appropriate hardiness zone, soil type and moisture conditions, light, mature plant size, desired effect, color, and texture. Plant species are required to be tolerant to salt and able to withstand salt exposure and prevailing winds.ii.In addition to the requirements of Section 47-21, to accommodate proper root growth, street trees shall require the use of a sub-grade soil medium, such as CU Structural Soil® or similar, to be provided to support root growth for trees adjacent to pedestrian pavement and the use of a modular subgrade block system, such as Silva Cell® or similar, to be provided to support root growth for trees adjacent to traffic loads and utilities, and other amenities including but not limited to irrigation, up lighting, porous paving systems.iii.Street trees shall be shade trees maintained at a minimum twelve (12) foot horizontal clearance from buildings. Shade trees shall be provided at maximum of every thirty (30) lineal feet on-center along the street frontage. Palm trees may be provided at intersections where streets with street trees converge and spaced to provide maximum visibility. Provide tall palms at the immediate corners to provide a visual marker and to frame the street. Small canopy trees and small palms may be permitted when existing or proposed physical conditions may prevent the proper growth of shade trees or tall palms, as determined by the DRC, at maximum of every fifteen (15) lineal feet along the street frontage. All trees shall satisfy the following standards at the time of planting:a)Shade trees: Minimum sixteen (16) feet in height and eight (8) foot spread, with minimum seven (7) foot vertical clearance.b)Palm trees: Minimum eighteen (18) feet in height, with a minimum of eight (8) foot of clear trunk.c)Small canopy tree or small palm trees: Minimum twelve (12) feet in height and six (6) foot spread, with a minimum six (6) foot vertical clearance.iv.Landscape Strip with Street Trees. Landscape strip area for street trees does not represent the soil volume requirement for root growth and shall be subject to approval by the Department Street trees as defined by Section 47-21.2 of the ULDR, Landscaping and Tree Preservation and minimum dimensions for landscape strip to accommodate tree trunk growth shall be provided as follows:a)Shade trees having an average mature canopy spread of greater than thirty (30) feet shall be provided with two hundred twenty-five (225) square foot planted area, with a minimum nine (9) foot width being the smallest dimension; orb)Trees having an average mature canopy spread between twenty (20) and thirty (30) feet shall be provided with a ninety (90) square foot planted area, with a minimum seven (7) foot width being the smallest dimension; orc)Trees having an average mature canopy spread less than twenty (20) feet shall be provided with sixty-four (64) square foot planted area, with a minimum six (6) foot width being the smallest dimension; ord)Palms shall be provided with a twenty-five (25) square foot planted area and shall provide a minimum five (5) foot width being the smallest dimension except for a sixteen (16) square foot planted area with four (4) foot minimum width being the smallest dimension for Coccothrinax, Thrinax, Saba/ and Ptychosperma spp.