Radical? Outside the box? Some ideas for Vero Beach downtown would affect how we travel
I’ll never forget the warning urban planner Andres Duany gave Jan. 31, 2020, while unveiling a plan for Vero Beach’s Three Corners that led to a rousing standing ovation.
“We are a deal-killer of a society,” Duany told the audience, noting such plans are never as popular as the day they are presented.
More than four years later, that plan has been nitpicked every which way, but we won’t find out until early March exactly what four developers propose to do with land the city owns at 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard.
Earlier this month, Duany drew applause ― some of the more than 150-person crowd stood ― after he unveiled ideas for Vero Beach’s downtown.
But based on what I'm hearing ― especially from folks who did not attend the meeting — many people still want to keep downtown Vero Beach pretty close to the way it is now.
Duany had some good ideas; others were more questionable. I offered my two cents recently on 1) the plan’s overview and its call for more residences downtown and 2) some specific proposed improvements.
Radical ideas? Outside the box?
The process starts: Vero Beach, Stuart, Three Corners: New Urbanist Andres Duany faces different challenges
Some would say, 'Wow!': Bold ideas for Vero Beach downtown unveiled on eve of final master planning meeting
Part II: Besides housing, how can you primp downtown Vero Beach? Pocahontas, other ideas sensical?
Part I, Overall vision, housing: Is this future of downtown Vero Beach? Duany finale draws applause to big, bold master plan
Then I heard Mayor John Cotugno talk about the downtown plan the other day on Bob Soos’ radio show. Cotugno has been open-minded, as he has been with other city initiatives, carefully analyzing pros and cons as he speaks with various members of the community.
“It’s an aspirational plan that really gets rolled out over multiple years … you could even call it generational,” Cotugno said, noting it could take decades to implement whatever aspects of it the community decides to move forward with. “(It) inspires people to go out and make investments and participate."
As Duany said Feb. 9:
“This is both very precise, but very flexible.”
The mayor offered his two cents to Soos:
“I wouldn’t call it radical,” said Cotugno, a proponent of “revitalizing" downtown. “I’d call it a little bit out of the box, but (something) that … inspires conversation and dialogue, which leads to solutions.”
So, here are my two cents on three aspects of the plan — all related to transportation — including one clearly the most outside-the-box idea I’ve seen in quite some time.
21st Street: Welcome to Downtown Vero Beach — Not!
The first topic already was on the drawing board. As part of safety improvements associated with the higher-speed Brightline trains, a traffic signal is planned for U.S. 1 at 21st Street.
Duany, however, sees it as an opportunity to attract some of more than 20,000 motorists a day he says drive that way and often bypass downtown.
His plans for the intersection takes advantage of the existing triangle island, where he’d add an obelisk. Instead of a boring “Welcome to Downtown Vero Beach” sign, Duany’s would say “Forget Fort Pierce” and “Forget Melbourne.”
My two cents: While I’m not keen on adding a 30th U.S. 1 traffic signal in Indian River County, the design is not as bad as I imagined.
For an obelisk, perhaps the Sexton family would fund something similar to the long-gone 32-foot Waldo’s Mountain, a Mayan-looking monument built by its family scion whose unique architecture graces this county. The “mountain” was built on Orchid Island, northwest of Jaycee Park.
As for a message: How about the time-tested local motto? “Where The Tropics Begin”
Let’s keep Vero Beach unique and honor its heritage of good taste, not crassness.
By the way, who funds improvements is a question that permeates the entire downtown master plan process, which could continue in March, when Duany and his DPZ CoDesign present more findings to the city council.
Re-envisioned model block of 14th Avenue
Duany sees two or three central blocks of 14th Avenue as the epicenter of transformation that could spread a block a year.
He showed images of the 2000 block, which includes an antique store, Florida Theatre, restaurants and other businesses to illustrate a pattern he’d propose:
Eliminate parking in front of restaurants to create space for outdoor seating, perhaps elevated on decks. Use the middle turn lane to create a boulevard-type median with lampposts and lit trees.
Two building blocks of this idea are:
DPZ counted 1,353 public parking spots downtown, far more than are needed and used.
His view it’s OK to discourage vehicles from the locally traveled downtown street. He sees plenty of alternate routes.
My two cents: Most of it looks good and makes sense. Would restaurants pay the city for the additional real estate? Maybe diverting traffic ― I’d like to see the possible effects ― is OK. But who would maintain landscaping and lighting in the median and pay for the improvements?
How about a new town center?
The area between the Twin Pairs of State Road 60, along both sides of Old Dixie Highway, could be redeveloped into a town square.
Aside from renovating or tearing down some buildings, some key aspects of the idea:
Eliminating a city parking lot on the southeast corner of 14th Avenue and State Road 60 westbound, squaring it off and turning the northern end of it into a small park.
On the south end, he’d have the city offer the land to a developer, who would build a mixed-use building and maintain the park. From the park, art light shows — which would generate visitors — would be projected onto a huge canvas: The south side of the Vintage Vero building.
Raising the Twin Pairs
Duany would make 14th Avenue have a more consistent look and feel north and south of State Road 60, making it easier for pedestrians to cross. He'd also line up Old Dixie Highway, which would take a new jog to the east, with the northern alley east of 14th Avenue.
The Twin Pairs would be raised slightly and painted or get pavers to differentiate the roadway and slow east-west traffic.
My two cents: This would take a lot of coordination, especially with owners of the building just east of Old Dixie Highway, where the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was for years.
As they say, the devil is in the details, and there are a lot of details to iron out.
I love the park idea. Great downtowns have central parks for all sorts of uses. One in the center of town would serve as a link between the $6.2 million Jimmy Graves Sports and Community Complex north of Vero Beach High School and Pocahontas Park.
I also like the idea of using Old Dixie Highway to connect with the alley and, in turn, head north into Pocahontas Park as I discussed recently.
As Cotugno said, there are lots of ideas.
“You need to hear them all,” he told Soos. “You never know where the great idea comes from.”
I just hope this plan gets discussed in more detail than other ones the city has had. I don’t think downtown needs to be “revitalized” ― it's as flourishing as I've ever seen it now ― but changes could help and the Duany plan offers lots of options.
The key now is for people to learn more about the proposals, then show up at city council meetings to offer some feedback.
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.
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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Forget Fort Pierce, Melbourne? Let's focus on why Vero Beach special
