NORTH GREENWOOD CRA IMPLEMENTATION - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CODE CHANGESIntroduction
The City of Clearwater is undertaking the implementation of the North Greenwood Community
Redevelopment Area (CRA) Plan with the intention of updating the Community Development Code
(CDC). To that end, the city desires to hire the Benesch Team via the Forward Pinellas GPC Contract.
The main goal of the project is to amend the CDC such that it will allow incremental, small-scale
redevelopment and infill development versus wholesale redevelopment of the area. This can be
achieved through overlays or distinct zoning districts that will be drafted after the initial public
engagement tasks are complete. The desired outcome is for existing residents and current and future
business owners to build generational wealth within the neighborhood.
Project Team
As the prime on the Forward Pinellas contract, Benesch will be the lead firm for this task, with assistance
from several sub -consultants:
Ennis Davis from Community Planning Collaborative — Ennis will take the lead in all public engagement
meetings and will provide assistance with cultural mapping and best practices from other similar
communities.
Juan Mullerat from Plusurbia — Plusurbia will provide graphics illustrating what is permitted in each
zoning district within the study area today as well as what is proposed for the new code language. The
graphics will also be used in the daft code.
Jennifer Krouse from Liberty House Plans: Jen will provide the game boards and 3-D models for the
"Game of Zones" exercise and will assist in conducting the workshop. She is also available to develop
pre -approved building plans as an optional service.
John Anderson (sole practitioner) will also help facilitate the Game of Zones workshop as well as
provide peer review for the code amendment draft. John is also available to provide small developer
training as an additional service.
Benesch will provide overall project management, lead the check-in meetings with city staff, participate
in all public meetings, conduct plans review, tour the community, conduct necessary data and analysis,
develop the density and intensity bonus structure for the comprehensive plan, and will draft the code
language.
Scope of Work
Task 1: Discovery
The Discovery Phase is intended to lay the groundwork for the proceeding phases of the project. This
initial phase will establish project guideposts and core values, identify key stakeholders, and perform a
review of key plans and records.
Task 1.A. Project Kickoff: Working collaboratively, the Consultant Team and city staff will identify
key stakeholders, confirm overall project goals, confirm what plans the city wants the Team to
review, determine the location of public meetings, and confirm the project timeline. This
meeting will be a virtual TEAMS meeting.
Task 1.B. Records, Plans Review, and Data/Analysis: A review of historical records such as
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, subdivision plats, historical records, census data, and aerial
imagery will be conducted to identify the context of the study area. Selected plans and previous
work completed will be reviewed as to how they relate to the established project goals. These
plans will include, at a minimum, the Comprehensive Plan, CRA Finding of Necessity and Plan,
the Residential Infill Study conducted by USF, materials from the 2023 workshops, and the CDC.
Special consideration will be taken to understand the extent to which the Comprehensive Plan
and CDC allow for missing middle residential and small-scale commercial infill. Data and analysis
will include existing density/intensity/lot width, depth, and size, and existing land use. Data for
this analysis will come from city zoning and future land use shapefiles, Pinellas County Clerk
recorded plats, and property appraiser/Florida Department of Revenue data.
Note: A cursory review of the city's comprehensive plan revealed that there are not sufficient
densities and intensities to allow for missing middle building types. A missing middle density and
intensity bonus in the comprehensive plan with corresponding design criteria in the code pursuant
to the Countywide Rules should suffice. As part of the project, Benesch will recommend a density
bonus structure for the comprehensive plan; city staff will be responsible for drafting and
processing the amendments and transmitting them to the state and Forward Pinellas. Pursuant to
Florida Statute, the city cannot adopt land development regulations that are inconsistent with the
comprehensive plan; therefore, the timing of the adoption of the CDC amendment is dependent on
the city amending its comprehensive plan.
Task 1.0 Field Review: Catherine Hartley (Benesch) and Ennis Davis (Community Planning
Collaborative) will conduct a field review of the study area. As part of this field review, city staff
and any stakeholders the city identifies in the kickoff meeting will tour the CRA together to get a
feel for the area and to better understand the built environment as it exists today. The team will
also conduct some additional individual reconnaissance of social, cultural, heritage, and public
sites within the study area and research other communities who have addressed similar issues.
Deliverable: Memo summarizing plan and code analysis, initial data and analysis, and best
practices from other like communities.
Task 2: Community Engagement
Development and adoption of the Greenwood Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) Community
Development Code (CDC) amendments is contingent on a meaningful community outreach effort.
Building the foundation for an equitable process requires a thorough community outreach and
engagement strategy. Goals of a successful community engagement process include conveying the
purpose and use of the CDC amendment(s), understanding the community's desires and wished -for
outcomes, identifying priorities for the CDC amendment(s), and ensuring the community feels involved
in development and implementation of the CDC amendment(s).
Objectives for the outreach component of the CDC amendment process include:
• Providing information to the community about available policy tools that support goals of the
neighborhood;
• Empowering the community to be a part of future land use and zoning processes; and
• Building a coalition of support for successful adoption of the CDC amendment.
Task 2.A. Meeting 1 - Listening Session with city staff and identified stakeholders: Up to ten (10)
interviews with identified community stakeholders prior to Meeting #2 - Kick -Off Community
Meeting. Stakeholder Listening Sessions are more personalized meetings with key community
leaders and stakeholders intended to better understand the community's desires and needs
prior to public community workshops and meetings. These 60 -minute sessions can be organized
to be held either in person, virtual or by telephone. The consultant team will work with the city's
project manager to identify stakeholders and organize meeting schedules. City staff may either
attend the meetings with the identified community members or the Consultant Team will hold
separate meetings with staff, which would be included in the 10 meetings.
Task 2.B. Meeting 2 - Kickoff meeting with the broader community and cultural mapping: The
meeting agenda will include an overview of the project and upcoming meetings, a recap of
previous planning efforts, an overview of the comprehensive plan and CDC amendment process,
and an interactive discussion about the community's history, cultural heritage, and how this
information can play a role in anti -gentrification and displacement strategies within the CDC
amendment process.
Task 2.C. Meetings 3 and 4 - 3D model "Game of Zones" with staff and the community: The
Game of Zones is an exercise for the community and city staff to select desired "missing middle"
housing and commercial buildings that fit in with the neighborhood context that the consultant
team can Tater translate into code and comprehensive plan amendments. Plusurbia will prepare
graphics that illustrate what is permitted currently in each zoning district within the study area
and Benesch staff will prepare display boards with these graphics as well as the Future Land Use
and Zoning Maps. Jennifer Krouse (Liberty House Plans) will prepare the 3-D scaled models of
various residential and commercial infill types that staff and the community can place on the
"game boards." The game boards will consist of select blocks within the study area, to be
determined by city staff and the consultant team. Examples of the 3-D scaled models include
ADU's, duplexes, quadplexes, and small-scale commercial buildings. The purpose of this exercise
is to identify desired building types that can fit in with the existing context and lot sizes. The
outcome of these meetings will be decisions on building types and their corresponding
densities, building heights, setbacks, parking, etc. that will inform the code and comprehensive
plan.
Task 2.D. Meeting 5 — Review the final draft of the code with the community. Catherine Hartley
and Ennis Davis will present the draft code amendments to the community for comment and
confirmation.
Deliverables:
Deliverable 1: Meeting and presentation materials (sign in sheets, maps,
game boards, PowerPoints and handouts)
Deliverable 2: Meeting summaries
Deliverable 3: Cultural map: Sites and spaces of cultural importance to
the North Greenwood Community and strategic initiatives in the
neighborhood will be gleaned from meetings 1 and 2. Ennis Davis will
convert what was learned from the meetings into a map. The cultural map
can be utilized by the community for future initiatives including oral
histories, public art, etc. in addition to informing what may go into the
code amendment.
City Responsibility: City staff will be responsible for selecting the location for the workshops,
providing tables, chairs, and AV equipment, notifying the public, and creating any directional
signage. City staff will staff the welcome table. Meetings 3 and 4 shall be conducted on the same
day — the meeting with staff will be conducted during normal business hours and the meeting
with the community will be held in the evening.
Task 3: CDC Amendments
Task 3 will build upon the previous tasks by incorporating the results of public engagement activities
and the Discovery phase.
Task 3.A. Draft Code: Upon the conclusion of the first three meetings, Catherine Hartley will
prepare three draft versions of the proposed CDC in strikeout and underline. The code will be
graphic -driven, with graphics used to illustrate both the existing code and proposed changes.
Graphics will be prepared by Plusurbia. Draft code language will be written in "plain language"
and easy for city staff and the public to interpret. The code will address topics including
permitted/prohibited uses, building types, building height, density/intensity, setbacks, open
space per unit (or equivalent measures), buffering, parking, non -conformities, vehicular access,
and lot aggregation. Density and intensity will have to be concurrently amended in the
comprehensive plan, which city staff will undertake. Benesch will provide the density and
intensity structure for the comprehensive plan and three drafts of the code for the city to
comment on.
Task 3.B. Final Code: Once a third round of comments has been completed, the Consultant will
prepare a final draft for public hearings.
Task 3 C. Public Hearings: Benesch will present the code to the Community Development
Board (1) and City Council (3) — Four (4) meetings total.
Deliverables: Four total code drafts with graphics and strikeout and underline text and maps
(PDF and shapefiles will be provided) and PowerPoint presentation.
Optional Tasks:
Pre -Approved Building Plans
Small Developer Training:
Task 4: Project Management
Jennifer Krouse of Liberty House Plans will prepare pre -
approved building plans for desired missing middle
housing options and develop licensing terms.
John Anderson will provide a one -day in-person training
for existing and potential small developers to teach them
how to select a site, interpret zoning, develop a site plan,
develop a pro -forma and development proposal, and
provide financing options.
For a project of this magnitude, the Benesch Team proposes progress check in meetings every two
weeks. The Benesch team shall provide an agenda for each meeting and a summary of the meeting
outcomes in a follow up email. Invoices will be provided monthly with a progress report summarizing
the work completed during the billing period and tasks to be completed during the next billing period.
Deliverables: Meeting Agendas and Summaries
Monthly Invoices with Progress Reports
City of Clearwater. Greenwood CRA CDC Amendments
Budget
The total fee for this project is estimated to be $ 255,978 and is shown broken down at the task and subtask levels below:
• benesch
Chief
Professiona
I Demian
Miler
H: 1.• Batt' S 2`,8 91)
Task 1 Discove 2
Jennifer
Krause
Project Chief Liberty
Manager Professional Professional- House Plans
Catherine (GIS) Logan Juan Chief
Hartley Patterson Mullerat Professional
5 197.10 $ 106. In 9 250.10) 9 250-01
113 21 1 1
Ennis Davis
Community
John Planning
Anderson Collaborative
Chief Sr.
Professional Professional
5 2"50.00 S 150.00 Hours Fee 0, [I, i:. Total Fee
1 81 220 $ 37,933 $ 37,933
Historic Recor•s an P ans
B Review 0
95
64 $ 28,325
C Field Review and Mapping 1
16 20 _-
16 $ 7,949 --
A -D
Meetings (includes prep
time, travel time, and
summary memos)
20
124
4
20
48
24
104
148
$ 68,646
-
Expenses (not to exceed)
-----®-Q®
$11,000
Task 3
CDC Amendments/ CP
Bonus Structure
12
270
0
100
0
22
404
$ 86,824
$ 86,824
B -
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=EMI
EIMINEEEEZEI
WMIIIMIIMIE11111111111113111
1111111111111111111111111111=®
EMEWIIM
C
Code Amendment Approval
Process (prep, travel time,
attendance, and changes to
be made to the code after
the hearing)
54
54
$ 10,643
-
-----_----_
A
Check in meetings,
invoicing, progress reports,
sub coordination and
contract management
40
200
12
$ 51,576
OPTIONAL/MISCElANE0U5
Task S SERVICES
Total Tasks 1 - 4
NOTTOEXCEED COSTS TO BE DETERMINED USING
CATEGORY RATES ABOVE PLUS PLAN
DEVELOP MEMAND LISCENSING
74 707 25 121 49 47 197 1,220 $ 244,978 $ 255,978
Schedule
The proposed schedule for the project is illustrated below. This schedule is dependent on the city staff's ability to schedule time and meeting space, the adoption of a companion comprehensive plan amendment, and a ten business day
turn around time for the staff to review and comment on submitted deliverables. If staff cannot meet these deadlines, then the schedule may be adjusted accordingly.
Months from Notice to Proceed 1 Month 11 Month 2 1Month 3 !Month 4lMonth 51 Month 61Month 7 (Month 8 Month 9 `Month 101Month 11
Task
'wry
1B - Kickoff
1B -Historic Records and Plans Review
1C- Field Review
2- Eretnetlt
2A - Meeting 1: Listening sessions
2B - Meeting 2: Kickoff with the community
2C- Meetings 3 and 4: Game of Zones
20 - Meeting 5: Code reveal
3-Codeftol y aitdApproval
3A - 3 Drafts - writing and staff review
3B- Hearing Draft
3C - Ordinance Approval Process* (up to 4 meetings)
4- Project Management I
*Relies on Comprehensive Plan Amendment Adoption
Countersigned:
B ian J A
Mayor
Date:
Approved as to form:
Matthew Mytych
Sr. Assistant City Attorney
Date: 3/(3A2
CITY OF CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
By: 1
Jennife of ier
City Manager
Date„/i1 Q-A- J'► ;9)0( 01
ttest:
1,t_ ( )-
Rosemarie
CaII
City Clerk
Dat e•J1(44- 9)O 3DMGI
ALFRED BENESCH & COMPANY
Attest:
a /L, ifiA I- I IL — By:
Print Name:Catherine Hartley, AICP,CNir Int Name: Bill Ball, AICP
Secretary Title: FL Division Mgr., Sr. Vice President
Date: February 22, 2024