*Items marked in red are from the City’s comprehensive plan that was approved last Wednesday the 18th.
Comprehensive Plan: Future Land Use: Page 5/87
The City hired town planning firm to lead this new community engagement and planning process, along with economists from Partners for Economic Solutions (PES) and transportation engineer Richard Hall, from Hall Planning & Engineering (HPE).
Based on findings from PES’s Budgetary & Economic Analysis, however, the 2019 Citywide Master Plan put greater emphasis on updating the city’s existing comprehensive plan, zoning, and land development regulations to encourage realistic redevelopment, especially in the Downtown and in other areas already served by City infrastructure and services.
PES’s report also highlighted additional economic challenges, including the nationwide decline in brick-and-mortar retail and Punta Gorda’s highly seasonal population and its economic reliance on the tourism and service industries.
These challenges, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and its impact on leisure travel, hospitality, ecommerce, and overall employment, underscore the importance of focusing on existing City assets, diversifying housing types, and taking a measured and fiscally responsible approach to annexation, all of which were key recommendations of the 2019 Citywide Master Plan.
The mention of Partners for Economic Solutions (PES) based out of D.C. on the city's website was in connection with the Dover Kohl study of Gilchrist Park in 2019, in a “work in progress study” of the Citywide Master Plan 2019.
The City’s Comprehensive Plan’s studies included data from various sources, ranging from the city of Punta Gorda to Punta Gorda itself, Charlotte County, surrounding areas in Southwest Florida, even referencing national data.
It also presented a mix of outdated information, and often combined statistics from different regions, which resulted in inaccurate representations of our City, which is quite unique and different from other areas of even Charlotte County itself.
Furthermore, the City’s Comprehensive Plan discussed the impact of COVID-19, but overlooked the true effects of two hurricanes that impacted our city. It did state Fishermen’s village, which we must remember is no longer publically owned, was “destroyed by hurricane Ian” – Was it truly destroyed? And why are other businesses not mentioned?
Below in red is what is stated in the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
Comprehensive Plan: Future Land Use: Page 17/87
More than before, Punta Gorda will have to concentrate on protecting its existing assets, such as during the pandemic recovery, including the historic downtown and restoring Fishermen’s Village, once a colorful, vibrant artist colony and highly popular tourist destination, but now destroyed by hurricane Ian.
Per Florida statute 163.3177 located in part
1(f)(3): “If there are physical limitations on the populations growth, it must be identified.” i didn't come across any mention in the proposed city’s comprehensive plan referring to our city's unique geographical situation, where it's situated on a peninsula surrounded by water, thus the name “fat point”, which inherently constrains any potential for expansion.
The Florida statute also states: “The plan must define the population densities and the building structure intensities”. 3(a)(6)(a)(1)
Below is the downtown rendering from the Dover Kohl report.
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