Working Waterfront Plan
Traditional water-dependent uses in Florida consist of marine and maritime industries such as shipping facilities, commercial and recreational fishing operations, marinas, mooring and anchorage areas, boatyards, ferry landings, and ports. (Water-dependent uses require direct access to or location on, over, or adjacent to a water body and use that water as an integral part of core activities.) A subset of these activities – recreational and commercial working waterfronts – contributes significantly to the state’s economy, heritage, and overall quality of life and provides the coastal character that visitors come here to experience. However, as the state’s coastal population continues to increase, many traditional working waterfront uses are being squeezed out by more intense private residential and commercial developments because of rising property values and the increasingly intense competition for waterfront access. Recognizing the importance of addressing the loss of recreational and commercial working waterfronts, in 2005 and 2006 the Florida Legislature enacted legislation that requires local governments to revise their state-mandated comprehensive growth management plans to encourage preservation of working waterfronts. The Florida Statutes now include a definition of recreational and commercial working waterfronts (excluding seaports) and outline a set of comprehensive planning provisions (described to the right).
To combat the loss of and access to working waterfronts and comply with Florida’s statutory requirements, many coastal communities are focusing specific planning efforts on their working waterfront areas. The Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) Waterfronts Florida Program provides assistance to local governments in revitalizing their working waterfronts through resources for planning and the provision of intense technical assistance and training. Waterfronts Florida defines waterfronts as “water-edged places where people work, play, and visit,” which means that planning for working waterfronts preservation should balance multiple objectives, such as providing public and water-dependent business access to the waterfront, protecting environmental resources while promoting water-dependent uses, retaining viable traditional waterfront economies, addressing hazard mitigation issues, and providing the infrastructure and support facilities required if water-dependent uses are to remain viable. In planning for their waterfronts, many communities involve a citizens’ advisory committee that represents all waterfront-related interests. They begin with an inventory of waterfront-related features, such as public and private facilities, access points and rights-of-way, parcels suitable for development, and support services.
Essential to preserving recreational and commercial working waterfronts is the use of incentives and regulations to achieve the desired mix of waterfront uses and access to those uses. Such strategies, which recognize that relying on market forces alone will not always yield the right combination of working waterfront uses, should be supported by policies in local comprehensive plans. Incentives can include special value-assessments for water-dependent uses, tax deferral programs, density bonuses, expedited state and local permitting for water-dependent uses, and harbor infrastructure improvements. Regulatory strategies can include the use of zoning to designate areas where only water-dependent uses are permitted (for example, through an Overlay Zone (described in the Land Use Planning and Development chapter), and special waterfront districts, which provide a broader perspective of waterfront challenges and enable more comprehensive planning approaches. Such approaches can include both physical and visual waterfront access; design guidelines and standards (described in the Land Use Planning and Development chapter) that address the character of development (scale, height, set-back of buildings, and the use of traditional architectural styles); streetscape design (see related tools such as Complete [Walkable] Streets, Context Sensitive Solutions, Traffic Calming, and Road Diet in the Transportation chapter). More than one waterfront district can be established. The acquisition of key waterfront access points is another way to preserve and increase waterfront access. Acquisition programs can be implemented by local governments or by a land trust (described in the Agricultural Land Conservation chapter), using a dedicated source of financing (for example, from a bond issue, fee, or Community Development District [described in the Fiscal Analysis and Financing chapter]). Purchase and transfer of development rights programs (described in the Agricultural Land Conservation chapter) are also tools to maintain working waterfront access.
Florida’s DCA is the principal resource on working waterfronts (www.dca.state.fl.us). Described above, its Waterfronts Florida Program provides a number of resources to assist communities with working waterfront preservation. Its most recent publication is the 2007 Guiding the Way to Waterfront Revitalization: A Best Management Practices Series. The guide provides an overview of what is happening at waterfronts around the United States, presents a series of best practices, highlights lessons learned, illustrates the key elements of the Waterfronts Florida Program through case studies, and provides information on additional working waterfronts resources such as funding sources, planning tools, and project management. Through the Waterfronts Florida Program, DCA also offers a variety of resources, including:
- Revitalizing Waterfronts in Florida Communities: Internet Resources for Building Capacity (www.dca.state.fl.us/fdcp/dcp/waterfronts/resources.doc)
- Key Elements of Success in Building Coastal Communities (prepared by the Council for a Sustainable Florida in 2002)
- Revitalization of Florida’s Working Waterfronts: A Model for Technical and Financial Assistance (prepared in 1996)
- Profiles of Working Waterfronts (prepared in 1995 by what is now the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University [CUES])
Another Florida organization providing resources for the preservation of recreational and working waterfronts is the University of Florida’s Levin School of Law Conservation Clinic (www.law.ufl.edu). The Clinic has collaborated with DCA and Florida Sea Grant to provide numerous reports and studies on working waterfront issues, including:
- Creating a Recreational and Commercial Working Waterfront Program to Implement Chapters 2005-157 and 2006-220, Laws of Florida: A Model Comprehensive Plan with Policy Options
- An Annotated Model Tax Deferral Ordinance for Recreational and Commercial Working Waterfronts, which focuses on the property tax deferral program for working waterfronts authorized in 2005 by the Florida Legislature and provides a model ordinance demonstrating how a local government might implement such a program.
- A Waterway Access Analysis Manual: A Guide for Local Decisionmakers; The Water Dependency Test as a Means to Preserve Recreational and Commercial Waterfronts, which examines the central role of zoning in an integrated plan to protect and preserve recreational and working waterfronts and the varying definitions of water-dependent use.
- Preserving Public Access to Public Waters: A Policy Menu for Local Governments. Each policy tool description includes an introduction, its possible relationship to waterfronts, legal issues as they relate to the use of the tool, and best policy practices. The tools include moratoria, zoning, exactions, incentive strategies, design standards, a no-net-loss policy, concurrency, levels of service for public access, transferable slip rights, transfer of development rights, visual access, liability waivers, and rights of way.
Outside Florida, a useful resource is Access to the Waterfront: Issues and Solutions Across the Nation (www.seagrant.umaine.edu), which examines trends in coastal access throughout the country and highlights solutions and success stories. Prepared by Maine Sea Grant, with support from Hawaii Sea Grant and an advisory committee from the National Sea Grant network and Coastal Zone Management programs, the report is based on surveys from over 140 extension professionals, coastal managers, and other individuals. It details a variety of tools being used to create and preserve access to working waterfronts. Those tools include acquisition by land trusts, using funds from bond issues and other sources, tax relief programs, changes in local zoning ordinances, mapping waterfront access points, and preparing working waterfront plans.
Other Florida resource organizations for working waterfronts are the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions [www.cuesfau.org], which, through its Coastal and Ocean Initiative, has been involved in numerous marine management and boating plans and economic studies; 1000 Friends of Florida [www.1000fof.org], which from 1997 to 2001 coordinated the Waterfronts Florida Program on behalf of DCA; DEP [www.dep.state.fl.us], which publishes a public access brochure; Florida Sea Grant at the University of Florida [www.flseagrant.org], which conducts research and provides study grants to look at issues related to creating a sustainable coastal economy and environment; the Marine Industries Association of Florida [www.boatflorida.org], a nonprofit organization that works to provide more public access to Florida’s water resources; and the Florida Public and Private Water Access Coalition [www.water-access.com], which works to secure access for boaters, fishers, water skiers, riparian owners, and other interested parties to Florida waters for recreational and commercial uses. At the national level, resource organizations include NOAA through its Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, which offers information on waterfront access [coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/public_access.html] and scenario tools that visualize dock growth [www.csc.noaa.gov]; the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management [dcm2.enr.state.nc.us], which outlines steps the state has taken to ensure public access to coastal areas; and the New York State Division of Coastal Resources [nyswaterfronts.com/communities_guidebooks.asp], which offers on-line tools [used as a resource for this tool description] and a guide for working waterfronts. 
