On August 6, 2019, the CRA issued RFP 20-001, Branding, Marketing and Master Planning. A firm or team of firms was to be selected to create a new branding platform, a Marketing and Public Relations Plan and a Vision and Master Plan for US Hwy 19 and the downtown area. The submission deadline was October 4, 2019.
Interviews were held October 15th and the team of Arnett/Muldrow, Community Design Solutions, Mahan Rykel and Place+Main Advisors was selected as the top firm.
Phase one of the agreement was to conduct a Market Analysis and for the creation of the new branding platform, and a Marketing and Public Relations Master Plan. This agreement was executed on December 4, 2019.
The final presentation of the market results as well as the final brand workshop and reveal was delayed with the onset of the COVID 19 travel restrictions. Ultimately, the market analysis was presented remotely on April 28, 2020 along with a virtual branding workshop the same week. The final brand reveal occurred remotely on June 30, 2020. The CRA Board approved the brand platform and directed the consultant to finish out the deliverables. The final deliverables were received on July 17, 2020.
On July 28, 2020, the CRA Board approved the execution of Phases 2 and 3 of the process, which is the creation of a Vision and Master Plan for US Highway 19 and downtown.
PART I: KICKOFF
The branding and marketing process created the foundation for the master planning process.
A: Background Review
The consultants reviewed all relevant background material including downtown plans, redevelopment strategies, market research, and Phase 1 material, including:
• Review results of Phase 1 – Brand Development and Market Analysis.
• Review relevant reports and data including, but not limited to:
o 2020 Strategic Action Plan
o City of New Port Richey 2030 Comprehensive Plan
o 2017 Parking Utilization Study
o 2018 Downtown Parking Implementation Study
o 2019 Community Redevelopment Plan
• Maps including Downtown and Highway 19 Corridor, City and surrounding area, existing and future land use maps, etc.
• Zoning, historic district design guidelines and other regulatory codes.
B: Project Coordination
Prior to the initial visit, the consultant coordinated with the City for the project kickoff, including:
• Hosting an internal Team meeting to develop a recommended schedule, and compiling questions for the staff.
• Developing a draft schedule for the project for staff steering committee review.
• Determining project study boundaries for both Downtown and the Highway 19 corridor. In particular, identifying up to two to three areas along the Highway 19 corridor that may serve as “prototypical” areas where the consultants will focus their design efforts.
• Coordinating with the staff for GIS/mapping information to use throughout the process. Determining preferred mapping formats for urban design deliverables. Collecting base information to format base maps for project study areas for use during the Visioning Workshop/Kickoff.
C: Visioning Workshop/ Kickoff
Held October 6 - 8, 2020, this was the consultants' reconnaissance visit and initial “listening” phase of the plan. During this three-day work session, they facilitated a series of meetings and input sessions including:
• Steering Committee Kickoff
• Initial Stakeholder Interviews: Leadership meetings with key individuals which included the City, CRA board, business and property owners, as well as other stakeholder partners. Some stakeholders had also been included in Phase 1, however, the focus of these meetings was downtown and corridor master plan specific.
• Public Meeting held on October 7, 2020: This was an open meeting to describe the planning process and facilitated discussion to garner citizens’ vision of downtown, and the Highway 19 corridor.
• Physical Assessment: Utilized formatted base maps to examine physical opportunities and challenges within the study areas, including:
o Existing conditions of built environment, infrastructure, and streetscape.
o Key development/redevelopment opportunity sites.
o Linkages (and barriers) among assets.
o Key parks, open spaces and attractions
o Important views, vistas and sightlines to landmark buildings and/or landscapes.
o Gateways, activity nodes, and public spaces.
o Connectivity between downtown and adjacent historic district
o Potential obstacles for development.
o Key façade opportunities
• Creating an Assessment Framework: Summarization of findings in a “framework” diagram that will document the physical assessment of US Highway 19 as well as the downtown and surrounding areas.
D: Background and Vision Summary
The consultants summarized all visioning input and identified emerging themes and ideas. The summary was prepared in presentation format and included:
• Physical assessment framework diagram.
• Emerging themes from community and stakeholder input.
PART 2: PLANNING
The downtown and corridor master plan is being built upon the input received during the visioning described above. Additionally, the Downtown and Highway 19 corridor master plan efforts are occurring concurrently. This maximizes efficiency in the process including a significant savings in fee and expenses.
A. Urban Design Charrette
The week of October 27 - 30, 2020, the consultants conducted a 3.5 day physical design charrette for Downtown New Port Richey and the Highway 19 Corridor, including:
• The charrette began by reviewing with Steering Committee findings to date and emerging ideas, including development opportunities identified in the market study (Phase 1), urban design vision themes, etc.
• During the charrette, the consultants conducted additional site visits to key areas of downtown and adjacent areas to garner input and discuss observations related to opportunity sites, land use, pedestrian and bicycle access, safety and comfort, barriers (both visual and physical) to downtown and adjacent areas.
• Also during the charrette, the consultants continued to gather community input by engaging key downtown property owners and stakeholders with urban design discussions. These were design specific, as most stakeholder meetings had been completed during the kickoff.
• During the charrette, the consultants developed initial recommendations based on input and analysis to date.
• On October 29, 2020, another public meeting was held to debrief on charrette findings and emerging urban designs as well as to gather more public feedback on the findings and preliminary designs.
B. Draft Illustrative Urban Design Plan
On February 23, 2021, the Draft Urban Design Plan was presented to share the vision and garner feedback from City Council, stakeholders and the general public. The consultants shared the results of the next step of Phase II of the planning process which was to refine the recommendations from the charrette based upon community and City input and create a Draft Urban Design Plan for the downtown and the Highway 19 corridor (emphasis on the two to three focus areas) This plan builds upon the physical assessment, Phase 1 market analysis, and charrette. A colored-rendered illustrative plan has been developed and used to suggest key physical projects, identify catalyst development areas, and present infill scenarios for downtown. Additionally, the Plan identifies priority focus areas and prototypical redevelopment approaches for the corridor. The graphics illustrate potential public and private sector enhancements that would facilitate investment in the downtown and along the corridor. Specifically, the plan illustrates recommendations for the following:
• Streetscape enhancements including considerations for materials, crosswalks, additional signage, landscape enhancements and other “placemaking” elements such as demonstration projects and interim space activation.
• Recommendations for pedestrian enhancements.
• Known private sector investments that are desired or planned (based on discussions with key property owners).
• Broad strategies for how urban design can interface with the transportation network.
• Parking and traffic improvements geared toward creating a more walkable “park once” downtown, as well as more walkable areas within the Highway 19 corridor.
• Additional private sector investment opportunities to be considered based on market opportunity identified in market research, stakeholder information and the consultants' experience in other communities.
• Emerging phasing priorities identified as short, medium, and long-term alternatives and a potential “catalyst” project.
C. Supplemental Graphics
In addition to the Illustrative Urban Design Plan, the consultants have prepared seven to ten supplemental graphics that include perspective sketches, cross sections and detail plans to help illustrate the vision and recommendations. Additionally, they have assembled precedent images from within the community and from other similar communities that can be used to help convey the design intent. Supplemental graphics also include four to six before and after architectural photo renderings of key development sites or catalyst projects in downtown.
D. Draft Design Guidelines
The consultants also reviewed the existing voluntary design guidelines and provided recommendations for their improvement.
Draft Report, Comment Period, and Revision
The consultants took into account input received from the public presentation, prepared a draft narrative and assemble it with graphics to create a highly visual draft downtown and corridor master plan report. They provided the draft report to the City Steering committee and City Council for review over a two to three week period. The draft report included:
• Plan narrative that describes process, analysis and recommendations (physical and economic development).
• Illustrative Plan that highlights development, redevelopment, streetscape, public realm and pedestrian enhancements, open space, catalyst projects, and parking.
• Supporting diagrams that clearly highlight overall concepts such as key linkages, open space network, special districts, etc.
• Supporting graphics including perspective sketches showing before and after views, photo simulations for key façade and streetscape opportunities and cross sections.
• Phasing plan illustrating potential timing of enhancements, emphasizing initial and short-term projects.
• Diagrams and documentation to refinements to the design guideline document.
Final Downtown and Corridor Master Plan
The consultants have now synthesized all input, and finalized the graphics and narrative included in the draft, outlined above, and prepared the final downtown and corridor master plan.
Implementation Strategy
As part of the Final Downtown and Corridor Master Plan, the consultants prepared a strategic action plan that identifies recommendations, goals, tasks, time frames, responsible parties, master plan-level potential costs for key projects, funding mechanisms, funding sources and priorities. Tasks are organized by Urban Design, Transportation, Economic Development, etc. and will include "demonstration" or short-term projects, "next steps" or mid-range, and "completion" or long-term tasks to be completed over a 20-year horizon.