City of Hampton
Planning Commission Staff Report
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: James Freas, City Planner
DATE: November 14, 2005
SUBJECT: Proposed Amendment to the Buckroe Master Plan (2005)
We have scheduled a public hearing for November 14th for consideration of amendments to the Buckroe Master Plan and FY05 Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). This public hearing was requested by City Council on September 14th in response to the expected closure of Fort Monroe as recommended by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). The City Council directed staff and the Planning Commission to take a “second look” at the adopted plan recommendations. More specifically, staff’s task was to identify any modifications that may be warranted given the closure of Fort Monroe and the anticipated reuse plans under development for this property. City Council made several exceptions in their motion to this “reconsideration.” The following public initiatives were directed by Council to move forward:
1.
Improvements to Pembroke Avenue
2.Replacement of the Buckroe Fishing Pier
3.The Proposed Elementary School and Recreation Center
4.Acquisition of Strategic Properties
Staff has evaluated the Buckroe Master Plan and the FY05 CIP in light of City Council’s direction. The results of this evaluation are summarized below. A text amendment to the Buckroe Master Plan is recommended for the section of the plan addressing “Streets and Open Space” (page 19) and “The Bayfront Development Blocks” (page 26). With the CIP to be updated for the upcoming fiscal year anyway, no changes are currently recommended. If further changes are made to the Buckroe Master Plan, the CIP can be amended at that time to reflect those changes.
Please let me know if you have any questions prior to your meeting. (728-5233 or jfreas@hampton.gov)
Background
The Buckroe area is one of six areas identified by the City as a strategic investment area. Other strategic investment areas include: Downtown Hampton, Coliseum Central, Kecoughtan Corridor, North King Street Corridor, and Phoebus. The process for preparing the Buckroe Master Plan began with a community charrette in July 2004 and was completed with the adoption of the plan by Hampton City Council in March 2005. In addition to community input, the plan is based on an evaluation of the existing and historical physical characteristics of the neighborhood. Housing and commercial market studies were also prepared to support the planning process. The Master Plan envisions the creation of a family oriented beach community that will be implemented with both public and private investments in five development initiatives.
Fort Monroe is an active U. S. Army military installation located within the corporate limits of the City of Hampton. The Fort is located to the southeast and directly adjacent to the Buckroe Master Plan study area (see map). On May 2005 as part of the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, Fort Monroe was recommended for closure by the U. S. Department of Defense in their report to the BRAC Commission. The September 2005 BRAC Commission report to the President also recommended the closure of Fort Monroe. The decision to close Fort Monroe is expected to become final on November 9, 2005 – the deadline for action by the U. S. Congress. In response to the anticipated closure of the Fort, the City of Hampton has initiated the process of working with State and Federal authorities and the local community on preparation of a re-use plan for the Fort Monroe property.
Preparation of the Fort Monroe re-use plan is expected to begin at the end of this year and will take approximately 12 months to complete. Disposition of the Fort property will also require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement, clean-up of environmental hazards on the property, and the funding, design and construction of replacement facilities for Army personnel. The relocation of Army personnel currently located at Fort Monroe is expected to occur within four to six years. The complete closure and re-use of properties as part of the BRAC process often takes ten to twenty years. Some properties closed in earlier BRAC rounds have remain undeveloped for twenty years or more.
The timing of the decision to close Fort Monroe and the close proximity of the Fort and the Buckroe Master Plan study area prompted the City Council to request a public hearing to consider amendments to the Buckroe Master Plan. Amendments are being considered in order to ensure that the Buckroe Master Plan is positioned to accommodate and compliment the reuse plans for Fort Monroe.
Evaluation of the Buckroe Master Plan
As noted above, the Buckroe Master Plan envisions the creation of a family oriented beach community that will be implemented with both public and private investments in five development initiatives. These five development initiatives are summarized and evaluated for their impact on Fort Monroe in the paragraphs below:
Initiative 1: The Bayfront – The Bayfront Initiative is the centerpiece of the Buckroe Master Plan, containing the greatest amount of both public and private investments. This set of initiatives address the identified weaknesses of the core or central portion of the Buckroe neighborhood. Challenges presented by this core area include an extremely high percentage of rental units, public safety concerns, blighted properties, and accommodating public demands for access to the beach and public park. The proposed investments include a range of residential housing types, new neighborhood parks as well as improvements to the existing Buckroe Park, a new fishing pier, new street connections, added beach parking capacity, and the Atlantic Avenue Redevelopment District. All together, these investments serve an integral role in meeting the goals of the entire Master Plan by establishing a market to improve and sustain the neighborhood commercial establishments, increase homeownership levels, and eliminate aspects of the area which are contributing to public safety concerns.
For many of the activities in the Bayfront Initiative, such as park improvements or the fishing pier, the closure of Fort Monroe will have no impact. The initial analysis of the residential markets for Buckroe, within the context of the region, indicated that there is a very strong market for housing that can more than accommodate the proposed houses in this and other areas of Buckroe. The residential market study identified a demand for between 1470 and 2445 over the next five years. Though the future use of Fort Monroe is at this time unknown, the strength of these markets is enough to insulate them from any competition from similar developments on the Fort property, which would also be far enough in the future as to be effectively operating in an entirely different market than any current development. Staff is currently working with our housing consultants, Zimmerman Volk Associates, Inc. to provide a brief update to the housing study included in the Buckroe Master Plan.
The closing of Fort Monroe presents some opportunities that warrant consideration in the Buckroe Master Plan. As planning for the reuse of Fort Monroe proceeds, some means of connecting the Fort property to the Buckroe area should be explored and the plan should be amended so as to be prepared for that possibility. In addition, the northern portion of Fort Monroe, adjacent to the Buckroe area (the Dog Beach area), will most likely become public open space in the future Fort Monroe reuse plan. This area of the Fort has numerous environmental constraints to development but presents an opportunity to expand the city’s available beachfront access, access to Mill Creek, and open park space in an area of the City that will be readily accessible to City residents. The availability and accessibility of this additional public beachfront has the potential to further enhance the desirability of Buckroe as a beachfront residential community particularly in the proposed Atlantic Avenue Redevelopment Area. Recommendations for amendments to the Buckroe Master Plan can be found in the conclusion to this report.
Initiative 2: Buckroe Avenue - The Buckroe Avenue Initiative consists of three distinct elements; the strengthening of the neighborhood retail area, the addition of new single family homes and a park, and a new Buckroe Elementary School and Community Center. As noted previously, the residential market in Buckroe is very strong. The commercial retail market in this area can support a limited number of retail establishments catering directly to a neighborhood and beach oriented market. The re-use of Fort Monroe is unlikely to effect these market conditions. The School Investment Panel identified the need for a new elementary school at Buckroe and that need will not dissipate with the closing of the Fort. If the reuse of the Fort property includes a residential component, there may be an increased need for school space in the general area.
Initiative 3: Pembroke Avenue - The most significant aspect of the Pembroke Avenue Initiative is the redevelopment of the Buckroe Shopping Center and neighboring commercial properties. Competition from the Coliseum Central area and other newer shopping districts coupled with the relatively low population and incomes of the Buckroe area prevents the Buckroe Shopping Center from becoming a significant shopping destination. There is some potential for limited retail with a focus on neighborhood services and some general retail. At this time, the closure of Fort Monroe would be unlikely to have any effect on the proposed plans for this area as existing base residents are not likely to shop there and future reuse is unlikely to compete for the limited commercial market demand that this area would fill.
Initiative 4: Mallory Street - The Mallory Street Initiative has two parts, one addressing the Shelton On-The-Bay property and the other looking at the College Court area. The Shelton On-The-Bay project will be a largely private sector development and should not be effected by the closure of Fort Monroe. College Court is a small infill and redevelopment project that should likewise be unaffected by the closing and re-use of the Fort property.
Initiative 5: Infill Housing - This initiative provides architectural design guidelines for infill housing and rehabilitation in the Buckroe Area. As an individual property owner led initiative, the closing of Fort Monroe will not have any effect on this section of the plan.
Conclusions and Recommendations
An analysis of the five development initiatives in the Buckroe Master Plan suggests the need to amend the sections of the plan that address the Bayfront initiative. The following text amendments to the Buckroe Master Plan are recommended at this time:
Add the following language to the “Streets and Open Space” section of the plan on page 19:
The recent decision to close Fort Monroe may provide additional opportunities to connect and leverage open space amenities for the growth and development of the Buckroe neighborhood. The northern limit of the Fort Monroe property is located adjacent to the study area for the Buckroe Master Plan. This area of Fort Monroe may be appropriate for re-use as open space or for some other public use. Street and open space connections between Buckroe and Fort Monroe will be explored as part of the re-use planning process for the Fort. The Buckroe Master Plan will be amended if street and open space connections are identified in the re-use plan for Fort Monroe.
Add the following language to “The Bayfront Development Blocks” section of the plan on page 25:
The recent decision to close Fort Monroe may provide additional opportunities to leverage the value of open space to enhance development of the bayfront blocks. The northern limit of the Fort Monroe property is located adjacent to the bayfront development blocks. This area of Fort Monroe may be appropriate for re-use as open space or for some other public use. A street or open space connection between Fort Monroe and the Buckroe neighborhood would provide an additional amenity and enhance the development potential of the bayfront blocks. Street and open space connections between Buckroe and Fort Monroe will be explored as part of the re-use planning process for the Fort. The Buckroe Master Plan will be amended if street and open space connections are identified in the re-use plan for Fort Monroe. In the meantime, new development of the bayfront blocks will not preclude a potential future street or open space connection to Fort Monroe.
