City of Galveston Comprehensive Plan ADOPTED OCTOBER 27, 2011 Plan prepared by HDR Engineering, Inc. for the City of Galveston, Texas. Completed as part of Progress Galveston, a planning initiative led by the City’s Department of Planning & Community Development with technical assistance provided by HDR Engineering, Inc., Kendig Keast Collaborative, Winter & Company, and the Law Offices of Kimberley Mickelson. Partial funding provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Contact: City of Galveston Department of Planning & Community Development 823 Rosenberg | P.O. Box 779 City of Galveston, TX 77553 (409) 797-3660 [email protected] www.ProgressGalveston.com GALVESTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONTENTS CONTENTS . i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii INTRODUCTION . .1 HOUSING & NEIGHBORHOODS ELEMENT . 10 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ELEMENT . 24 LAND USE & COMMUNITY CHARACTER ELEMENT . 44 HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT . 66 NATURAL RESOURCES ELEMENT . 92 TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT . 118 INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENT . 136 DISASTER PLANNING ELEMENT . 152 HUMAN ELEMENT . .174 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 192 i ii GALVESTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CITY COUNCIL Joe Jaworski, Mayor Rusty Legg, District 1 Chris Gonzales, District 4 Linda Colbert, District 2 Steve Greenberg, District 5 Elizabeth Beeton, District 3 Dianna Puccetti, District 6 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE Betty Massey, Chair Gina Spagnola Michael Culpepper Bob Brown Holly Fortenberry Michael Shriner Bonnie White Jackie Cole Pat Jakobi Brax Easterwood James Selig Phil Newton Brenda Donaloio Lee Jeff Sjostrom Rob Ruffner Cornelia Harris- Jeri Kinnear Roger D. Soloway Banks Jerry Mohn Shane McDermott Curtiss Brown Johnny Smecca Stephen Schulz Damien Patrick Ken McManus Susan Fennewald Dianna Puccetti Kristopher Benson William Merrell Dwayne Jones Lesley Sommer Willy Gonzalez Ennis Williams Linda Strevell Ernest Connor Melvin Williams DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Wendy O’Donohoe, Director Lori Feild Schwarz, AICP, Assistant Director/Historic Preservation Officer Catherine Gorman, Planning Mgr/Assistant Historic Preservation Officer Dustin Henry, GIS Analyst/Urban Planner II Pete Milburn, Urban Planner II Elizabeth (Libby) Stone, Coastal Development Planner Athena Petty, Planning Staff Assistant Janice Norman, Zoning Administrator/Urban Planner I CONSULTANT TEAM HDR Engineering, Inc. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY: Center to Eliminate Health Disparties at University of Texas Medical Branch and Texas A&M University Master of Planning Program iii iv INTRODUCTION GALVESTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN INTRODUCTION PURPOSE WHAT IS THE CITY’S The City of Galveston Comprehensive Plan (the Comp Plan) is the official COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (COMP PLAN) ? statement of long-range goals and policies affecting the City’s competetiveness, livability, and sustainability. As an important guide for local decision-makers ... the official statement and stakeholders, the Comp Plan provides goals, objectives, and strategies for of long-range goals and the community’s long-term conservation, growth, and development and serves policies affecting the as the basis for important decisions affecting: City’s competetiveness, livability, and › the quality and character of the Island’s commercial and employment sustainability districts, industrial centers, and key corridors such as Broadway Boulevard, Seawall Boulevard, and 61st Street; ...important guide for › the conservation and improvement of neighborhoods citywide, including local decision-makers the rebuilding and renewal of neighborhoods damaged by Hurricane Ike; and stakeholders › the protection and management of sensitive natural and cultural resources; and ...vision of what the City aspires to be in › investments in the Island’s transportation network, community facilities, utilities, and other support systems. the future, a roadmap to guide decisions to achieve the vision, and The Comp Plan offers a vision of what the City aspires to be in the future, a a measuring stick to roadmap to guide decisions to achieve the vision, and a measuring stick to evaluate progress evaluate progress. As a statement of municipal policy, the Comp Plan is adopted by ordinance of the City Council and implemented through the City’s land ...implemented development regulations, various public programs and initiatives, and local and through the City’s land regional capital improvement projects. development regulations, various public programs and initiatives, and local AUTHORITY and regional capital improvement projects The legal authority for preparing a comprehensive plan is found in state statutes that provide municipal authority for comprehensive planning and for zoning. Chapter 213 of the Texas Local Government Code specifically empowers cities to “adopt a comprehensive plan for the long-range development of the municipality” and for “promoting sound development of municipalities and promoting health, safety, and welfare.” INTRODUCTION 1 Under the Texas Local Government Code, municipalities are granted the power WHY DOES THE CITY to define the content of a comprehensive plan, which may: NEED A COMP PLAN? › include, but is not limited to, provisions on land use, transportation, and In Texas, a public facilities; Comprehensive Plan › consist of a single plan or a coordinated set of plans organized by subject is required for a and geographic area; and city to adopt zoning › be used to coordinate and guide the establishment of development regulations. Cities in regulations. Texas are authorized to adopt zoning Chapter 211 of the Local Government Code requires municipalities in Texas to regulations only if they adopt zoning regulations in accordance with a comprehensive plan. According to are in accordance with the state statues, the zoning regulations must be designed to: a comprehensive plan. The Comprehensive Plan › lessen congestion in the streets; forms the basis upon › secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; which zoning decisions › promote health and the general welfare; are made. With a › provide adequate light and air; Comprehensive Plan in › prevent the overcrowding of land; place, zoning decisions › avoid undue concentration of population; or consistent with the plan › facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewers, schools, are presumed by the parks and other public requirements. courts to be valid. PROCESS The Comp Plan represents an update to the 2001 Galveston Comprehensive Plan (2001 Plan) and is a culmination of work first initiated by City Council in 2007. To guide the process of plan development, City Council appointed a Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee (Steering Committee) to review the 2001 Plan and make any necessary updates and modifications. The Steering Committee consisted of over 30 members who ensured that the Comp Plan was crafted to reflect the vision, values, aspirations, and priorities of the citizens of Galveston. The Steering Committee created several subcommittees to focus on key strategic directions pertaining to the following existing and new elements: › Housing and Neighborhoods Element; › Economic Development Element; › Land Use and Community Character Element; › Historic Preservation Element; › Natural Resources Element; › Transportation Element; 2 INTRODUCTION GALVESTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN › Infrastructure Element; › Disaster Response Element; and WHY DOES THE PLAN › Human Element. NEED TO BE UPDATED? Visioning for the Comp Plan occurred in early 2008. The Steering Committee Although important developed a vision statement that was presented to the public for feedback in progress has been a series of small-scaled public meetings held in February and March 2008. The made since the existing Comp Plan’s goals and objectives were drafted during summer 2008 and were Comp Plan was adopted about to be presented to the public in fall 2008 when Hurricane Ike interrupted in 2001, life on the the process. Island has changed dramatically in the past decade—population In the weeks after the storm, the community’s focus shifted to the Long- has declined, the local Term Community Recovery Plan (LTCRP) process and the development of economy has struggled “a vision, goals, and projects that would move Galveston along the road to to keep pace with full recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Ike.” (LTCRP, 2009) Many regional growth rates, members of the Steering Committee joined other city residents as part of the and Hurricane Ike Galveston Community Recovery Committee (Recovery Committee) that led the has reshaped the way development of the LTCRP. Islanders thinks about their future. Following completion of the LTCRP, the Comp Plan update process was reinitiated in early 2010. Several members of the Steering Committee who no longer resided on the island resigned from the committee and many new members were added, including several who participated on the Recovery Committee. During 2010, Steering Committee subcommittees began the process of updating existing elements and drafting new elements. Working drafts of the Comp Plan were reviewed with the community during a series of stakeholder meetings and public workshops. INTRODUCTION 3 In January 2011, the City embarked on a broad-based planning project designed to ensure public and private actions align to improve the community’s livability, sustainability, and competitiveness. This planning effort, known as Progress Galveston, was organized in