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Atlantic Beach, South Carolina Master Plan

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Atlantic Beach, South Carolina Master Plan ATLANTIC BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA MASTER PLAN ZYSCOVICH FINAL: 02.20.07 ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SECTION 1: EXISTING CONDITIONS 1 HISTORY AND CULTURE 1 MARKET ASSESSMENT 6 HOUSING POTENTIAL 11 ENTERTAINMENT POTENTIAL 18 RETAIL POTENTIAL 24 HOTEL/MOTEL POTENTIAL 28 OFFICE POTENTIAL 32 COMMUNITY/CULTURAL CENTER POTENTIAL 35 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 44 DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS 47 WATERFRONT ZONING ANALYSIS 57 SECTION 2: OBJECTIVES AND VISION 63 MASTER PLAN OBJECTIVES 63 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY 65 CHARACTER AND SENSE OF PLACE 68 SECTION 3: IMPLEMENTATION 95 FINANCING PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION 95 LAND PARTNERSHIPS 108 SECTION 4: ZONING RECOMMENDATIONS 109 OVERVIEW 109 ZONING DISTRICTS: GENERAL 110 PROPOSED HEIGHT AND SETBACKS: GENERAL 111 ZONING DISTRICTS DEFINED 112 SECTION 5: DESIGN GUIDELINES 123 BUILDINGS 123 STREETSCAPES, SETBACK AND SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS 135 SECTION 6: DEFINITIONS 139 FINAL: 02.20.07 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ZYSCOVICH ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I This Master Plan is intended is to promote the revitalization of the Town of Atlantic Beach and provide guidance on the implementation INTRODUCTION of a new Town Vision. The primary objective is to provide for redevelopment in a manner that respects and balances the goals of the Town and its unique historical and physical characteristics. In order to achieve this balance and to better position the Town to benefit from the added social and economic value of redevelopment, the Master Plan provides guidance on public and private physical improvements targeted at the re-invention of a unique sense of place, as it is this uniqueness that will distinguish the Town within the regional and national context and provide both the impetus and sustaining power for redevelopment efforts. FINAL: 02.20.07 ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY II The Master Plan proposals for improvements to the Town are intimately tied to the Town’s existing conditions, including its historical and EXISTING CONDITIONS cultural context; its position in the local and regional marketplace; its valuable physical characteristics; and its existing development regulations. History and Culture The Town’s unique historic and cultural characteristics include a blend of Gullah/Geechee heritage, historic black ownership and a unique role as a entertainment and recreation haven for African-Americans during the era of racial segregation. The Town’s physical characteristics and predominantly black ownership was created out of segregation, and it remains one of only two black-owned and black-governed oceanfront towns on the east coast today. During the Town’s heyday, which extended from the 1930’s until desegregation, Atlantic Beach was a hub for black business owners, vacationers, and popular musical entertainers. Largely due to the impacts of de-segregation and the new freedoms afforded to blacks, these activities gradually tapered off, and to this day, the Town has had difficulty re-inventing itself and attracting quality redevelopment. The Master Plan seeks to build on these unique characteristics and provide a stage for sustainable redevelopment efforts. “Atlantic Beach’s Amusement Center glowed at night with the neon a bright lights of its amusement attractions, seen around 1950.” Historic Markers erected by the Atlantic (“Postcard History Series, Myrtle Beach and Conway In Vintage Postcards” by Susan Hoffer Mc Millan) Beach Historical Society, 2005 FINAL: 02.20.07 ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY III The Marketplace EXISTING CONDITIONS The Master provides a general assessment of the current economic conditions of the local and regional marketplace and identifies opportunities and targets for redevelopment efforts. This includes: • Housing opportunities for single family and second homes, condominiums and timeshares; • Opportunity for the creation of an entertainment district with a unique beachfront character; • Retail opportunities for the Town’s historic commercial avenues and Highway 17; • Opportunities for office development; and • Opportunities for the development of community cultural amenities. Existing Physical Characteristics The Master Plan seeks to promote new development while protecting the valuable physical characteristics that are unique among its neighboring communities. At the forefront of this effort is the protection of the beachfront and its current high degree of physical and visual accessibility. This is a characteristic that harkens back to the days of segregation when Atlantic Beach was one of very few places along the east coast where blacks were allowed to visit and enjoy the beach. Today, this accessibility is retained by virtue of public right of way that extends to the beach and the lack of development along the beachfront, characteristics that neighboring communities do not enjoy. The Master Plan provides a development framework that will retain this all important characteristic while promoting quality beachfront development efforts. Existing Development Regulations The Town’s current development regulations serve as the basis for many of the Master Plan proposals. While current regulations have a clear intent to protect the great natural beauty of the beachfront and the recreational opportunities it affords, the regulations fail to provide the critical balance needed for economically feasible development efforts. Coupled with small beachfront properties initially intended for the development of small cottages and second homes, today’s private development proposals for high density development are not sufficiently addressed in the regulations. The Master Plan provides a framework for the creation of more appropriately sized development parcels and zoning recommendations that balance the economic realities of development with the protection of the beachfront and its intimate relationship with the Town. FINAL: 02.20.07 ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IV The focus of the objectives and vision for the Master Plan is to provide for the re-invention of a unique sense of place that borrow’s OBJECTIVES AND VISION from the Town’s past while looking to the future. To this end, the primary objectives are to: • Provide for Redevelopment and Economic Sustainability • Recognize and Build on Historic Identity • Preserve Valuable Physical Characteristics Objectives Provide for Redevelopment and Economic Sustainability: The redevelopment and economic future of the Town will be greatly impacted by the Town’s ability to provide a unique sense of place that borrows from the past while embracing the future. Finding this balance will greatly improve the chances for economic sustainability as it will provide a unique development stage within the local and regional market. Physical improvements are needed to reach this objective and to create a more appealing magnet for private development and new residents while increasing the standard of living for the Town’s current population. Recognize and Build on Historic Identity: Of the Town’s greatest assets is its unique history and identity that combines Gullah- Geechee heritage, African-American ownership, and its role as a recreational and entertainment haven for African-Americans during the era of segregation. Opportunities to build on this identity include the development of an entertainment district proximate to the beachfront that would include retail, dining, nightclub and cultural uses. These uses, combined with new residential development would echo the experience of the Town as a recreational and entertainment haven in its heyday. Additionally, other improvements such as streetscapes and open spaces can provide queues to the historic and cultural identity through the incorporation of additional historical markers, paving patterns, native landscaping and buildings that reflect vernacular customs. While historical identity alone will not revitalize the Town, its uniqueness in the national context provides a foundation for building new opportunity and a revitalized sense of place. Preserve Valuable Physical Characteristics: The paradox of the Town of Atlantic Beach is that, while the effects of de-segregation are undoubtedly responsible for its current state of underdevelopment and inactivity, it is these same effects that have “preserved” the Town in a relatively underdeveloped state. The benefits of underdevelopment are that the town possesses valuable physical characteristics that are unique among its neighbors. The Town’s physical relationship with the beach and the lack of existing beachfront development affords it a unique level of accessibility both visually and physically. It is this degree of accessibility, which is rooted in the era of segregation when Atlantic Beach was one of the few places where African Americans could enjoy the beach, that has led to a proud sense of ownership among the Town’s residents. Additionally, the Town retains a high percentage of tree canopy and native landscape elements that lend a rural and vernacular sense of place and relaxed character. Preservation of these characteristics to the greatest degree possible will play a large role in distinguishing Atlantic Beach among its neighbors and providing a sense of place critical to its revitalization as a unique destination. FINAL: 02.20.07 ATLANTIC BEACH MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V Vision OBJECTIVES AND VISION The Vision for the Master Plan includes a series of proposals oriented towards achieving a renewed and unique sense of place and provisions that will provide a more viable
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