ROTORUA CBD REVITALISATION STRATEGY URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK prepared for: Rotorua District Council by: Brewer Davidson & Wraight + Associates Ltd with: Traffic Design Group July 20, 2010 ROTORUA CBD REVITALIZATION - URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK - JULY 2010 2 ROTORUA CBD REVITALISATION - URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK - JULY 2010 CONTENTS page page Section 1 INTRODUCTION 4 3,8 ZONING Section 7 TUTANEKAI PRECINCT 23 7.1 A SPECIAL STREET? 1.1. BACKGROUND 3.9 STREET PROPORTIONS 7.2 REVITALISATION STRATEGY 1.2 CBD REVITALISATION STRATEGY 3.10 PEDESTRIAN STREETS 7.3 TYPICAL BLOCK PATTERN 1.3 RECCOMMENDED PROJECTS 3.11 PARKING 7.4 CULTURAL MAPPING 1.4 URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK Section 4 FRAMEWORK PLAN 12 7.5 EAT STREET 1.5 OTHER COUNCIL DOCUMENTS 4.1 EXISTING CONDITIONS 7.6 CITY FOCUS 1.6 OTHER DOCUMENTS 4.2 LAKEFRONT OPEN SPACE 7.7 HINEMOA PEDESTRIAN STREET 4.3 LAKEFRONT PRECINCT Section 2 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS 6 4.4 WALKABLE CITY 2.1. COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL Section 8 HAUPAPA PRECINCT 30 4.5 VICTORIA ARTERIAL 2.2 TOURISM 8.1 ON STREET INTERCHANGE 4.6 BLOCK STREET REALIGNMENT 2.3 PROPERTY VALUES 8.2 STREET OPTION 4.7 CBD ENTRY BOULEVARDS 2.4 EDUCATION 8.3 ISLAND OPTION 4.8 CULTURAL MAPPING 2.5 CBD AREA 8.4 STREET OPTION 4.10 FRAMEWORK PLAN Section 3 URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS 8 Section 9 SOUTHERN EDGE 35 Section 5 PROJECT OUTLINE 18 3.1 PROJECT STUDY AREA 9.1 DEFINING A BOUNDARY 3.2 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Section 6 LAKEFRONT PRECINCT 19 3.3 THERMAL AREAS 6.1 RESORT A ZONE Section 10 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 38 3.4 BUILDING FOOTPRINT 6.2 QE HOSPITAL 3.5 BUILDING HEIGHT 6.3 WHAKAUE STREET 3.6 PUBLIC FACILITIES Section 11 SUMMARY 39 3.7 FRONTAGE ACTIVITY ROTORUA CBD REVITALIZATION - URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK - JULY 2010 3 SECTION 1.0: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Rotorua’s population growth is not high with a corresponding lack of in- • PRECINCTS crease in the number of businesses and activity in the city centre. This “Precincting to encourage clarity and variety within the CBD” problem was exacerbated with the reduction of central government of- The UDF identifies precincts that support clustering of key activi- fices which had supplied a large number of jobs. ties to support intensification and improve character. In 2006 this prompted Rotorua District Council (RDC) to prepare a Cen- tral Business District (CBD) Revitalisation Strategy that identified issues • CULTURAL MUSEUM facing the city centre and outlined a series of integrated studies and pro- “Best Cultural Museum in the world” jects. RDC have commissioned some of these studies including the The CBD does not currently reflect Rotorua’s unique cultural heri- Lakefront Concept Plan and a Travel Demand Management Strategy. tage. An Urban Design Framework cannot propose specific instal- Eat Street was also developed within the objectives defined by the Strat- lations as it does not include detailed design of suggested projects, egy. but cultural mapping is proposed as a tool to include this issue in Public enthusiasm for the Lakefront Concept and Eat Street has encour- future public and private development. aged RDC to further develop the strategy’s recommendations for the rest of the city centre. The CBD Urban Design Framework (UDF) analyses • YOUTH FACILITIES the Revitalisation Strategy, economic, social and environmental issues Encouraging the young people of Rotorua to use the city centre is that underpin decisions on project types and locations. It is important to an economic as well as a social objective. The Haupapa Precinct note that all of these projects were identified in the community consulta- is envisaged as a “pro-youth” facility with public transport and en- tion that was part of the Revitalisation Strategy. tertainment located in the same area. 1.2 CBD REVITALISATION STRATEGY • PUBLIC STREETSPACE The italicised text in Sections 1.2 & 1.3 are quotes from the CBD Revitali- “Ensure streets within the CBD are designed to promote and serve sation Strategy. Key strategic objectives from the Strategy include; the needs of pedestrian traffic and develop legibility and wayfind- ing strategies”. • ACTIVITY INTENSIFICATION “draw and retain people…to CBD” 1.3 RECOMMENDED PROJECTS The most important principle from the Revitalisation Strategy is The Revitalisation Strategy recommended a number of projects, some of that of activity intensification. The city centre has generous public which have been developed as part of the Urban Design Framework. The spaces and streets but the lack of activity means they appear to UDF proposes the following projects: be empty which further discourages visitor and local patronage. Therefore it is important to identify which activities can be intensi- Figure 01: Plan from Revitalisation Strategy fied and clustered in hot-spots rather than diluted across the city HAUPAPA PRECINCT centre. This clustering is the most significant change from the Re- • “Creation of an Arts Precinct in the vicinity of Arawa and Haupapa vitalisation Strategy Plan (Figure 01) which extended across the Streets”. whole CBD and did not sufficiently prioritise areas of change. • “Link the Council Offices, Information Centre, Community Building, Library, Public Transport Node and Park into one precinct”. • INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES • “Adapt local and regional tourist transportation,…, and relocate The UDF identifies business sectors that have real growth pros- local bus stops to Haupapa Street”. pects and proposes a key investment opportunity for the tourism market. 4 ROTORUA CBD REVITALISATION - URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK - JULY 2010 SECTION 1.0: INTRODUCTION TUTANEKAI STREET 1.5 OTHER COUNCIL DOCUMENTS • “Link north and south parts of street” through a “sequence of The Urban Design Framework should be read in conjunction with these spaces, features & events.” Council documents; • “Encourage a “northern tourist leisure anchor (with improved Roto- DISTRICT PLAN rua Central to south)”. ARTS IN PUBLIC PLACES POLICY • “Encouraging Higher density development around spine of Tutane- ROTORUA URBAN TRANSPORT STUDY 2003 kai Street”. TRANSPORT STRATEGY 2006 INTEGRATION OF LAKEFRONT BLOCKS TRANSPORT DEMAND STRATEGY 2008 • “Encouraging the built form to connect town & lake”. ROTORUA RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN ENTRANCEWAYS STRATEGY • “Review the Resort A Zone revisions of District Plan”. CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT RETAIL STRATEGY 2003 • “Examine feasibility of Hotels/Spa on QE site”. VISITOR INDUSTRY DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN 2004-2014 CBD SOUTHERN EDGE BRIGHT ECONOMY—ROTORUA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY • “Integrate Rotorua Central with the City Centre”. ECONOMIC WELLBEING REPORT 2009 1.4 URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK VICTORIA ARTERIAL NOTICE OF REQUIREMENT; APPLICATIONS, SUBMISSIONS AND APPEAL DOCUMENTS An Urban Design Framework is; “a document that describes an overarching vision and the intended out- come for an entire urban area and gives direction to subsequent policies 1.6 OTHER DOCUMENTS and site specific initiatives within that area” (MFE Urban Design Toolkit) This report is to encourage rather than manage growth so the first sec- NATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH tion outlines economic analysis to identify which business sectors can ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN IN NEW ZEALAND respond to RDC initiatives. Urban Design analysis then examines exist- ing conditions and is used to locate specific projects as detailed in Sec- tion 3. Section 4.0 presents the UDF Plan in a series of layers that explain the components of the overall plan. Each project is then explained in more detail in individual sections. An Implementation Section proposes a staged project plan for RDC to consider in terms of the LTCCP process. This section also comments on issues that should be addressed in the upcoming District Plan Review. The final section summarises the key elements in the UDF Plan for quick reference. ROTORUA CBD REVITALIZATION - URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK - JULY 2010 5 SECTION 2.0: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS 2.1 RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL 2.2 TOURISM 2.3 PROPERTY VALUES Compared with its neighbours Rotorua had little population growth Currently international tourism is affected by a recession but it is the main Figure 05 shows the Council Valuation/square metre for sites in the city (Figure 2) in the last two census periods and this is reflected in slow sector that can drive CBD growth (Figure 03). Ministry of Tourism fore- centre. Generally the higher value sites are along each side of Tutanekai growth in commercial and retail development. Therefore it is unrealistic to casts show that international rather than domestic tourists will be the Street as would be expected. Higher value sites on the periphery are the base large amounts of the UDF around extensive commercial or retail main growth area. Therefore location of new hotels for this market be- RDC offices and Novotel, Ibis, Millennium & Sudima hotels. Surprisingly development. comes the opportunity. the Resort A sites in the north and northeast areas are not highly valued For some time RDC has been encouraging inner city apartment develop- The problem is that the tourists particularly organised groups spend most despite their potential lake views. This lower valuation is an advantage as ment but other than the old post office site there has been few multi-unit of their time at attractions and hotels on the city’s periphery. Therefore the potential valuation increase makes them more attractive for tourism apartment developments in the city centre and the lack of inner city activ- they are not encouraged to walk around the city centre. Figure 04 shows development with an improved Resort A zone. This is one of the main ity discourages apartment development. Once the tourism and public the location of hotels and backpacker hostels in Rotorua. Height and suggestions for the District Plan review. transport nodes are developed the increased street activity and amenity other development standards are similar for both the CBD Resort A zone may help encourage inner city residential in the longer term. and the Resort D zone at Whakarewarewa. Given that land is cheaper at Whakarewarewa then it is logical that developers currently look there for 2.4 EDUCATION new hotels.