“Rapid Transit Zones” put control of TOD under one jurisdiction

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The six transit corridors in the SMART plan, around which the county will focus TOD (Image: Screenshot via Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization)

In April of 2016 the Strategic Miami Rapid Transit Plan (SMART) was adopted by Miami-Dade County and the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). The SMART plan advances six rapid transit corridors in addition to plans for an express bus network throughout the region. As these transit plans advance, consideration will be given to land use planning along each of the corridors to implement additional transportation methods and support transit ridership.

One of the biggest challenges for land use planning along rapid transit corridors is coordination between jurisdictions when the corridors cross city boundaries. To alleviate this problem, Miami-Dade County adopted a “Rapid Transit Zone” (RTZ) ordinance in which permitting and zoning jurisdiction for county-owned properties near designated transit would be allocated to the county instead of each independent city.

The main purpose of consolidating land use oversight to the county was for making public private partnerships easier to execute through permitting and zoning certainty. The RTZ also came after the implementation of tax increment financing legislation called the “Transportation Infrastructure Improvement District” (TIID) that creates opportunities for reinvestment of captured value back into capital projects and related development infrastructure. With the TIID and the RTZ used together, there is greater potential for corridor land use coordination, value capture, and PPPs.

For more details on specific zoning codes, visit TODresources.org where you can find example codes from Charlotte and Chicago.

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