VIA MODERN FORM-BASED CODE CREATED BY
PLUSURBIA DESIGN

The historic
Village of El Portal adopted a visual and user-friendly zoning document known
as a form-based code. Created by Miami’s PlusUrbia Design, the code will
preserve El Portal’s picturesque residential enclave while creating room for
economic development on land annexed to the Village. The development site, east
of the FEC railroad tracks near Biscayne Boulevard, is slated for
properly-scaled mixed-use development that will create jobs, services and tax
base.
The Village Council voted unanimously to approve the form-based code.
PlusUrbia, which also serves as the Village’s consultant planning and zoning
department, translated the vision created by the Village during its 2013
Charrette into a predictable code. The new code takes a holistic and contextual
approach toward zoning in the village of 2,300.
Major investors are considering development plans for the 12-acre site on the
eastern edge of the Village that is a former trailer park. PlusUrbia’s code
will ensure that the major development does not encroach on the single family
residential portion of the village. That leafy enclave has long been sought
after for its tranquility and small town character.
PlusUrbia will improve the Village by creating standards that will make the NE
2nd Avenue corridor more walkable with incremental mixed-use redevelopment. The
top priority is to encourage moderate growth while protecting the peaceful
residential neighborhoods on either side of the corridor.