§ 68.102. Purpose.

The purpose of these land use and urban design guidelines and standards is to create a sustainable and balanced community in the Southeast Orlando Sector Plan area with the characteristics of traditional "Orlando": where streets are convenient and comfortable for walking, where parks are a focus for public activity, and where the life and vitality of a mid-sized town can be enjoyed by its residents and visitors.

The City identified Southeast Orlando as a Future Growth Center with the Orlando International Airport as the primary economic and employment generator. A full range of uses, services, amenities, and activities are planned in Southeast Orlando to fill the needs of the ultimate population of +65,000. In order to build and sustain a viable community, development shall feature a mixture of land uses which allow for increased accessibility, diversity, and opportunities for social interaction within the context of an integrated amenity framework. Utilizing the neighborhood as the basic community building unit, the City has developed a community framework based on Traditional Design principles. A hierarchy of places has been proposed, ranging from a Town Center that will serve as the primary destination and job center within the community, to Village and Neighborhood Centers that provide local shopping and civic spaces for residential area, to airport-related employment districts that include a variety of industrial and office uses. In the Southeast Plan area, centers will be compact and walkable, and residential neighborhoods shall be defined by public space and activated by locally-oriented civic and commercial facilities.

The size of Southeast Orlando (+19,300 acres), as well as the coordinated effort underway to plan for the area, provide an opportunity to create a unique image and character that is immediately identifiable to visitors and residents. Like some older communities, Southeast Orlando should be immediately identifiable by the pattern of residential districts that focus on village and neighborhood centers; by the design of homes and commercial buildings; by the trees planted along major boulevards and the scale of local streets; and by the proximity to nature. These guidelines and standards establish the framework for such a community to evolve.

(Ord. of 5-10-1999, § 10, Doc. #32070)