Redeveloping North Port St. Joe

Redeveloping North Port St.Joe
implementingthecommunity’splan
Updating the 2009
North Port St. Joe
Master Plan.
Creating a new
illustrated plan.
Paving the way for
redeveloping the
community. December, 2016
 
North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
9 4

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REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Acknowledgements
Boardofdirectors
Chester Davis - President

Dannie Bolden - Vice President

Letha Mathews - Treasurer

Iris Gathers - Secretary
Sub-committees
Economic Development

Otis Stallworth - Chair

Dannie Bolden

Charles Gathers

Tan Smiley

Education and Workforce Development

Johnny Bryant -Chair

Jai Bryant

Lois Byrd

Deborah Crosby

Willie Ash

Lynn Peters

Tourist Development

Timothy Pittman - Chair

Johnna Pittman

Vince Addison
Affordable Housing

Dannie Bolden - Chair

Chester Davis

Dannie Bolden II

Finanacial Literacy

James Chambers - Chair

Inez Mathews

David Woods

Jai Bryant

Beverly Ash

Public works

Inez Mathews - Chair

Lewis Vereen

Dannie Bolden

Public relations

Willie Ash

Dannie Bolden II
Trustees
Leroy Davis - Chair

Marty Lanahan - Vice
Chair

Thomas H. Jeavons

Rev, Eddie E. Jones

David Llewellyn

Mary K. Philips

Staff
Sherry P. Magill, President

Katie Ensign, Senior
Program Officer
Boardofdirectors
David Ashbrook

Rex Buzzett - Chair

Kaye Haddock

Bill Kennedy

Brett Lowery

Bo Patterson - Vice Chair

Andy Smith

William Thursbay
Consultantteam
WIM Associates, Inc. (Walter Miller - project leader)

PacificXanh (John Hendry, Philip Giang)
PORT ST. JOE
REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY

North Port St. Joe
Tableofcontents
Introduction
Community Themes
Updating the 2009 Master Plan
The 2016 Conceptual Master Plan
02
10
20
46
page

North Port St. Joe
Preface
The many people that have participated
in meetings, conference calls,
community events and workshops over
the last six months are impatient for
success.
Now we must raise
community involvement, while
maintaining the momentum
that has built steadily since
February 2016.
We have worked hard: organizing events
like this year ’s Juneteenth Celebration
and the recent community-wide healing
gathering. Plans for a neighborhood
clean-up day are underway. Meanwhile,
we are assisting the City Commissioners
and their Staff to help owners clear
blighted properties.
Towards the end of this document, there
are details of a catalyst project that we
hope will symbolize the beginning of
the redevelopment process for this
community.
In the final pages you will find an
illustrated conceptual plan and detailed
narrative that reflects the community’s
work over the last several months. We
will be presenting this plan to the City
Commission and its Redevelopment
Agency for its formal adoption. Our
intention, then, will be to work with the
City’s Staff on rezoning parts of our
neighborhood and amending the
Comprehensive Plan to reflect the
community’s aspirations.
In February this year, a group of North Port St. Joe
residents and property owners formed the North Port
St. Joe Project Area Committee (PAC). We were
frustrated by the blight and decay in our community
that confronted us daily. We had seen no real change
for the better since 2010 when North Port St. Joe was
included in the expanded Port St. Joe Redevelopment
Area.
We decided to carry out a community-wide review of
the 2009 North Port St. Joe Master Plan. We wanted
to update the plan and begin the redevelopment of
our neighborhood.
This document is the culmination of the
hard work of the PAC, its consultants
and numerous supporters within and
beyond the boundaries of North Port
StJoe. Chester Davis, President,
North Port St. Joe Project Area Committee
1

North Port St. Joe
Introduction
Location
History
The 2009 Master Plan
The North Port St. Joe Project Area Committee
PAC objectives
The current social and economic environment
Updating the 2009 Plan: process
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
page
2

North Port St. Joe
Location
Port St Joe
The North Port St.Joe redevelopment district
NorthweSt.Florida
North Port St. Joe, Florida
October 2016 1PHASE II - SCOPE OUTLINES
June 16, 2016 WIM Associates, Inc.NPSJ-PAC October 6, 2016 Implementing the North Port St. Joe Master Plan
EXISTING SITE
3

North Port St. Joe
History
A compact community bordered by
railroad tracks, the paper mill and
wetlands, North Port St. Joe’s families
formed a close-knit, self-contained
community served by churches, an
Elementary and High School and the
small but vibrant Main Street.
Desegregation changed North Port St.
Joe dramatically and forever. Main Street
(renamed Martin Luther King Boulevard)
began to decline in importance as the
community’s primary shopping
destination. The Elementary School and
George Washington High School were
closed and their pupils enrolled in the
desegregated schools elsewhere in Port
St. Joe.
When the paper mill prospered, North
Port St. Joe’s decline slowed. But in the
early 1990s, the paper industry
experienced a downturn from which the
Port St. Joe mill never recovered, ﬁnally
ceasing production and closing its doors
in 1998.
Families throughout Port St. Joe and
beyond were deeply effected by the loss
of so many well-paid jobs but the pace
of decline in North Port St. Joe became
most visible as its housing stock
deteriorated and the negative social
metrics associated with blight increased.
North Port St. Joe, in Gulf County
Florida, is an historic African American
neighborhood. It pre-dates Port St.
Joe’s renaissance, brought on by the
opening of the paper mill in 1938.
Prior to that, the residents of North Port
St. Joe had been drawn to the region
by its turpentine, fishing and lumber
industries.
4

North Port St. Joe
The2009MasterPlan
By 2006, it was clear that North Port St.
Joe should become part of the City’s
Redevelopment district which had been
established in 1989 to revitalize Reid
Avenue and its immediate surroundings.
The 2009 Master Plan concentrated on
seven areas of critical concern:
• Martin Luther King Boulevard.

• US Highway 98.

• Washington High School campus.

• Avenue ‘A’.

• A new proposed town center for Port St.
Joe

• The rail corridor.

• Vacant, under-utilized land.
NORTH PORT ST. JOE
M
A
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T
E
R
P
L
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Prepared For: PORT ST. JOE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Prepared By: W.I.M. ASSOCIATES, INC.
J
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The 2006 Finding of Necessity enabled
North Port St. Joe to become a
Redevelopment Expansion Area. The
same year, a Strategic Plan for North Port
St. Joe was prepared by Florida State
University. Then, in 2009, the community
came together to create the North Port
St. Joe Master Plan.
These efforts were almost immediately
undermined by the rapid decline in the
national economy. The St. Joe Company,
for generations the region’s major local
landowner, was forced to abandon its
real estate development plans and
reduced its workforce accordingly. The
North Port St. Joe’s Master Plan was, in
effect, shelved and remained so until
earlier this year.
5

North Port St. Joe
TheNorthPort St.Joe
Project AreaCommittee
(The PAC)
The PAC’s intent was to galvanize the
community and revisit the 2009 Plan;
this time with the objective to implement
it. The PAC convinced the Jesse Ball
duPont Fund and the Port St. Joe
Redevelopment Agency to ﬁnance the
technical support needed to assist the
local community to update the Master
Plan.
The technical assistance would help the
PAC:
1. Hold three public meetings to:
• Revise the 2009 Master Plan.
• Reﬁne the themes of a new Plan.
• Review the new draft Illustrated
Master Plan that will take the
community forward.
Early in 2016, seven years after the
Master Plan had been written, a group
of North Port St.Joe residents and land
owners created the North Port St.Joe
Project Area Committee (NPSJ-PAC).
2. Inform and involve stakeholders,
including local government and its
agencies, the Port Authority, the St.
Joe Company and Ascension Health
and elicit their formal support.
3. Re-register the Gulf County
Community Development
Corporation and the Gulf County
Community Land Trust as
implementation arms of the
community.
4. Work with local property owners to
involve them in the redevelopment
process.
5. Draw up a detailed scope of work
for the second phase of the project.
6. Identify catalyst projects able to
‘jump start’ the redevelopment
process.
6

North Port St. Joe
PACobjectives
The PAC’s role in implementing the 2009 Master Plan is critical.
The PAC is the face of the community for local government, investors and
development partners.
The PAC’s three fundamental community development objectives are to:
• Eliminate the blight that undermines its neighborhood.
• Enable the community to ﬂourish without displacing its residents.
• Recognize that job creation is the primary catalyst for change.
One of the 2009 Plan’s most important objectives remains and overarches the PAC’s
activities:
It is paramount that we do all we can
to sustain our community’s
engagement in the redevelopment of
North Port St. Joe.
• To unify and
make whole
Port St. Joe
7

North Port St. Joe
Thecurrentsocialand
economicenvironment
5. The Sacred Heart Hospital has
become an established stakeholder
in Gulf County and beyond.
6. The BP Oil Well RESTORE funds
are beginning to ﬂow into the
community.
7. North Port St. Joe’s average
appraised property values and the
concomitant tax revenue remain
below 2010 levels. This means that
the community has not generated a
tax increment fund since it was
designated a redevelopment area.
8. Community blight and all that goes
with it continues to advance in North
Port St. Joe.
1. The Port Authority has persevered
and is about to enter into various
partnerships that will bring jobs to
Port St. Joe.
2. The St. Joe Company has ceased
being a real estate developer in Gulf
County and now focusses on asset
management and land sales.
3. The economic impact of tourism
has been growing steadily in recent
years.
4. There have been visible
improvements to the retailing on
Reid Avenue, the waterfront area
between the boat ramp and the
marina and the City park system, in
general.
How has the overall socio-economic
environment in Port St.Joe changed since
2009?
8

North Port St. Joe
Updatingthe2009Plan:
Process
The meetings were held in July, August
and October 2016. Every meeting was
attended by 30 to 60 participants.
Some of the community feedback
during the first meeting:
• Involve young people returning to
the community.

• Emphasize the role of housing in
any mixed-use development.

• Help local business start-ups.

• Attract visitors by engaging them
in the community’s history

• Build a community swimming pool
Each community workshop comprised a
slide presentation and an open forum for
group discussion. Every meeting was
attended by neighborhood residents, at
least two City elected ofﬁcials, as well as
participants from the wider community
and beyond.
9

North Port St. Joe
CommunityThemes
Jobs
Mixed use development
Housing for everyone
Land assemblies
Smart streets
Open spaces
Local heritage
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
page
10

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Jobs
The port of Port St. Joe is entering a new
phase of its development. At least two
active users have made meaningful
commitments to invest in the port’s
future. The revitalized port should be
considered a realistic source of jobs for
North Port St. Joe residents. Some in
Gulf County believe that the port could
have a negative impact on the region’s
growing popularity as a tourism base.
However, It will be several years before
this hypothesis is truly tested.
In the meantime, the impact of visitors to
the region cannot be ignored. Tourism
provides North Port St. Joe with a
growing source of jobs and, most
importantly, new enterprise
opportunities . In addition, an active port
could offer North Port St. Joe a customer
base for a variety of commercial
activities. The community must ensure it
has access to enterprise opportunities
and jobs whether they be generated by
a port or the growing demands of
tourism.
Revitalized Reid AvenueA restored port facility promises to create jobs
11
The community must ensure it has access
to enterprise opportunities and jobs;
whether they are generated by a port or
the growing demands of tourism.

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Mixeduse
development
North Port St.Joe was once anchored by its vibrant retail street. If Martin Luther King
Boulevard is to be redeveloped as the heart of the community, it must comprise not
only shops, but also offices, homes and other uses that will grow and sustain it as a
financially viable, unique location and an attractive place to live and visit.
Avenue A has undeveloped land along its southern edge that would also benefit from
mixed use development and meet the needs of Port St. Joe’s community as a whole.
A Floridian ‘Main Street’.The Villages, near OrlandoA mix of uses creates a vibrant and attractive ‘Main Street’
12

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Housingfor everyone
Seniors must also ﬁnd modern,
comfortable, safe places to live if they
are to stay in the community to which
they have given so much.
The Paces Foundation is building
affordable rental apartments but this is
only the start. Other choices must be
added to North Port St. Joe’s housing
pool.
Small, affordable studio-homes on an infill site in
Bronzeville, Chicago.
North Port St. Joe’s population has been
declining and aging as young people
have left to seek jobs and better housing
options elsewhere. The port, the hospital
and the local tourism industry may offer
a growing, stable pool of job
opportunities but housing for this
workforce will have to be provided
locally. Otherwise, Port St. Joe will
become little more than a destination on
Highway 98 for workers commuting from
within the surrounding region.
The Bronzeville project was a competition winner and is now under construction.
13

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Landassemblies
This is a daunting and complex
undertaking for any property owner. A
single ‘demonstration’ project on Martin
Luther King Boulevard will help allay the
concerns of those owners for whom land
assembly remains of interest but little
more.
Before. Empty lots blight the neighborhood
Neighboring property owners on Martin
Luther King Boulevard are considering
combining their lots to create land
assemblies large enough to realize a
signiﬁcant mixed use development.
After. Redeveloped land assemblies restore the neighborhood’s heart.
The land assembly process, if managed
sensitively, will encourage
redevelopment, improve the area and
raise property values without displacing
the current property owners.
14

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
SmartStreets
These systems can help with surface
water management as part of a larger,
comprehensive plan for North Port St.
Joe’s infrastructure. Such a plan is
essential to the community’s
redevelopment aspirations, particulalrly
along Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Redevelopment will create new
impervious surfaces that, in turn, will
require additional rainwater
management. North Port St. Joe
straddles two major wetland systems
that eventually empty into the Gulf of
Mexico.
North Port St.Joe’s surrounding natural system.
Depot CreekGeorge Washington
Swamp
Wetlands
18
Smart Streets.An increasingly important component of
community redevelopment
15
Infrastructure improvements are a high
priority and an essential component of
the redevelopment plan

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Openspaces
North Port St. Joe has not ﬁgured in
these plans and Peters Park remains
disconnected from the bike path and
trail system. The redevelopment of North
Port St. Joe must include new links to the
trail system and a purposeful open
space strategy that will appeal to the
local residents and visitors, alike.
Port St. Joe’s public open spaces have
always been important community
amenities. An impressive new trail and
bike path network connects residents
and visitors to the improved water front
and the relocated lighthouse.
Port St.Joe’s scenic trail system.The next phase should focus on North Port St.JoeWell-designed, colorful shades transform this playground
16

North Port St. Joe
CommunityTheme:
Localheritage
Community blight undermines the
physical and mental wellbeing and pride
fostered by heritage, culture and
identity.
North Port St. Joe’s heritage is manifest
in the extended families that comprise its
population. It’s heritage lies, too, in the
buildings that have been homes to those
families as they have grown, left their
community and spread out across the
nation. Its heritage also lies in the many
achievements of these people.
Expressing the neighborhood’s heritage,
culture and identity differentiates it from
the places that surround it while
enriching them with its diversity.
Project Row Houses, Holman Street, Houston, present day.A community restored.Abandoned row houses, Holman Street, Houston TX, 1990s.
17
North Port St.Joe’s identity is born of its
proud heritage and culture.
Heritage, culture and identity
underpin and inform this
redevelopment process.

North Port St. Joe
UpdatingtheMasterplan
Martin Luther King Boulevard
• Restoring its heritage
• Covered sidewalks
• Architecture
• Homes
• Important buildings
• Summary
Avenue A and a new town center
• Connecting the community
• Traffic calming
• A new town center
• Avenue A gateways
• Avenue A development opportunities
George Washington Highschool
• A regional vision
• Local resources
The Lake
Gateways & way finding
Paths and trails
The pocket park
• A catalyst project
• Phase one
• Phase two
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27
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37
38
41
43
page
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North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
UpdatingtheMaster
Plan
What has changed?
Connecting Reid Avenue and Martin
Luther King Boulevard was functional,
symbolic and central to the St. Joe
Company’s plan for the new town center
for Port St. Joe. It was never built and
the Company abandoned its ambitious
real etate plans as the economy
receded.
Nevertheless, a group of Martin Luther
King Boulevard property owners have
emerged in recent months, intent on
developing their land.
The implications of change.
Martin Luther King remains the heart of
the community’s redevelopment
aspirations. The link to Reid Avenue that
was never completed satisfactorily
continues to be a priority for the
residents of North Port St. Joe.
2009 priorities and themes
• Historical significance

• Infrastructure

• New mix of uses

• Security and affordability

• Linkages to the community and access
Martin Luther King Boulevard,
November 2015
19

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Restoringitsheritage
Martin Luther King Boulevard was once
a vibrant, busy retail street serving not
only its own local community but also
the rest of Port St. Joe.
Campus Corner was a well-known
destination, along with Driesbach’s Dry
Cleaners and the Starlight Restaurant.
2016 redevelopment themes
• Where identity, culture and heritage
come together.

• Bringing enterprise back to North Port St.
Joe.

• Mixing retail and residential uses.

• Recreating a unique part of Port St. Joe,
supportive of, but different to, Reid
Avenue.
Former businesses located on, or near, Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Recalled by attendees of the 2016 Juneteenth Celebration.
Visitors to Port St. Joe are increaing in
number. The gateways to Martin Luther
King Boulevard are more important than
ever. The 800 feet long, three block walk
along Martin Luther King Boulevard from
Avenue A to Avenue D provides the
ideal starting point for redevelopment.
Gant’s Preschool
Starlight Restaurant
Eara Buie’s Beauty Shop
Mary Riley’s Beauty Shop
Adele Jackson’s Boarding House
Driesbach’s Dry Cleaners
Alma Bryant’s Beauty Shop
Ike Mincy’s Taxi Service
Mamie Gafney’s Beauty Shop
Eva Gant’s Beauty Shop
Peters’ Laundromat
Eddie Beverly’s Bait Business
Allen’s Grocery
King’s Barber Shop
Georgie Boy’s Restaurant
Portia’s Beauty Shop
Dow McNair’s Store
Gardner’s Store
Club Heatwave
Clara’s RestaurantJones’ Market
Russ’ Hair Care
Big 10 Club House
Hall’s Dentistry, Drug & Liquor Store
Williams’ Funeral Home
King’s Service Station
Bell’s Store
Harris’ Beauty Shop
Campus Corner
Dixie Jewelry
Peters’ Grocery
The Tavern
The Pool Room
Walter Duren’s Grocery
Sanders’ Grocery
Stallworth’s Grocery
Junior Davis’ Barber Shop
20

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Coveredsidewalks
There are remnants along Martin Luther King Boulevard of buildings that overhang the
sidewalk, providing pedestrians with shade from the sun and protection from the rain.
Throughout the southeastern United States there are well-established communities that
adopted this form of architecture as a practical necessity.
By widening the sidewalk beneath these canopies, especially on the corner of each
block, the street can become more inviting, particularly if shops and restaurants are
encouraged to spill out onto the street.
2 9
Arcade
covered
walkway
3 0
31
A large second-floor balcony overhangs the street,
providing shelter to pedestrians.
On some lots, more parking can be provided
at the rear of the building.
Parallel parking helps the wide sidewalk feel a
secure comfortable zone for pedestrians
21

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Architecture
Rosemary Beach, FL.
Mobile,AL.
Columbus, GA
22

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Avenues‘A’to‘D’ Arcade/
Covered
walk way
Homes
to be
preserved
CAMPUS
CORNER
MARTIN LUTHER
KING
PLAZA
810’
2 8
Mixed use development is deliberately
contained in a three block area,
anchored by the iconic Campus Corner.
23

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Homes
This is a quieter residential part of Martin Luther
King Boulevard.
Baldwin Park, Orlando, FL.
The upper ﬂoors of the retail premises, planned for Martin Luther King Boulevard
south of Avenue D, should include apartments for rent and for sale and, possibly,
ofﬁce space. The plan for the Boulevard north of Avenue D visualizes town houses,
apartments and studios. There is also an opportunity to develop senior housing and
a children’s day care centre at the terminus of Martin Luther King Boulevard. This
mix of residential uses will help increase density, security a greater sense of
community and pedestrian activity on the three northernmost blocks of Martin
Luther King Boulevard.
810’
35
Proposed street section. Greener landscaping replaces
the overhanging balconies of the blocks between
Avenues A and D
24

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Importantbuildings
A very visual and memorable building. The Town Hall and Post Office at
Rosemary Beach
A large parcel of land, owned by Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church, ‘book ends’
Martin Luther King Boulevard where it terminates at Avenue G. This would be an
ideal location for senior living, a use that could provide the Boulevard with an
important community center, visible to all those driving and walking its length. At
the opposite end of the Boulevard is land owned by the St. Joe Company. It has,
once again, been mooted as the ideal location for the City’s new Town Hall; highly
visible and a symbol of the new center of Port St. Joe.
WalkableDistance
1,620’
Important
Building
Columbus, Georgia
Important
Building
Rosemary Beach, Florida
37
25

North Port St. Joe
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard:
Summary
26
Residential

district

Senior housing
Day care

center

Campus

Corner

Covered

sidewalks

Renovated
homes
Martin Luther
King Plaza

North Port St. Joe
AvenueAandanew
towncenter:
UpdatingtheMaster
Plan
What has changed?
The St. Joe Company believed its new
town center concept would be the
catalyst for change; bringing Port St. Joe
together by creating a highly visible
‘front door’ on Highway 98 to Reid
Avenue and Martin Luther King
Boulevard .
The implications of change
The old ball ﬁeld was dismantled but
there is still an opportunity to change
fundamentally the way that Port St. Joe
relates to Highway 98, the manner in
which Martin Luther King Boulevard
connects with Reid Avenue and how the
division created by the railroad tracks
can be eliminated.
• The old ball field: a park and
entertainment center

• A farmer’s market

• Government & institutional uses

• Connecting Martin Luther King Boulevard
to Reid Avenue
The St.Joe Company’s new town center for
Port St.Joe. October 2004.
The St. Joe Company remains the
largest local landowner and is, therefore,
a stakeholder in Port St. Joe’s growth
aspirations. If the port moves ahead as
planned, the Company’s interest in Gulf
County will grow. The residents of North
Port St. Joe have a considerable role to
play in how the Company’s land along
Avenue A can be put to use.
27

North Port St. Joe
Anew towncenter:
Connectingthe
community
Seaside and Rosemary Beach are
located on County Road 30A in Walton
County, Florida. Thousands of visitors
pass by these communities daily and are
drawn to their attractive village greens
and their highly visible stores,
restaurants and parking. The village
greens are also valuable amenities for
the communities that they serve.
2016 redevelopment themes
• Linking Martin Luther King Boulevard and
Reid Avenue.

• Creating the new heart of Port St. Joe.

• Encouraging visitors to stop, shop and
linger.
Rosemary Beach, FL
This Town Green is a new gathering
place and civic center for the residents
of Port St. Joe and beyond. Equally
accessible from Reid Avenue and Martin
Luther King Boulevard, pedestrian-
friendly areas encourage outdoor
community-wide events and
happenings.
Seaside, FL
Connecting MLK and Reid Avenue
28

North Port St. Joe
A new towncenter:
Trafficcalming
Carefully landscaped medians and dense tree canopies help Rosemary Beach and
WaterColor, next to Seaside, slow trafﬁc and allow pedestrians a degree of safety. Port
St. Joe, meanwhile, straddles an unforgiving four to six lane Highway with the
minimum pedestrian crossing points.
CR 30A at WaterColor, FL.
4 2
The proposed Town Green, bounded by Highway 98,Avenue A
and First Street
29
CR 30A at Rosemary Beach, FL.

North Port St. Joe
A new towncenter
The new Town Hall overlooks Martin
Luther King Plaza and is visible from
Reid Avenue.A pedestrian area links the
Avenue and the Boulevard.Town Green
becomes the main entry point from
Highway 98.
City Hall
Hotel
Inn &
cottages
Town Green
Martin Luther
King Plaza
30

North Port St. Joe
Avenue A
Divided by the railroad tracks, the two neighborhoods that comprise North Port St. Joe are
connected along their southern edge by Avenue A. The undeveloped land along this edge is
owned by the St. Joe Company. Its value to the community is twofold; as eastward expansion
land for the new town center and for more apartments, whether for rental or for sale.
Quiet residential streets
Alternative access
to new apartmentsEntrance to
Washington
High School
campus
Entrance to
Martin Luther
King
Boulevard
Potential
development sites
Green buffers
31

North Port St. Joe
Avenue A:
Architecture
The land along Avenue ‘A’ provides
natural buffers, commercial and
recreational uses and the potential for
denser housing, such as rental
apartments.
32

North Port St. Joe
GeorgeWashington
HighSchool:
UpdatingtheMaster
Plan
What has changed?
The proposed port will reactivate the rail
system, prohibit any realistic chance of
connecting Robbins and Garrison
Avenue and, in so doing, will underline
the fact that the former High School
campus is not only an under-utilized
resource for Port St. Joe but also the
entire region.
• Preserve buildings

• Add new service-based uses

• Connect Robbins Avenue and Garrison
Avenue. Garrison Avenue
Robbins Avenue
Highway 98
Washington H.S.
campus
The implications of change
Like the Sacred Heart Hospital, the
ambition for the campus should be to
serve as wide a population as possible.
The campus is the largest area of
developable, publicly-owned, serviced
upland in the region. Its heritage as a
community center of learning demands
a broad and ambitious vision for its
future.
33

North Port St. Joe
GeorgeWashington
HighSchool:
Aregionalvision
2016: The four redevelopment themes
• Restoring a community gathering place

• Creating a new center for enterprise

• Making a destination for visitors

• Celebrating local natural resources
Four themes connect and reinforce each other. Their components can be phased
to meet changing community priorities. The campus is greater than the sum of its
parts and is active throughout the day and into the evening, addressing the diverse
needs of its users. It mixes learning with making, work with play, residents with
visitors, children with adults of all ages and it does so in an open and embracing
environment.
34
56
Community
enrichment
• Job training

• Gathering places

• Community pool
Enterprises
and jobs
• Innovative environment

• Start-up businesses

• Flexible workspaces
Celebrating
local food
• Back yard farming

• Local products

• Process center
Attracting
visitors
• Destination park

• Campus coffee shop

• Local culture center

North Port St. Joe
GeorgeWashington
HighSchool
A revitalized campus; based around
indoor-outdoor structures and the
reused shells of buildings. Or innovative
ideas, like adapted shipping containers
delivered to the nearby port facility.
35
Community

gardens
Public

park
Training

center
Community

pool
Gymnasium
Community

museum
Innovation

center
Community

barn

North Port St. Joe
GeorgeWashington
HighSchool:
Localresources
Empty land and abandoned lots that
surround the former High School could
be put to use growing produce, as well
as buffering railroad tracks and
supporting local enterprise.
36

North Port St. Joe
TheLake
This is a creative use of land that was
passed by the City to the Paces
Foundation and is being developed, in
part, as affordable rental housing. It:
• Creates a new way of experiencing North
Port St.Joe.

• Harnesses the benefits of smart water
management.

• Adds to Port St. Joe’s wider lake system.

• Leverages the Paces Foundation
development and raises further the
surrounding land value.
The Lake creates an environment attractive to commercial ventures, as well as
providing a valuable local amenity and a visitor destination. The road to the lake
allows additional access to the Paces Foundation apartments. A working farm
manages the remaining land, reinforces the concept of locally-grown produce and
provides a unique identity for the Inn and its cottages.
Paces Foundation
apartments
Lake trailLakefront Inn &
Cottages
Garden
Farm facilities
Avenue A
37

North Port St. Joe
Gateways&wayfinding
What has changed?
The 2013 Port Master Plan proposes an
industrial land use for the former Paper
mill bulkhead. This replaces the St. Joe
Company’s 2004 planned water front
neighborhood that was to be carefully
connected to North Port St. Joe.
• Define gateways to North Port St. Joe, off
Highway 98

• Upgrade the infrastructure along the
Highway

• Create new retail uses on Highway 98
What are the implications of
change?
The port’s industrial waterfront will
require careful buffering to mitigate
blight rather than be the cause of it. The
gateway Avenues A, B, C and D are
more important than ever, directing
attention away from the industrial
activities of the port and drawing people
to the historic neighborhood of North
Port St.Joe.
P O R T
S T U D Y
A R E A
H i g h w a y 9 8
M L K
BC AD
? ?
?
B u f f e r
MILLREDEVELOPMENT
M L K
Highway
98
Re t a i l
a n d o ff i c e s
The 2004 St.Joe Company plan
The Port Study Area, implying an active,
industrial site close to North Port St.Joe
38

North Port St. Joe
Gateways&wayfinding
2016 Redevelopment themes
• Announcing an historic neighborhood
and its heritage

• Reflecting the community’s culture

• Reinforcing North Port St. Joe’s identity
The srtreet pattern and boundaries that define North Port St. Joe have been in place
for generations; certainly before the paper mill was built in the late 1930s. Now
there is an opportunity to signify and define the community more formally. Street
renaming, to better reflect this neighborhood’s heritage, was discussed
enthusiastically at the community workshops.
39
New street names should be adopted using a signage system
that expresses the community’s pride in its culture and identity.

North Port St. Joe
Gateways&wayfinding
71
D
C
B
A
810’
Through gateways, along streets, to the
corners that punctuate Martin Luther
King Boulevard. Every visitor should be
able to appreciate immediately the
community’s heritage, culture and
identity.
40

North Port St. Joe
Pathsandtrails
2016 Redevelopment themes
• Pathways that connect the community

• Pathways that invite visitors to explore

• Pathways to a destination
7 8
Regional bike path
Proposed bike paths & trails
Existing bike paths & trails
7 9
Proposed bike
paths & trails
Regional bike path
Existing bike
paths & trails
The Port St. Joe bike and trail system has been improved and augmented
considerably over the last several years. It is now an important visitor attraction and
a major community asset. It must be extended to North Port St. Joe, as Martin
Luther King Boulevard and the High School campus are improved, becoming visitor
and community destinations in their own right.
42

North Port St. Joe
Pathsandtrails
What has changed?
For several years, the A & N Railroad has been cut off from Port St. Joe by an unsafe
bridge near Apalachicola. The closure of Arizona Chemicals and other local railroad
users made bridge repair unviable. The plans for reopening the port of Port St. Joe
have changed radically the railroad’s outlook. Vital funding, subject to the port’s
opening, is available to aid the repairs necessary to reopen the railroad.
In 2009, the priorities and themes for
connecting the community by a path
system assumed that the St.Joe
Company would abandon its railroad
corridor.
What are the implications of change?
An active port will reactivate the railroad. New track will be laid to the canal and
across St. Joe Company land to the bulkhead overlooking the bay. The railroad shop
and switching areas will be reopened. North Port St. Joe and the Port Authority must
begin a conversation about how the railroad will be buffered to secure and protect
the community.
41

North Port St. Joe
Thepocketpark:
Acatalystproject
The project objectives are to:
• Energize the community by implementing
a relatively fast-track project.

• Create a secure and pleasant place for
families, kids and adults to meet.

• Remove blight with a highly visible
demonstration project.

• Preserve existing trees to provide shade.
This project has emerged during conversations concerning the need to address
blight on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The Pocket Park concept was identiﬁed as
one of several means by which empty lots in the community could be turned into
valuable community assets and provide a public place, close to Martin Luther King
Boulevard, for people to gather in their leisure time .
43

North Port St. Joe
Thepocketpark:
Phaseone
An empty site has been identiﬁed. It comprises two contiguous lots; one vacant and
the other occupied by a derelict building. The owner and the City are in discussion
with the PAC about converting the site into a Pocket Park.
8 4
Alley Greenway
Pocket
Park
110’
Street side 50’ 50’
30”
6’fence
8 4
30” retaining
wall
Wood Fence on
concrete retaining
wall
Open Lawn/
Play ground
6’ Tall fence
6’ Tall fence
Existing
trees
Planters
with seats
Etched
concrete
Toilet
Gravel
band
Random
pavers
44

North Port St. Joe
Thepocketpark:
Phasetwo
Toilet
Lawn
Area
Drinking
fountain
Splash Pad
6’ tall fence6’ tall fence
Benches
with canopy
30”
retaining
wall
Planters
Checker
tables
Existing
trees
The Pocket Park is a symbol of people
coming together to redevelop their
community. It represents civic pride in
this place. It is a small, yet highly visible,
sign of change.
45

North Port St. Joe
The 2016 ConceptualMasterPlan
46

North Port St. Joe
TheNorthPortSt.Joe
2016Conceptual
MasterPlan
The Conceptual Master Plan embraces
the Redevelopment Expansion Area
while focussing on the community’s
priorities. It is an important first step in
the redevelopment process.
This document updates the community’s 2009 Master plan. Priorities have been
adjusted to meet the economic and social changes that Port St. Joe has undergone
over the last seven years. Nonetheless, key objectives of the previous plan remain;
to remove blight by systematically redeveloping North Port St. Joe and to unify and
make whole the wider community.
This Conceptual Master Plan is an illustration that embraces the entire
Redevelopment Expansion Area, while focussing on the community’s priorities. It
illustrates land uses and development ideas that reﬂect the themes explored during
three workshops. It is a ‘snapshot’ of what North Port St. Joe could look and feel like
when implementation of this plan is complete.
This conceptual plan necessarily presumes that every property owner, including the
City of Port St. Joe, will develop their land in the manner shown. Inevitably, this will
not be the case and the plan will change over time.
Nevertheless, the community’s vision, values and aspirations
that underpin the themes outlined in the previous pages
should be respected throughout the redevelopment process.
To this end, this document and its Conceptual Master Plan will be presented to the
Port St. Joe Redevelopment Agency and the City of Port St. Joe Commission for
adoption. Following this, the document will form the basis of community rezoning
and textual amendments to the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
47

North Port St. Joe
TheNorthPortSt.Joe 2016ConceptualMasterPlan
Inn &
Cottages
Apartments
Lake Cottage Resort
Paces Foundation
Residences
Wetlands
Gateway

Sign Posts
Public Park Existing
Gymnasium
Innovation

Center
Community

Food
Community
Pool
Day Care Center
Campus
Corner
Heritage

Walk
New Town
Center &
Green
New City
Hall Martin Luther
King Plaza
Training
Center
Dollar
General

Redeveloping North Port St. Joe

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