current cap<\/a> of 15,100 dwelling units allowed on Federal Highway, stretching the entire city limits from Sheridan Street to Pembroke Road. That number does not include 2,000 currently permitted flex units. Another 4,370 apartments would be allowed on State Road 7, bringing the total to 9,688 dwelling units.<\/p>\nA future commission vote is needed for final approval.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Commissioner Kevin Biederman predicted the move might provoke criticism from today\u2019s residents, who tend to worry about gridlock on the roads and the impact of high-rise towers on nearby neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get criticized because we don\u2019t plan for the future,\u201d Biederman said. \u201cNow we\u2019re planning for the future. Nobody\u2019s building 8,000 units tomorrow or next year. It\u2019s about over the next 25 years. By the time this stuff is built, we\u2019re going to have flying vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought of flying cars might meet with skepticism today, Biederman acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s hard to believe,\u201d he said. \u201cWe all watched \u2018The Jetsons\u2019 when we were little. The future is closer than we think. And we need to make sure we\u2019re planning for it now and not waiting till it happens and we\u2019re just left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Hollywood, a city that has watched booming development take off in cities to the north and south, does not want to be left behind.<\/p>\n
Hollywood\u2019s Young Circle is now home to several tall residential towers, growth cultivated by the city over the last few decades.<\/p>\n
But Federal Highway, a river of pavement often overlooked by developers, has not attracted the same keen interest.<\/p>\n
If that ever changes, Hollywood hopes to be ready.<\/p>\n
As director of Development Services for Hollywood, Andria Wingett was one of the masterminds behind the proposed changes to the city\u2019s master plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are adding additional capacity to what the city already has in order to be able to absorb future population growth and to be able to have a balance of affordable housing but also market rate housing as well,\u201d she told the commission.<\/p>\n
Critics have wondered why the city needs to increase the cap on dwelling units when some apartment buildings are currently experiencing vacancies.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Traci Callari addressed that question Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe downtown has vacancies,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s had vacancies. We will continue to have vacancies until people move in and utilize the area. And that\u2019s starting to happen. But it\u2019s still going to take a long time before it comes to fruition. And development is what creates that. Build it, they will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
High-rise development might be on the way, but it\u2019s not always popular, Callari said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people don\u2019t like it,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want the sleepy town. But at the same time they want to turn around and yell at us that things aren\u2019t getting done and that there\u2019s no action. So they have to go to Fort Lauderdale because our downtown doesn\u2019t work here. Well we\u2019re trying to fix the problem. It doesn\u2019t happen overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is good reason to update the city\u2019s master plan, Callari argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is important because this will help meet our objective, which is create some synergy and help promote livability and functionality,\u201d she said before voting in favor of the changes.<\/p>\n
Mayor Josh Levy explained why the timing is perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited that we are updating this plan for the decades ahead,\u201d Levy said before the vote. \u201cI want to remind everyone that our city grows at a rate of less than 1% a year. This just prepares us for development cycles ahead as the market comes and is ready to build.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Caryl Shuham suggested Hollywood hold a town hall meeting to explain the reason behind the willingness to invite more dwelling units to the city\u2019s two primary commercial corridors.<\/p>\n
Shuham recommended city officials reach out to all impacted civic associations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about building 8,000 more units,\u201d Shuham said. \u201cIt\u2019s (about) replenishing the availability for the next generations in years and decades ahead to have these units.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s visionaries say the cities of tomorrow will feature flying cars, commuters riding trains from here to there,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,28,249,251,250,686,114,266,109],"class_list":["post-261919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-hollywood","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}