Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company

A design charrette will be undertaken to guide future growth in Perdido Key for the next several decades. DPZ and its consultants have been selected to spearhead the effort as a result of an RFQ issued by Escambia County. A website dedicated to the work will be available in the near future and linked to from here. Please check with our calendar for the date and location of upcoming public presentations.

The Master Plan is undertaken to sensitively guide growth in Perdido Key for the next several decades. DPZ and its consultants were selected to spearhead the effort as a result of an RFQ issued by Escambia County, and via a planning charrette, with wide public participation. Perdido Key is home to a large second-home, retiree population, and has been subject to gradual suburbanization over the last 30 years, with several beachfront condominium high-rises built in the last decade. As the County attempts to better insert itself in the global economy, spur economic activity and promote the creation of jobs, the expected population rise imposes new pressures on the existing infrastructure. Additionally, the presence of the Perdido Key Beach Mouse _an endemic species, the habitat of which has received special protection, as well as extensive wetlands pose challenging environmental concerns to development; thereby demanding a very rational and compact optimization of land uses. A long planned and already approved widening of Perdido Key Drive is to be accommodated within the overall strategy to deal with traffic congestion and hurricane evacuation issues. The master plan's overarching vision is to be centered around a functioning neighborhood structure that is lively, livable, walkable, and has a proper balance of mixed uses, with transit and bike capabilities where proven feasible. The Master Plan, accompanied by a form-based code, will proposed comprehensive implementation strategies to enable the evolution of existing suburban conditions into mature, mixed use communities. Implementation goals will include land use, transportation, environmental and economic development strategies.