Title
An Ordinance Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Amending The City’s Adopted Comprehensive Plan By Amending The Text Of The Future Land Use Element To Add 4,379 Mid-Rise And High-Rise Residential Units And Reduce 1,000,000 Square Feet Of Commercial Within The City’s Transit Oriented Corridor (TOC)/State Road 7 Activity Center; Providing For Transmittal; Providing For Conflicts; Providing For Severability; And Providing For An Effective Date. (25-L-39)
Strategic Plan Focus
Economic Vitality
Body
Staff Recommends: Approval of the attached Ordinance.
Explanation:
The proposed ordinance amends the Future Land Use Element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to allow for redistribution of existing intensities of the State Road 7 Transit Oriented Corridor (TOC) by converting 1,000,000 square feet of existing commercial capacity to 4,379 dwelling units.
The amendment introduces mid-rise and high-rise residential categories and recalibrates development potential to better align with the TOC’s intended function as a transit-supportive, mixed-use activity center. This amendment ensures the TOC retains adequate capacity leaving a remaining balance of 14,000,000 square feet of office in exchange for 4,379 dwelling units to support continued redevelopment, mixed-use intensification, and the City’s long-term fiscal sustainability. This type of recalibration is commonly done by cities in response to evolving market conditions.
The TOC was originally established to promote compact, mixed-use, transit-supportive development along a major regional transportation corridor while preserving adjacent residential neighborhoods. This amendment modernizes the corridor’s development framework in response to evolving market demand, housing needs, and infrastructure considerations, while maintaining consistency with adopted concurrency standards and regional land use policy.
BACKGROUND
The Transit Oriented Corridor encompasses approximately 980 acres along State Road 7/US 441 and is designated as an Activity Center under both the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the Broward County Land Use Plan (BrowardNext).
The Planning and Development Board, acting as the Local Planning Agency, reviewed this amendment on May 20, 2025, and forwarded a recommendation of approval to the City Commission.
Under the currently adopted Comprehensive Plan, the TOC permits a maximum of 5,309 residential dwelling units limited to single-family, townhome, and garden apartment categories. Commercial, office, industrial, and other non-residential allocations were established based on historic corridor conditions at the time of adoption.
As redevelopment interest evolved toward more vertical housing formats, ambiguity emerged regarding substitution of residential unit categories within the Activity Center text. In response, City staff sought a formal interpretation from the Broward County Planning Council in 2024. On April 25, 2024, the Planning Council unanimously affirmed that dwelling units from any category may be substituted for dwelling units of another category within an Activity Center, provided the substitution results in the same or lesser student generation based on the County’s adopted student generation rates, regardless of whether the unit type is explicitly listed in the Activity Center text. The interpretation became effective April 25, 2024.
While this interpretation confirms flexibility in residential typologies, the City remains obligated to demonstrate consistency with BrowardNext, school concurrency standards, and the goals and objectives of its own Comprehensive Plan. This amendment therefore reflects both the clarified flexibility afforded by the County and the continued requirement for policy compliance.
The existing development pattern within the TOC remains largely auto-oriented, characterized by lower-intensity commercial uses and light industrial properties along State Road 7. However, recent redevelopment activity and market trends indicate increasing demand for higher-density residential and mixed-use development, particularly along transit-accessible corridors.
The proposed amendment recalibrates the residential allocation from 5,309 to 9,688 dwelling units and introduces mid-rise and high-rise residential categories to support vertical mixed-use development. The amendment retains lower-density residential allocations where redevelopment is not anticipated, ensuring compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.
To maintain consistency with adopted Level of Service standards and transportation assumptions established at the time of the TOC’s original adoption, the amendment reduces commercial square footage by 1,000,000 square feet. This reduction offsets potential trip generation associated with the adjusted residential capacity and ensures that the overall development envelope remains balanced and technically defensible.
By reallocating development capacity from excess commercial inventory to residential uses, the City strengthens the viability of the TOC as a productive urban corridor while remaining consistent with County land use policy and local Comprehensive Plan objectives.
The proposed amendment modernizes the Transit Oriented Corridor’s land use framework to reflect current market realities, housing demand, and regional policy direction. By increasing residential capacity, introducing vertical housing typologies, and reducing excess commercial allocation, the City advances a balanced, transit-supportive growth strategy consistent with both the Comprehensive Plan and BrowardNext.
Approval of First Reading will allow the City to proceed with County transmittal and continue guiding the transformation of the State Road 7 corridor into a vibrant, mixed-use district that supports long-term economic and fiscal sustainability.
Fiscal Impact:
Approval of this ordinance is necessary to enable continued redevelopment within the State Road 7 corridor. Higher-intensity, mixed-use development within the TOC increases taxable value per acre, leverages existing infrastructure, and strengthens the City’s long-term fiscal position. Without this amendment, redevelopment potential within the corridor would remain constrained by outdated residential typologies and underutilized commercial allocations, limiting private investment and slowing corridor revitalization. By modernizing the development framework, the City positions the TOC as a productive growth area capable of generating sustained tax base expansion while supporting economic vitality.
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Cameron Palmer, Assistant Director/Chief Planner, Development Services
Andria Wingett, Director, Development Services
Jose Cortes, Assistant City Manager