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April 2004

University gears up for master plan revision

Richard Crosby

UNF is gearing up for a major revision of its master plan that will determine such issues as the locations for a new student union, future housing and a replacement for the Social Sciences Building.

Richard Crosby, associate vice president for Administration and Finance, said the process will be inclusive.

“We plan to get feedback from every part of the University community through a number of focus groups,” he said.

The University is required to update its master plan every five years, and it is beginning the revision process a bit early to allow ample time to obtain thorough input from throughout campus, Crosby said.

Phil Turner, director of Facilities Planning, estimated that the process will move into high gear this month and should be completed before the end of the year.

Elements of the process already are under way, with the completion of an Evaluation and Analysis Report. This is a review of the existing master plan and the identification of areas that need to be updated, Turner said.

The master plan revision has important implications for the future of the University. Not only does it lay the groundwork for the location of major new facilities, it also examines transportation and parking needs, infrastructure improvements and environmental considerations. Some preliminary meetings on environmental aspects of the revision already have occurred, Turner noted.

Another aspect of the update will be to review the land that has been part of the First Coast Technology Park. When the University acquires the balance of the property, determinations will need to be made on the best use for the land considering the projected growth and development of the campus.

The UNF Master Plan Steering Committee will be charged with overseeing the process to make sure that all views on the University’s future development are considered. The actual job of incorporating that input into master plan revisions will be the responsibility of the design firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills.

At the end of the process, the revised master plan will be submitted to President Delaney and the Board of Trustees before it is submitted to the state. UNF then will embark on negotiations with local government officials to determine a fair-share impact fee for developments that may impact city services, such as roads and sewers.

The previous master plan update was approved in summer 2001. During that update, many discussions centered on reserving a large portion of the western and southwestern part of campus for environmental research.

The plan that eventually was adopted preserved that area and continued the village street plaza concept. That concept calls for the central spine of campus to be reserved for pedestrians while attempting to accommodate the University’s expected growth to 18,000 students by 2010.

The plan also assumed major development to the north of the campus core where the University acquired about 150 acres of land a few years ago. That area now can be accessed by a new road and features the University’s newest parking area and recreation fields.