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amount of open space, however, can drain the tax rolls or
<br /> overburden the public wor~ or parks department.
<br /> Collective approach. Integrating residential living into areas
<br />traditionally home to warehouses, fishing wharfs, and shipping
<br />yards is a formidable task. Planning for waterfront property
<br />requires that community members, business owners, and
<br />legislators tackle the issue together. The removal of
<br />environmental contaminants, for example, is a complex
<br />dynamic of expended effort and resource gathering. Public
<br />agencies organize and facilitate the planning process. Private
<br />investors see market potential and promise development. And
<br />voluntary organizations, in an effort to bypass bureaucracy-
<br />laden, government agencies or financially detached private-sector
<br />companies, can expose environmental violators and facilitate
<br />community action.
<br /> With a collaborative spirit, Suisun officials approached one
<br />local business owner and asked if she would relocate her
<br />downtown diner to the waterfront. With considerable help from
<br />{he city, she purchased waterfront property and reestablished
<br />one of the town's most successful businesses. She then built her
<br />home above the business.
<br /> Friends of Skamokawa, a nonprofit corporation formed in
<br />the waterfront community of Skamokawa, Washington, teamed
<br />up with the Lower Columbia Economic Development Council,
<br />a cooperative venture between local government and businesses,
<br />to revitalize the community. Together they have employed ·
<br />adaptive reuse to some of the working waterfront's most prized
<br />buildings. The result was a 1989 Outstanding Service Award for
<br />
<br />desirable places to live, work, or enjoy. Brown's Wharf at Fell's
<br />Point in Baltimore, Boston's Fish Pier, and Chicago's Navy Pier
<br />are good examples of creative land use. Although these are big-
<br />city commercial ventures, the same land-use creativity is being
<br />applied in smaller communities.
<br /> The Selkirk Waterfront Project, in Victoria, British
<br />Columbia, received an honorable mention for excellence on the
<br />waterfront in the Winter 1998 issue of Wate~/%nt World. Once
<br />the site of a sawmill, the 25-acre neighborhood now sports a
<br />mix of commercial, residential, and open space uses. The mill's
<br />concrete foundation remains as part of the park design, and a
<br />rail trestle and bed are incorporated into the pathway and
<br />boardwalk.
<br /> Norfolk, Virginia, recognized the value of an industrial
<br />waterfront as a mixed-use district, as early as 1973, when the
<br />Freemason Harbor project commenced with plans for 30 acres
<br />of abandoned railroad property to be converted into water-
<br />oriented residential projects. Adaptive reuse of the historic Bush
<br />Cold Storage Building ultimately led to a mixture of residential
<br />and commercial uses for the structure.
<br /> Tonawanda, New York, adopted a land,use plan that
<br />embraces the changing nature of the community's riverfront.
<br />The waterfront master plan seeks to rationalize the location
<br />needs of land uses that are water-dependent, such as marinas
<br />and wharves, and those that could benefit from a position near
<br />the water, like housing. The result is a rather simple, but
<br />creative, la,nd-use approach that places each on opposites sides
<br />of the river.
<br />
<br /> The industrial flavor of
<br /> Racine, Wisconsin, has
<br /> been replaced by
<br /> wate~/3ont uses that
<br />include upscale residential
<br />complexes, commercial
<br />establishments,
<br />recreational facilities,
<br />open space; and maritirae-
<br />related industries.
<br />
<br />voluntary action from the Washington State Department of
<br />'Community Development. The town's desirability now makes
<br />it attractive to nearby Portland residents. Skamokawa
<br />administrators fear that, because the county retains land-use
<br />control, too many "outsiders" may purchase the land for
<br />residential development, increasing the small town's relatively
<br />Iow cost of living and destroylng its quiet character.
<br /> Land use on the changing wate~Cront. Rehabilitating
<br />waterfront structures is often part of the renewal process for
<br />working waterfronts, which are frequently considered the oldest
<br />districts in the community. Waterfront buildings are ideal for
<br />adaptive reuse. Aging warehouses, for example, have become
<br />treasures that presen.ationists and developers cultivate into
<br />
<br /> Other land-use controls include the use of overlay districts,
<br />special districts, and special development districts (see "Rapid
<br />Response Tools for Waterfront Change," November 1995).
<br />Overlay districts can be instrumental in increasing public access
<br />to the waterfront, protecting waterfront views, managing
<br />competing land uses, or protecting the environment.
<br /> Special districts are used to generate services that are specific
<br />to maritime environments. Special development districts are
<br />created according to an area's specific development goals, thus
<br />allowing for historic preservation, incentive zoning, design
<br />standards, or tax-increment financing.
<br /> Glen Cove's waterfront plan includes establishment of an
<br />"overall district identity" that will facilitate an integrated
<br />
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