Hollywood’s Regional Activity Center was established in 1990 and expanded in 2005 and encompasses over 1,450 acres to include both the Federal and Dixie Highway Corridors from Sheridan Street to Pembroke Road and the Hollywood Boulevard Corridor from just east of Federal Highway to Interstate 95 and includes all of Downtown Hollywood.
The Regional Activity Center (RAC) land use designation is given to areas of regional importance that are appropriate for growth. The designation is intended to encourage attractive and functional mixed use living, working, shopping, education and recreational activities.
The Regional Activity Center Land Use is intended to:
•Encourage development or redevelopment of areas that are of regional significance
•Facilitate mixed-use development
•Encourage mass transit
•Reduce the need for automobile travel
•Create understandable regulations that promote quality development
•Give definition to the urban form
Demographic shifts, lifestyle preferences, and improved mobility options are a few of the key factors driving the desire for urban living. Recognizing the importance of the RAC designation, the City of Hollywood has commenced the rezoning process within its RAC to encourage attractive and functional redevelopment in this area of regional significance.
While the RAC provides the adequate land use framework for the vision, the existing zoning currently in place does not. The existing zoning has an array of issues, the majority of which are related to uses:
•the limitation of uses
•the adjacency of those uses
•inadequate transitions between uses
•majority of zoning categories do not encourage mixed-uses
Additionally, existing Zoning density allowances create false expectations for development. The allowed densities could not be achieved within the envelope of the current regulations.
In preparation for final adoption of the updated RAC rezoning, the City has solicited feedback on the proposed policies from a broad constituency of impacted stakeholders that includes residents, businesses, developers, architects, and industry organizations. Staff completed the proposed zoning code changes in early 2016 and presented recommendations at a joint Planning and Development Board and Historic Preservation Board meeting in July 2016. As part of the boards' formal recommendation to the City Commission a public meeting with the North Central Hollywood Civic Association was held in early September. For additional information on the RAC, please contact Leslie Del Monte, Planning Division Manager at 954.921.3471.