Front Porches in the Town Center Commercial Districts

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11 months ago

Precedent imagery from small towns and island settings can inspire the possibilities for Sanibel’s Town Center. The examples above in Figure 38 include small-scale mixed-use buildings at or near the sidewalk. The fronts of buildings include porches, awnings, and colonnades. Parking is found on the street or behind or alongside buildings, not between the front of the building and the sidewalk or shared-use path. Even when there are small or even large gaps between buildings, there is a consistent building-to-street setback, establishing a relaxed character and a highly walkable environment. (City of Sanibel)

by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino

The Sanibel Planning Commission unanimously recommended that City Council adopt an ordinance to consider front porch additions within the Town Center Commercial Districts.

This effort grew out of the Coastal Florida Recovery and Resiliency Partnership Project (R2P2), a community-focused initiative funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Disaster Recovery program. It provides technical assistance to support long-term resiliency through public engagement, conceptual design, and implementation strategies. The program’s overarching goal is to develop community-driven conceptual designs that reflect local visions for recovery and can help leverage federal, state, nonprofit, or private funding for implementation.

The Sanibel Plan designates two districts in the Town Center, as shown above in Figure 37. The General Commercial area is intended to “provide for commercial and mixed use development in the geographical center of the City … providing a wide variety and mixture of retail, office and service uses, along with integrated residential uses of low and moderate intensity”. A second district, Town Center Limited Commercial, similarly supports mixed use development and is intended to “support the establishment and retention of island and resident serving commercial uses and discourage commercial uses that cater principally to the day visitor to the City.”

On January 14, 2025 the final report was presented to City Council. Among the five focus areas studied was the Town Center Commercial District, located between Palm Ridge Road, Tarpon Bay Road, and the western end of Periwinkle Way. As described in the Sanibel Plan, this district is intended “to serve as a focal point for community activity, special events, and informal assembly.” While much of the report emphasizes physical improvements to streetscapes and adjacent public spaces, recommendations were offered to foster a more pedestrian-oriented environment and to promote storefront improvements and reinvestment in the Town Center.

Prior to the R2P2 study, City Council reduced front setback requirements in all commercial districts to 20 feet from the front property line.

City Staff recommended creating a special setback in consideration of goals of the Town Center and the broader policies of the Plan for Commercial Development and Vision Statement of the Sanibel Plan, which prioritize maintaining Sanibel’s rural character and small-town community aesthetic.

Additionally, porches are a defining element of Sanibel’s “Island Style” architecture and its four subcategories— Old Florida, Island Eclectic, Island Contemporary, and Island Leisure—as outlined in the Sanibel Plan. Discussion at the April 22, 2025, meeting of the Land Development Code Review Subcommittee reached consensus in support of an amendment to reduce setbacks in the Town Center Commercial Districts with several items for revision or clarification, including in part that the porch must be attached to the principal structure and open on at least three sides (excluding structural columns or railings), and the porch shall not be enclosed by wall(s) or glass and shall not be designed or subsequently converted to air-conditioned space.

Figure 41: Existing Conditions. Several street design features make walking and biking in the Town Center less than ideal today. However, some improvements are currently being made. For instance, the shared use path was only on one side of Palm Ridge Road, requiring pedestrians and cyclists to cross the street to frequent some businesses, but a second path is being constructed at 8 feet wide as of November 2024. However, multiple curb cuts to access parking remain, resulting in frequent vehicle crossings of the path.
Additionally, the existing 8-foot-wide path dimension is narrower than desired (the 2024 Shared Use Path Master Plan Update calls for widening all paths to 10 feet wide where space permits). Vehicle travel lanes are wide (12 feet), inviting faster car movements and decreased safety. The shared-use path is buffered from moving cars by a 12-18-foot-wide swale, but this area has no shade trees or landscaping. Figure 42: Add Shared Use Path. As called for in the 2024 Shared Use Path Master Plan Update, a 10-foot-wide shared-use path is added to provide pedestrian/bike connectivity on both sides of the street.

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