Consultants and city staff on Monday presented a concept plan to redesign Cordova Street in St. Augustine’s historic Community Redevelopment Area that prioritizes pedestrians, adds tree canopy and integrates stormwater infrastructure while keeping two-way traffic.

The presentation to the Community Redevelopment Agency came from Viviana Castro, director of landscape architecture at Inspire Placemaking Collective, and was introduced by Jamie D. Perkins, community services director for the City of St. Augustine. Castro said the firm’s work covered Cathedral Place to the Visitor Information Center and included public workshops to collect neighborhood input.

The concept plan breaks the street into segments and uses a “people-first” framework, Castro said: “Pedestrian is a top priority, thinking of green infrastructure and how we can take that next step with Cordova Street,” she told the agency. The concept includes narrowing vehicle lanes to about 10 feet, minimum six-foot sidewalks where feasible, four-foot landscape strips, and a shared concrete edge usable by bicyclists.

Castro said designers tested low-speed traffic-calming devices such as chicanes and curb-less sections and proposed restoring tree canopy and adding planted stormwater cells—subsurface systems that increase soil volume for roots while holding water. “We were able to create historical gestures in really key areas,” she said, noting overlays with historic maps to mark intersections for interpretive elements.

Commissioners asked primarily about safety, utilities and constructability. Commissioner Cynthia Garris raised crosswalk and pedestrian-safety concerns at busy intersections and asked whether design features would prevent uncontrolled midblock crossings. Castro responded that chicanes and reduced lane widths are intended to slow traffic and emphasize intersections.

Commissioner Jim Springfield pressed on undergrounding power lines to allow trees to thrive; Perkins and Castro said moving utilities underground is a design-phase requirement but must be coordinated with Florida Power & Light and confirmed during schematic design. “We wouldn't be able to completely identify if we could go underground until we move into design and we start having those discussions with Florida Power and Light,” Perkins said.

Several commissioners endorsed the concept’s direction while noting practical constraints. Commissioners supported incorporating permeable pavers in high-flood areas and retaining business access during construction. Perkins said tax-increment financing from the CRA would be the principal funding source but that the team would pursue grants for stormwater elements and resiliency.

No formal action was required or taken; staff and consultants said the next steps would be a coordination phase with public works and utility providers, schematic design, cost estimating and, if the board wishes, a future workshop for more detailed review.

Implementation, including underground utilities, will require separate engineering, agreements with utility providers and construction funding decisions at later meetings.