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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8-28-2012 Agenda PacketAGENDA Tuesday, August 28, 2012 10:00 A.M. REVISED 812412072 INFORMAL MEETING CALL TOORDER -COMMISSIONER DZADOVSKY. CHAIRMAN BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 2. 3RD QUARTER SPENDING UPDATE -OMB DIRECTOR -BUDGET MANAGER 3. SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OFFICE SPACE -COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR 4. SPACE AT FORMER JUVENILE DIVISION ON 7T" STREET -PARKS, RECREATION & FACILITIES DIRECTOR -ASSISTANT COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR 5. OPEN RECREATION AT FENN CENTER -COMMISSIONER CRAFT 6. BOARD DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION: WESTERN LANDS STUDY -PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR -PLANNING MANAGER 7. ADJOURNMENT CONFERENCE ROOM #3 ROGER POITRAS ADMINISTRATION ANNEX 2300 VIRGINIA AVENUE, FORT PIERCE FLORIDA 34982 NOTICE: All Proceedings before this Board an: elecUonically recorded. Any person who decides to appeal any action taken by the Board at these meetings will need a record of the proceedings and for such purpose may need to ensure chat a verbatim record of the proceedings is made. Upon the request of any party to the proceedings, individuals testifying during a hearing will be sworn in. Any party to the proceedings will be granted the opportunity to cross-examine any individual testifying during a hearing upon request. Anyone with a disability requiring accommodation to attend this meeting should contact the St. Lucie County Risk & Benefits Manager at (772) 462-1404 orTDD (772) 462-1428 at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the meeting. Item #6 Planning and Development Services Department Planning Division MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners THROUGH: Mark Satterlee, AICP, Director FROM: Kara Wood, Planning Manager DATE: August 28, 2012 SUBJECT: Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan -Staff Summary and Recommendations Background On September 8, 2009 the Board of County Commissioners approved the project scope, budget and interlocal agreement with the University of Florida to perform the Western Lands Study, a planning process for St. Lucie County to address fundamental issues regarding the future land uses of approximately 200,000 acres of the western part of the County. Building on earlier planning efforts such as the Committee for a Sustainable Treasure Coast, the basic goals of the Western Lands Study have been to consider new and innovative land use planning tools and strategies that protect and enhance property values, promote sustainable growth, foster continued agricultural production, and ensure cost effective provision of local government services through fiscal analysis. The Western Lands Study scope of services incorporated a significant public participation effort. To date, County staff and the consultant team have conducted two all-day tours of the County's agricultural lands, four public workshops and a number of smaller meetings with interested stakeholders. The Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan report with recommendations for amendments to the County's local regulations, policies and practices was published on May 27, 2011 and afollow-up public assembly to review the report was held on August 19, 2011. Staff has met with interested parties to discuss their concerns over the draft report and has assembled a proposal that best negotiates the concerns of property owners with the priorities established by the Board of County Commissioners at the inception of the study. This memorandum briefly summarizes the recommendations from the report and the major themes of comments from participants, and concludes with staffs recommendations for completing the Western Lands Study and the associated contract with University of Florida. Summary of Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan Since the Western Lands Study report is a lengthy and comprehensive document that details the research and findings of a process that was more than two years in the making, staff has provided a very brief summary of the main elements of the report and their main resulting implementation tools as follows: Board of County Commissioners Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan -Staff Summary and Recommendations August 28, 2012 Page 2 Goal One: Enhance Agriculture recognizes that agricultural businesses must be profitable if landowners are to continue to use their land for agriculture. Goal One is designed to directly foster an economic climate that enhances the viability of working lands. The development of this goal was heavily influenced by the input received during the public outreach sessions, comments from stakeholders regarding regulatory impediments to agriculture production and research reported upon in the St. Lucie County Western Lands Study report Options and Opportunities for the Future. Economic development issues are also presented in the other goals that address the pattern and form of development and the transfer of development rights. Goal Two: Protect and Restore Natural Systems recognizes the importance of environmentally- sensitive or valued lands and establishes a transfer of development rights system that can protect key environmental areas and prime agricultural land. The intent is to preserve the natural systems so that they remain functional, viable and connected-avoiding the fragmentation that occurs through piecemeal development that is not guided by a coordinated natural systems planning framework. Goal Three: Create Great Places establishes a framework for sustainable development and the design of neighborhoods with enduring value. The proposed framework retains existing development rights at current densities and eliminates the controversy around the current AG PUD and its unclear requirements for open space. Goal Three proposes four rural development types: • the Ranchette and the Rural Hamlet (to fulfill the market demand for a rural lifestyle), • the AG Hamlet (to foster residential communities linked to agricultural lands) and • the Rural Village (to be of mixed-use and located along transportation corridors). Maior Themes of Comment and Concern 1. The Maps: The biggest point of concern that staff heard from a number of property owners was the existence of maps that identify Priority One Environmental Lands and sending and receiving areas for TDRs. While these maps do not intrinsically remove or relocate any development rights, the immediate perception was that it treated landowners differently based on the location of property in the study area. 2. TDRs: Some property owners have assessed the TDR program proposed in the report to be ineffective and too restrictive. The density bonus offered for transferring from a sending area to a receiving area is insufficient to incentivize a transfer. Significant discussion of the TDR program has occurred with no specific solutions to the current proposal being offered. While there is one general policy in the existing Comprehensive Plan that speaks to TDRs being allowed in the County, there is no guidance for how this might be implemented. The suggestion for the option to transfer of development rights program was identified in the AG PUD steering committee recommendations presented to the Board of County Commissioners on April 8, 2008 and has also has long been a recommendation of prior Boards. Because of these considerations, staff recommends that some clearer guidance be added to the current Comprehensive Plan policies on this TDRs but not to the extent of the proscriptive program currently drafted in the Western Lands Study report. 3. Development Forms: The Ranchette and Rural Hamlet forms were very well received; the AG Hamlet was considered to be an interesting concept, but should not be the only choice for developments between Rural Hamlets and Rural Villages. There is concern that the Rural Village is too restrictive and its prescriptiveness prevents possibly more creative solutions to land development that the private sector may generate in the future. The standards of the Rural Village could be replaced by general policies that encourage preferred characteristics of larger developments without establishing the specifics of the forms. Board of County Commissioners Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan -Staff Summary and Recommendations August 28, 2012 Page 3 4. Agricultural Economic Development: There is great support for whatever the County can do to support local agriculture. These recommendations from the Study are the most "low-hanging fruit" to implement right away to gain results. 5. Western Lands Rural Element: One comment from a landowner who controls a significant portion of land area in the Western Lands Study Area expressed concern over establishing an "overlay" on agricultural lands that appears to separate them from all other land areas of the County. Given the breadth of issues covered in the study, it was initially thought that establishing a new Comprehensive Plan Element was the best way to include all the relevant possible solutions discussed during the course of the study. Since many of these issues and solutions are now being recommended to be delayed or addressed with significantly less specificity, the content of the Western Lands Rural Element as currently drafted can be curtailed and folded into the existing Future Land Use Element in place of current agricultural lands policy language. Recommendations 1) Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners accept the Western Lands Study: Vision and Plan as a finished product to formally complete and conclude the Western Lands Study and associated contract with the University of Florida. 2) Staff recommends that the Board direct staff to continue working with the Western Lands stakeholders to begin drafting policy language for the Comprehensive Plan and implementation sections for the Land Development Code that address the issues identified in the Western Lands Study report, more specifically: 1. Maps: Omit the environmental lands and TDR Sending and Receiving area maps and replace with by general policy language and criteria for where development is preferred. 2. TDRs: Revise the existing TDR policy to generally encourage dwelling units to be transferred closer to the Urban Service Boundary or into AG Hamlets or Rural Villages but omit a specified density bonus and geographically identified sending and receiving areas. 3. Development Forms: Adopt the Ranchette and Rural Hamlet forms as permitted development options and draft general policies for the Comprehensive Plan that encourage preferred characteristics of developments larger than 400 units without establishing the specifics of the forms. The Ag Hamlet could be permitted to any size, or another development alternative could be proposed. 4. Agricultural Economic Development: Investigate the allocation of an existing position or part of an existing position to assist agricultural operations with furthering their goals. Staff also recommends amending the Land Development Code to make it easier to establish or expand agricultural businesses as appropriate to the context of agricultural areas and consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code. 5. Western Lands Rural Element: Eliminate the Western Lands Rural Element as currently drafted so as not to take the form of an "overlay" on the western area of the County. Instead, staff recommends that general policies on TDRs, preferred development forms and agricultural economic development be drafted to replace existing goals, objectives and policies in the Future Land Use Element pertaining to agricultural land.