Growth Management:
In the last two weeks before the beginning of the 2011 session (March 8th), additional bills related to growth management issues have been filed. (To see a summary of all the bills that APA Florida is following, click on the bill tracking report in the section above.)
SB 1416 (Senator Benacquisto, R-District 27) creates a new definition for a municipality of special financial concern under Chapter 163.3164, F.S. It defines them as a municipality with a per capital taxable value of assessed property of $58,000 or less, or a municipality with a population under 20,000 with a per capita taxable value of assessed property of $46,000 or less. This bill provides that under certain circumstances, these municipalities can apply for a waiver for updating the capital improvements element and schedule, a waiver of the requirements for amendments to update the regional water supply plan, and a waiver from the requirements for the EAR scoping meeting and other requirements of section 163.3191.
SB 1440 (Senator Hays, R-District 20) makes a number of changes to the Rural Land Stewardship process. It removes the Department of Community Affairs as the designated entity to provide assistance to local governments under the Rural Land Stewardship program and designates the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as the lead. Water Management districts are also removed from the list of participating agencies and replaced with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The above appears to apply when a landowner or local government is not required to demonstrate need, although this portion of the bill is confusing. Under these circumstances, this bill would allow landowners to directly petition the local government to designate the rural land stewardship area.
Additionally the bill amends where rural land stewardship areas can be located – the requirement that they be outside urban growth boundaries is amended to be outside urban service areas or planned future urban service areas. A number of other changes to the process are proposed and the bill would also repeal Rules 9J-5.026 and Rule 9J-11. The bill also specifically states that rulemaking to implement the provisions of 163.3177(11)(d) is not authorized.
SB 1512 (Senator Bennett, R- District 21) deals with a number of issues. It adds definitions of mobility plan and transit-oriented development to Chapter 163.3164, F.S. It also amends the definition of financial feasibility to include committed or planned funding sources of a local government for years 4-10 of a 10 year capital improvement schedule. The bill would require that amendments to address military base compatibility to be submitted by June 30, 2011.
The bill also changes the use of population with respect to future growth, stating that “The amount of land required to accommodate anticipated growth may not be limited solely by the projected population. At a minimum, the future land use plan must provide at least the amount of land needed for each land use category in order to accommodate anticipated growth using medium population projections for a 25-year planning period from the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) of the University of Florida and incorporating a minimum 25 percent market factor based upon the total population of the jurisdiction…” It would require that population projections be reconciled on a county basis, and that counties and the municipalities within enter into an allocation agreement by December 1, 2011.
The bill also changes the transportation backlog concept to a transportation deficiency concept which includes both existing deficiencies and deficiencies projected to occur with 10 years. It changes the formula for calculating transportation proportionate share for DRIS, making it a two step process where any road projected to be deficient without any DRI project traffic is eliminated from the calculation. It would require each local government to adopt by ordinance a methodology for assessing proportionate fair-share mitigation options by December 1, 2011.
The bill also exempts transit –oriented developments from being reviewed for transportation impacts in the DRI process.
In order to eliminate concerns about constitutional validity being raised by litigation, SB 7021 (Representative Hooper, R- District 50) reenacts Chapter 163.31801(5) which states that in any action involving an impact fee, the government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that the imposition or amount of the fee meets the law. The bill indicates that it would take effect upon becoming a law and would be applied retroactively back to July 1, 2009.
SB 1416 (Senator Benacquisto, R-District 27) creates a new definition for a municipality of special financial concern under Chapter 163.3164, F.S. It defines them as a municipality with a per capital taxable value of assessed property of $58,000 or less, or a municipality with a population under 20,000 with a per capita taxable value of assessed property of $46,000 or less. This bill provides that under certain circumstances, these municipalities can apply for a waiver for updating the capital improvements element and schedule, a waiver of the requirements for amendments to update the regional water supply plan, and a waiver from the requirements for the EAR scoping meeting and other requirements of section 163.3191.
SB 1440 (Senator Hays, R-District 20) makes a number of changes to the Rural Land Stewardship process. It removes the Department of Community Affairs as the designated entity to provide assistance to local governments under the Rural Land Stewardship program and designates the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as the lead. Water Management districts are also removed from the list of participating agencies and replaced with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The above appears to apply when a landowner or local government is not required to demonstrate need, although this portion of the bill is confusing. Under these circumstances, this bill would allow landowners to directly petition the local government to designate the rural land stewardship area.
Additionally the bill amends where rural land stewardship areas can be located – the requirement that they be outside urban growth boundaries is amended to be outside urban service areas or planned future urban service areas. A number of other changes to the process are proposed and the bill would also repeal Rules 9J-5.026 and Rule 9J-11. The bill also specifically states that rulemaking to implement the provisions of 163.3177(11)(d) is not authorized.
SB 1512 (Senator Bennett, R- District 21) deals with a number of issues. It adds definitions of mobility plan and transit-oriented development to Chapter 163.3164, F.S. It also amends the definition of financial feasibility to include committed or planned funding sources of a local government for years 4-10 of a 10 year capital improvement schedule. The bill would require that amendments to address military base compatibility to be submitted by June 30, 2011.
The bill also changes the use of population with respect to future growth, stating that “The amount of land required to accommodate anticipated growth may not be limited solely by the projected population. At a minimum, the future land use plan must provide at least the amount of land needed for each land use category in order to accommodate anticipated growth using medium population projections for a 25-year planning period from the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) of the University of Florida and incorporating a minimum 25 percent market factor based upon the total population of the jurisdiction…” It would require that population projections be reconciled on a county basis, and that counties and the municipalities within enter into an allocation agreement by December 1, 2011.
The bill also changes the transportation backlog concept to a transportation deficiency concept which includes both existing deficiencies and deficiencies projected to occur with 10 years. It changes the formula for calculating transportation proportionate share for DRIS, making it a two step process where any road projected to be deficient without any DRI project traffic is eliminated from the calculation. It would require each local government to adopt by ordinance a methodology for assessing proportionate fair-share mitigation options by December 1, 2011.
The bill also exempts transit –oriented developments from being reviewed for transportation impacts in the DRI process.
In order to eliminate concerns about constitutional validity being raised by litigation, SB 7021 (Representative Hooper, R- District 50) reenacts Chapter 163.31801(5) which states that in any action involving an impact fee, the government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that the imposition or amount of the fee meets the law. The bill indicates that it would take effect upon becoming a law and would be applied retroactively back to July 1, 2009.
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
