Recent Legislation Creates Window of Opportunity for Comprehensive Plan Amendments in Jacksonville
The Community Renewal Act (Senate Bill 360), recently enacted by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, includes revised review standards for Comprehensive Plan amendments in Jacksonville. That legislative change, and the certification of the Hometown Democracy Amendment appearing on the ballot for voters in 2010, create a window of opportunity for Comprehensive Plan amendments in the Fall 2009 amendment cycle. If you are contemplating the possibility of seeking a Comprehensive Plan amendment for land you own or may acquire, you should be aware of these changes and their implications for the timing of any possible amendments.
Under the Act, an area defined as a “dense urban area” is designated as a Transportation Concurrency Exception Area (TCEA). Jacksonville meets the definition of a “dense urban area,” and should be officially designated as a TCEA during the first week of July. The Act provides that all comprehensive plan amendments within a TCEA meet the Level of Service (LOS) standards for traffic concurrency purposes. As such, concurrency is not considered in the application process and no additional traffic data or mitigation would be required.
The Act also extends the time that local governments have to institute a financially feasible Capital Improvements Plan into their Comprehensive Plans to December 1, 2011. DCA challenged several Jacksonville comprehensive plan amendments in past cycles for failure to provide a financially feasible plan for improvements needed for development. With the extension provided in the Act, DCA should not be able to use financial feasibility as a basis for a challenge to a comprehensive plan amendment.
Another reason to consider filing an application for comprehensive plan amendment now is the Hometown Democracy movement. Hometown Democracy proponents advocate a constitutional amendment which would require voter approval of every amendment to a local comprehensive plan. On June 23, the Secretary of State certified the Hometown Democracy Amendment for the 2010 ballot, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4. If approved by the voters, the Hometown Democracy Amendment would take effect immediately; thus calling into question the status of applications that are pending when it takes effect. Moreover, all applications filed after the amendment potentially takes effect would be subject to the more stringent requirements of voter approval proposed by the Hometown Democracy Amendment.
next deadline for submission of applications for comprehensive plan amendments in Jacksonville is October 7, 2009. Applications submitted for this cycle should be set for adoption and expiration of appeal periods by August 2010.
In St. Johns County, comprehensive plan amendments are processed in June and December, so the next deadline to submit is December 31, 2009. Applications submitted for this cycle should be set for adoption and expiration of appeal periods by September 2010.
Flagler County will accept applications for comprehensive plan amendments in its second cycle up to August 19, 2009 to transmit to DCA in November 2009. Applications submitted for this cycle should be set for adoption and expiration of appeal periods by May 2010.
Nassau County has set deadlines for the second cycle of comprehensive plan amendments for July 20, 2009. Adoption of applications submitted then would occur by December 2009 and expiration of appeal periods by March 2010. The first cycle for 2010 has not yet been set but will likely be in the early spring and may provide sufficient time for approval and expiration of appeals prior to November 2010.
Clay County anticipates that its next deadline for comprehensive plan amendments will be November 30, 2009. However, this is contingent upon the County adopting the proposed EAR Based Amendment prior to that time. If the EAR Based Amendment is not adopted, then the next cycle deadline would be next year: May 31, 2010. Assuming the EAR Based Amendment is adopted and the November cycle is permitted, applications submitted for the November cycle should be set for adoption and expiration of appeal periods by October 2010.
Baker County has not yet set a deadline for the second cycle of comprehensive plan amendments. If you have a particular interest in Baker County matters, please contact us and we will inform you when Baker County schedules have been set.
The deadlines and information required for applications differ significantly from county to county.