Bill Text: FL H0945 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Growth Management

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [H0945 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0945-Introduced.html
HB 945

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to growth management; amending s.
3163.3177, F.S.; authorizing the Florida Fish and Wildlife
4Conservation Commission, in cooperation with other
5specified state agencies, to provide assistance to
6landowners and local governments in implementing
7provisions relating to rural land stewardship areas;
8revising criteria for establishing a rural land
9stewardship area; revising provisions relating to
10transferrable land use credits; revising credit
11limitations; providing legislative findings and intent;
12prohibiting the state land planning agency from adopting
13certain rules; repealing certain administrative rules
14relating to rural land stewardship areas; providing an
15effective date.
16
17Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19     Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (11) of section
20163.3177, Florida Statutes, is amended, paragraphs (e) through
21(h) are redesignated as paragraphs (f) through (i),
22respectively, and a new paragraph (e) is added to that
23subsection, to read:
24     163.3177  Required and optional elements of comprehensive
25plan; studies and surveys.-
26     (11)
27     (d)1.  The department, in cooperation with the Department
28of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in cooperation with the
29Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of
30Environmental Protection, water management districts, and
31regional planning councils, may shall provide assistance to
32landowners and local governments in the implementation of this
33paragraph and rule 9J-5.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code.
34However, landowners and local governments are not required to
35demonstrate need based on population growth or any other factor.
36Implementation of those provisions shall include a process by
37which one or more landowners the department may petition a
38authorize local government governments to designate all or
39portions of lands classified in the future land use element as
40predominantly agricultural, rural, open, open-rural, or a
41substantively equivalent land use, as a rural land stewardship
42area within which planning and economic incentives are applied
43to encourage a balancing of land uses through the implementation
44of innovative and flexible planning and development strategies
45and creative land use planning techniques, including those
46contained herein and in rule 9J-5.006(5)(l), Florida
47Administrative Code. Assistance may include, but is not limited
48to:
49     a.  Assistance with mapping environmental areas worthy of
50protection and from the Department of Environmental Protection
51and water management districts in creating the geographic
52information systems land cover database and aerial
53photogrammetry needed to prepare for a rural land stewardship
54area;
55     b.  Support for local government implementation of rural
56land stewardship concepts by providing information and technical
57assistance to local governments as needed; and regarding
58     c.  Making available land acquisition programs that may be
59used by the local government or landowners to leverage the
60protection of greater acreage and maximize the effectiveness of
61rural land stewardship areas.; and
62     c.  Expansion of the role of the Department of Community
63Affairs as a resource agency to facilitate establishment of
64rural land stewardship areas in smaller rural counties that do
65not have the staff or planning budgets to create a rural land
66stewardship area.
67     2.  The department shall encourage participation by local
68governments of different sizes and rural characteristics in
69establishing and implementing rural land stewardship areas. It
70is the intent of the Legislature that rural land stewardship
71areas be used to further the following broad principles of rural
72sustainability: restoration and maintenance of the economic
73value of rural land; control of urban sprawl; identification and
74protection of ecosystems, habitats, and natural resources;
75promotion of rural economic activity within rural areas;
76maintenance of the viability of the state's Florida's
77agricultural economy; and protection of private property rights
78in the character of rural areas of the state Florida. Rural land
79stewardship areas may be multicounty in order to encourage
80coordinated regional stewardship planning.
81     3.  A local government, in conjunction with a regional
82planning council, a stakeholder organization of private land
83owners, or another local government, shall notify the department
84in writing of its intent to designate a rural land stewardship
85area. The written notification shall describe the basis for the
86designation, including the extent to which the rural land
87stewardship area enhances rural land values, controls urban
88sprawl, provides necessary open space for agriculture and
89protection of the natural environment, promotes rural economic
90activity, and maintains rural character and the economic
91viability of agriculture.
92     3.4.  A rural land stewardship area must be at least shall
93be not less than 10,000 acres, and shall be located outside of
94municipalities and established urban service areas or planned
95future urban service areas growth boundaries, and shall be
96designated by plan amendment or by more than one plan amendment
97if the rural land stewardship area encompasses more than one
98county. The plan amendment or amendments designating a rural
99land stewardship area are shall be subject to review by the
100Department of Community Affairs pursuant to s. 163.3184 and
101shall provide for the following:
102     a.  Criteria for the designation of receiving areas within
103rural land stewardship areas in which innovative planning and
104development strategies may be applied. Criteria shall at a
105minimum provide for the following: adequacy of suitable land to
106accommodate development so as to avoid conflict with
107environmentally sensitive areas, resources, and habitats;
108compatibility between and transition from higher density uses to
109lower intensity rural uses; and the establishment of receiving
110area service boundaries which provide for a transition from
111separation between receiving areas and other land uses within
112the rural land stewardship area through limitations on the
113extension of services; and connection of receiving areas with
114the rest of the rural land stewardship area using rural design
115and rural road corridors.
116     b.  Goals, objectives, and policies setting forth the
117innovative planning and development strategies to be applied
118within rural land stewardship areas pursuant to the provisions
119of this section.
120     c.  A process for the implementation of innovative planning
121and development strategies within the rural land stewardship
122area, including those described in this subsection and rule 9J-
1235.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code, which provide for a
124functional mix of land uses, including adequate available
125workforce housing, including low, very-low and moderate income
126housing for the development anticipated in the receiving area
127and which are applied through the adoption by the local
128government of zoning and land development regulations applicable
129to the rural land stewardship area.
130     d.  A process which encourages visioning pursuant to s.
131163.3167(11) to ensure that innovative planning and development
132strategies comply with the provisions of this section.
133     e.  The control of sprawl through the use of applicable
134innovative strategies and creative land use techniques
135consistent with the provisions of this subsection and rule 9J-
1365.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code.
137     4.5.  A receiving area may only shall be designated
138pursuant to procedures established in the local government's by
139the adoption of a land development regulations regulation. Prior
140to the designation of a receiving area, the local government
141shall provide the Department of Community Affairs a period of 30
142days in which to review a proposed receiving area for
143consistency with the rural land stewardship area plan amendment
144and to provide comments to the local government. At the time of
145designation of a stewardship receiving area, a listed species
146survey will be performed. If listed species occur on the
147receiving area site, the applicant developer shall coordinate
148with each appropriate local, state, or federal agency to
149determine whether if adequate provisions have been made to
150protect those species in accordance with applicable regulations.
151In determining the adequacy of provisions for the protection of
152listed species and their habitats, the rural land stewardship
153area shall be considered as a whole, and the potential impacts
154and protective measures taken within to areas to be developed as
155receiving areas shall be considered in conjunction together with
156the substantial environmental benefits derived from lands set
157aside and protective measures taken outside of the designation
158of receiving areas protected as sending areas in fulfilling this
159criteria.
160     5.6.  Upon the adoption of a plan amendment creating a
161rural land stewardship area, the local government shall, by
162ordinance, establish a rural land stewardship overlay zoning
163district, which shall provide the methodology for the creation,
164conveyance, and use of transferable rural land use credits,
165hereinafter otherwise referred to as stewardship credits, the
166application of which does shall not constitute a right to
167develop land or, nor increase density of land, except as
168provided by this section. The total amount of stewardship
169transferable rural land use credits within the rural land
170stewardship area must enable the realization of the long-term
171vision and goals for the 25-year or greater projected population
172of the rural land stewardship area, which may take into
173consideration the anticipated effect of the proposed receiving
174areas. The estimated amount of receiving area shall be projected
175based on available data, and the development potential
176represented by the stewardship credits created within the rural
177land stewardship area must correlate that amount.
178     6.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits are
179subject to the following limitations:
180     a.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits may
181only exist within a rural land stewardship area.
182     b.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits may
183only be created from lands designated as stewardship sending
184areas and may only be used on lands designated as stewardship
185receiving areas and then solely for the purpose of implementing
186innovative planning and development strategies and creative land
187use planning techniques adopted by the local government pursuant
188to this section.
189     c.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits
190assigned to a parcel of land within a rural land stewardship
191area shall cease to exist if the parcel of land is removed from
192the rural land stewardship area by plan amendment.
193     d.  Neither the creation of the rural land stewardship area
194by plan amendment nor the adoption of the assignment of
195transferable rural land stewardship zoning overlay district use
196credits by the local government shall operate to displace the
197underlying permitted uses or the density or intensity of land
198uses assigned to a parcel of land within the rural land
199stewardship area that existed prior to adoption of the plan
200amendment or zoning overlay district; however, once stewardship
201if transferable rural land use credits have been are transferred
202from a designated sending area parcel for use within a
203designated receiving area, the underlying density assigned to
204the designated sending area parcel of land shall cease to exist.
205     e.  The underlying permitted uses or the density or
206intensity on each parcel of land located within a rural land
207stewardship area shall not be increased or decreased by the
208local government, except as a result of the conveyance or
209stewardship use of transferable rural land use credits, as long
210as the parcel remains within the rural land stewardship area.
211     f.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits shall
212cease to exist on a parcel of land where the underlying density
213assigned to the parcel of land is utilized.
214     g.  An increase in the density or intensity of use on a
215parcel of land located within a designated receiving area may
216occur only through the assignment or use of stewardship
217transferable rural land use credits and does shall not require a
218plan amendment.
219     h.  A change in the density or intensity of land use on
220parcels located within receiving areas shall be specified in a
221development order which reflects the total number of stewardship
222transferable rural land use credits assigned to the parcel of
223land and the infrastructure and support services necessary to
224provide for a functional mix of land uses corresponding to the
225plan of development.
226     i.  Land within a rural land stewardship area may be
227removed from the rural land stewardship area through a plan
228amendment.
229     j.  Stewardship Transferable rural land use credits may be
230assigned at different ratios of credits per acre according to
231the natural resource or other beneficial use characteristics of
232the land and according to the land use remaining following the
233transfer of credits, with the highest number of credits per acre
234assigned to the most environmentally valuable land or, in
235locations where the retention of open space and agricultural
236land is a priority, to such lands.
237     k.  The use or conveyance of stewardship transferable rural
238land use credits must be recorded in the public records of the
239county in which the property is located as a covenant or
240restrictive easement running with the land in favor of the
241county and either the Department of Environmental Protection,
242Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, a water
243management district, or a recognized statewide land trust.
244     7.  Owners of land within rural land stewardship sending
245areas should be provided incentives to enter into rural land
246stewardship agreements, pursuant to existing law and rules
247adopted thereto, with state agencies, water management
248districts, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and local
249governments to achieve mutually agreed upon conservation
250objectives. Such incentives may include, but not be limited to,
251the following:
252     a.  Opportunity to accumulate transferable mitigation
253credits for use or sale.
254     b.  Extended permit agreements.
255     c.  Opportunities for recreational leases and ecotourism.
256     d.  Compensation Payment for the achievement of specified
257land management activities of public benefit, including, but not
258limited to, facility and corridor siting, the leasing of
259property for recreational purposes, water conservation and
260storage, water reuse, wastewater recycling, water supply and
261water resource development, nutrient removal, environmental
262restoration and mitigation, public recreation, listed species
263protection and recovery, wildlife corridor management and
264enhancement, and activities relating to the reduction of
265greenhouse gas emissions services on publicly owned land, or
266property under covenant or restricted easement in favor of a
267public entity.
268     e.  Option agreements for sale to public entities or
269private land conservation entities, in either fee or easement,
270upon achievement of specified conservation objectives.
271     8.  The department shall report to the Legislature on an
272annual basis on the results of implementation of rural land
273stewardship areas authorized by the department, including
274successes and failures in achieving the intent of the
275Legislature as expressed in this paragraph.
276     (e)  The Legislature finds that paragraph (d) constitutes
277an overlay of land use options that provide economic and
278regulatory incentives for landowners outside of established and
279planned urban service areas to conserve and manage vast areas of
280land for the benefit of the state's citizens and natural
281environment while maintaining and enhancing the asset value of
282their landholdings. Therefore, it is the intent of the
283Legislature that paragraph (d) be implemented pursuant to law.
284The state land planning agency may not adopt rules relating to
285paragraph (d).
286     Section 2.  Rules 9J-5.026 and 9J-11.023, Florida
287Administrative Code, are repealed, and the Department of State
288is directed to remove these rules from the Florida
289Administrative Code.
290     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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