Even though the hour was around 7 p.m. Monday night, the Hernando County Planning & Zoning Commission passed (5-0) recommendations to the BOCC for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to amend the Future Land Use Element by adding Objective 1.01V and policies 1-5 for Rural Clustering. This new objective and policy cluster allows the clustering of residential development at an increased density beyond the allowed one unit per ten acres in the Rural category of the Future Land Use Map when there is a preservation of at least fifty percent of the parcel in permanent open space and when other environmental issues are addressed. To accomplish this Rural Clustering it will be necessary to create a "Rural Residential Overlay" based on guidelines with the 50% preservation requirement plus 8 other stipulations. The stipulations range from environmental issues, historical sites, habitat preservation, etc. The density of future applications will depend on how many of these 9 stipulations can be met by the developer with the 50% preservation of land a mandatory requirement. Don Lacey of Coastal Engineering represented his client Gary Schraut for an application for a Rural Development Overlay District on Citrus Way and Parsons Road which consists of 183 acres. The existing zoning is now mining but with this "Rural Residential Overlay" a request will be made for approximately 100 new homes to be nestled within this area surrounded by a minimum of 50 % preservation land. Many questions were asked by P & Z Commissioners but the one that was asked over and over was by Anna Liisa Covell. She asked, "Who will maintain this open space of preservation land. Will it be a Homeowners Association, the county, the Department of Forestry, etc. and who will pay for the maintenance of the area?" It was determined that all these questions would be answered when the applicant came back for a Master Plan approval. This Comprehensive Plan change will need to go before the Board of County Commission for their approval, as well as the DCA before the applicant can proceed on his project. This bold new approach to land use for rural areas may be just the answer the farmers, and owners of large tracts, need to make their property profitable or desirable while leaving 50% of land pristine for the Nature Coast.
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4 comments:
I can't believe you think that not being able to make more than a one and a half million dollar profit is a valid justification for Gary Schraut to increase density on his land use change request.
Next door in Paso County they just submitted their new Comprehensive Plan to DCA. In it they have identified a rural protection area.
Conservation subdivisions on more than 100 acres would allow developers to double their density, no more. The density that will be double is what exists on the future land use.. most of which is one home per ten acres or one home per five acres..
Do the math. That gives you either 20 homes or 40 homes on a 100 acre tract with 50% permanent open space.
Schraut's offer doen't come close.
The numbers you should be concerned about are how that many new people will impact the quality of life of those who live in Hernando county now. Not how much money a developer wants to make at the sacrifice of others.
If you felt so strongly about the concepts of the Pasco plan it should have been brought up under the EAR process when updates were made with the Hernando County Comp. You still have your opportunity to voice your opinion on this P & Z recommendation at the Land Use meeting at the County Commmission in March. One item to keep in might, though, is the Hernando County Comp. Plan also provides for the protection of personal property rights of the owner.
Protection of individual property rights is not unique to Hernando County. Floridians have the Burt Harris Act for that.
But even that act does not give property owners free reign to do whatever they please. Changes to the comprehensive plan are supposed to make the property in question compatible with surrounding properties if it isn't not to intorduce a new use that is incompatible with neighboring parcels.
I thought changes to land use and growth were something that was supposed to be projected and planned for not OKed just so someone can make more money than they would otherwise.
The Comp. Plan has provisions for changes every six months at the county level but then must be approved by the state. This overlay district is a request for change to our existing Comp. Plan. so I would recommend that you attend & voice your opinions to the county commissioners at their March meeting.
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