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The 1995 ratio <br />of population <br />to acres of non-residential <br />land <br />use <br />is used <br />to <br />estimate the <br />amount of <br />non-residential <br />land <br />needed to accommodate <br />the 2020 <br />population. <br />This method <br />assumes that the <br />land use intensity <br />of <br />non-residential development <br />will <br />remain <br />constant. <br />Although the county's Comprehensive Plan limits residential development intensity, the plan has <br />not directly limited the intensity of development for areas designated as commercial/industrial. Like <br />most local governments, Indian River County uses density, usually reported in units/acre, as its <br />measure of residential land use intensity. For measuring non-residential land use intensity, however, <br />Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is the generally accepted standard. FAR is a measure of non-residential land <br />use intensity expressed as the ratio of building floor space on a parcel to total parcel area. For <br />example, a 10,000 square foot building on a 1 acre parcel has a .23 FAR (10,000/43,560 = .23). In <br />such a case, a 5,000 square foot second story would increase the FAR to .34 (15,000/43,560 =.34), <br />Just as density limits are usually incorporated in comprehensive plans or zoning district regulations <br />to control residential development intensity, FAR limits are often established to control non- <br />residential development intensity. Although the county has not had an established FAR in its <br />Comprehensive Plan, non-residential land use intensity has been controlled in other ways. Through <br />its land development regulations, the county has established standards for minimum open space, <br />maximum building coverage, maximum building height, and minimum parking, as well as setback <br />and stormwater management requirements. Together, these standards have effectively limited non- <br />residential development intensity. <br />Current state law, however, requires all local governments to adopt intensity standards in their <br />comprehensive plans for all commercial/industrial land use designations. Those standards are <br />implemented by applying a maximum allowed FAR to commercial/industrial development. <br />Different commercial/industrial uses, however, have different impacts on public facilities and <br />services, and on surrounding areas. For example, according to the Institute of Transportation <br />Engineers (ITE), 1,000 square feet of retail uses, 6,000 square feet of general office uses and 14,000 <br />square feet of general industrial uses all generate 98 peak hour trips. Therefore, one FAR limit is <br />not appropriate for all commercial/industrial uses. In fact, to equally limit the impacts of different <br />uses, it is necessary to allow a greater FAR for general industrial uses than for office uses, and a <br />greater FAR for office uses than for retail uses. <br />Within Indian River County, most commercial and industrial developments generally have FAR's <br />within the 0.1 to 0.2 range. The highest FAR is approximately 0.45, while the lowest FAR is <br />approximately 0.07. Therefore, the county's land development regulations generally result in <br />development occurring at an intensity of less than a 0.45 FAR. <br />In order to project the maximum potential impact of commercial/industrial development on public <br />facilities, the county has historically calculated the maximum development potential of <br />commercial/industrial land as 10,000 square feet of retail per acre of land. That figure is based on <br />analysis of two factors. One of those factors is county land development regulations that regulate <br />land use intensity (e.g. minimum open space, maximum building coverage, maximum building <br />height, minimum parking, setback and stormwater management requirements and others). The other <br />factor is the impact generated on public facilities by particular uses. Through that analysis the <br />county determined that the most intense commercial/industrial use allowed would be 10,000 square <br />feet of retail development per acre of land. Therefore, any parcel whose public facilities can <br />accommodate 10,000 square feet of retail development per acre of land can accommodate the most <br />intense commercial/industrial use allowed. <br />