8/18/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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AUG 181981 47 SENIOR PLANNER ART CHALLACOMBE REVIEWED THE PLANNING PROCESS IN GENERAL, EXPLAINING THAT FIRST THEY TOOK A LOOK AT WHAT WE HAVE IN TERMS OF DATA AVAILABILITY AND THE OVERALL COMMUNITY STANDARDS FOR A DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. THEY DID THAT IN TWO PHASES - FIRST, BY TAKING A SPECIFIC STRATEGY - MANAGING GROWTH THROUGH DENSITY, I.E., DETERMINING WHAT THE LANDS WILL ACCOMMODATE AND WHAT THEY SHOULD ACCOMMODATE AND ESTABLISHING A SET OF PARAMETERS BY WHICH GROWTH COULD TAKE PLACE. IN DETERMINING CARRYING CAPACITIES OF THE LAND AND DETERMINING DEVELOP- MENT, THEY RESEARCH HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS AND STUDY THE EXISTING ZONING MAP TO SEE HOW THIS RELATES TO EXISTING LAND USES. MR. CHALLACOMBE REPORTED THAT THEY DID FIELD SURVEY THE COUNTY, AND IT IS OBVIOUS THAT WE DEFINITELY ARE NOT AT BUILD -OUT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE EXISTING LAND USE PATTERN AND THE LAND,USE INVENTORY; MANY AREAS WHERE ZONING SET LAND USE, THERE WAS ORDERLY GROWTH, BUT THEY FOUND MANY PLACES ALSO WHERE WHAT WAS ZONED IN TERMS OF RESIDENTIAL DENSITIES WAS NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING. HE GAVE AS AN EXAMPLE NUMEROUS R-1 RESIDENTIAL AREAS IN THE SOUTH COUNTY AREA WHERE THEY ARE BUILDING BELOW THE ALLOWED CAPACITY OF 6 UNITS PER ACRE, THE NEXT STEP IS TO LOOK AT FACTORS THAT WOULD CONSTRAIN GROWTH PATTERNS, SUCH AS SOIL SUITABILITY, DRAINAGE, ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLY, ETC. MR. CHALLACOMBE CITED AS AN EXAMPLE THE NORTH BEACH AREA WHICH HAS A PRESENT MAXIMUM DENSITY OF 15 UNITS PER ACRE BUT WHICH HAS NO EXISTING WATER SOURCE)AND THE WATER POTENTIAL FOR THE BARRIER ISLAND IS QUITE POOR, HE CONTINUED THAT, ON THE OTHER HAND, ON THE SAND RIDGE WHERE THERE IS SUFFICIENT WATER SUPPLY, THEY DID NOT WANT TO PUT THE HIGHER DENSITIES AND CAUSE A DEGRADATION OF THE NATURAL WATER SYSTEMS. MAN-MADE CONSTRAINTS MUST ALSO BE CONSIDERED, THE OBVIOUS EXAMPLE BEING STATE ROAD A1A ON THE BARRIER ISLAND. AVAILABILITY OF SEWER AND WATER SERVICE IS AN ADDITIONAL CONSTRAINT. MR, CHALLACOMBE NOTED THAT THE COUNTY IS PRESENTLY BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE -SEWER AND WATER BUSINESS, AND UPON APPROVAL OF THE 201 PLAN FOR WASTE WATER AND THE APPROPRIATE FEDERAL FUNDING, WE CAN HAVE A MORE EXTENDED AREA FOR THOSE TYPE OF MUNICIPAL SERVICES. THERE ARE, HOWEVER, AREAS THAT THE COUNTY COULD NOT REASONABLY SERVE IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, AND THESE AREAS OBVIOUSLY WILL NOT HAVE THE SAME GROWTH CAPACITY AS THE URBAN AREAS BORDERING ON THE CITY OF VERO BEACH AND THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN.