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October 31, 1983 SYNOPSIS OF THE HUTCHINSON ISLAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN INTRODUCTION The Hutchinson Island Resource Management Plan was adopted by the Hutchinson Island Resource Management Committee by a vote of 18-8 on Thursday, October 6, 1983. After review by the state Department of Community Affairs, the Plan and the Depart- ment of Community Affairs recommendation will be presented to the Governor and Cabinet at their meeting of November 29, 1983. At that time the Governor and Cabinet will decide whether or not to accept the Plan. In assessing the impacts of the committee's vote, two factors must be considered. First, the effects of the Plan upon Indian River County must be determined; that is the primary purpose of this analysis. Second, the alternatives to approving the management plan must be considered. Specifically, the actions which could and probably would have been taken had the Plan not been adopted and their effects upon Indian River County must be identified. Had the Hutchinson Island Management Plan not been adopted by the advisory committee, the Governor and Cabinet had three principal alternative actions which could have been taken. First, the Governor and Cabinet could have opted to take no action; in essence, finding that no problems exist which would warrant a critical area designation or that sufficient develop- ment controls are in place to mitigate or prevent adverse effects upon critical resources. The no action alternative probably would not have been acceptable to the Governor and Cabinet. The second and third alternatives are similar in effect, differing only in scope.- Both would have had a high probabil- ity of acceptance by the Governor and Cabinet. The second alternative would be the designation of part or parts of Hutchinson Island as an Area of Critical State Concern, while the third alternative is designation of the entire island as a critical area. Although Indian River County would probably not be designated as a critical area if only parts of the island were so designated, the effects upon the County, of it were designated a critical area under either alternative two or three, would be significant. The specific effects upon Indian River County of an Area of Critical State Concern designation cannot be determined, but the potential impacts can be identified. Put simply, an Area of Critical State Concern designative would allow the state to control development on the barrier island in Indian River County. The extent to which the state would exercise that control, however, is not known. After designating the island as a critical area, the state would have a certain period of NOV 21 1983 BEo r► �4 5