12/12/1984 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I DEC 12 198 aooK 59 F°,G 2) Accepting applications twice per year, in January and in June, if conditions warrant; 3) Accepting applications twice a year, in January and in July; 4) Accepting applications quarterly. 5) Accepting applictions twice a year, in January and in July, but with extra review time available. No Change The County could retain its current policy of accepting applications once a year during the first two weeks of January. In adopting its Comprehensive Plan, the County incorporated a provision within the document which limits the consideration of Comprehensive Plan amendment requests to once per year at the beginning of the calendar year. This provision indicates that amending the Plan is an action which should not be encouraged. While a Plan should not be competely inflexible, it must be constant, comprehensive, and must serve as a guide for future development. As such, proposed changes in the Plan must be assessed for effects upon other elements of the Plan. For that reason, it is advantageous to review all Comprehensive Plan amendment requests in the same time frame, not only to determine their separate effects but also their cumulative impacts. Generally, amending the Plan must be viewed as a more drastic action than changing other County ordinances. Since the Comprehensive Plan was developed, based upon various studies and analyses which identified existing conditions, determined present trends, and projected future conditions, the Plan constitutes a document which reflects a development policy designed to meet future needs and address potential problems before they occur. Because of the comprehensive nature of the Plan, itself, as well as its long term focus, certain characteristics must be addressed prior to amending the Plan. The current County policy of limiting Comprehensive Plan amendment requests to once a year, is consistent with actions by other local governments. An example of this is legislation filed at the state level in the past legislative session which would have limited all local governments to annual Plan amend- ments. Another example is Collier County which attempted to limit amendment requests to once every two years. Perhaps the best example of the importance of Comprehensive Plans is Seminole County's former amendment policy; that county formerly required a four-fifths majority vote of its Board of County Commissioners to amend its Plan. When all things are considered, there are many advantages to limiting amendment of the Comprehensive Plan. Instead of allowing the Plan to be subject to the same considerations as any other action, this limitation reflects the Plan's status as a long term guide to growth and development. It allows flexibility while establishing control and consistency, limits attempts to circumvent the Plan's intent, and ensures an adequate review of amendment requests. One problem with only accepting applications during the first two weeks of January is the short amount of time that applications can be accepted. The County might consider extending this period to allow more time to assemble the material necessary to accompany the application. 40 M