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researched industrial building height issues,analyzed the county's current building height regulations,and drafted an ordinance that will expand the geographic area west of I-95 where taller industrial buildings can be developed. • PZC Hearing At its meeting of July 11,2013,the Planning&Zoning Commission(PZC)voted 5-0 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners adopt the proposed amendment(see attachment#6). ANALYSIS • Building Height Regulations For decades, the county has had a general 35 foot height restriction, with allowances for roofs, architectural features, and vaulted ceilings above the general height limit. Currently, general building height regulations limit all such features to an absolute maximum of 50 feet, measured from the average natural grade or required minimum flood elevation (whichever is higher). Those regulations generally limit buildings to three stories. Likewise, the county has for decades allowed exceptions to height limitations for steeples, chimneys, flagpoles,silos,windmills,aircraft control towers,utility transmission towers,solar energy collectors,and "similar structures". Based on those exceptions, cooling towers, chimneys, and outdoor mechanical systems that are significantly higher than 35 feet have been allowed at industrial sites such as the former (W Ocean Spray facility and the existing INEOS bio-energy facility. In the past, the county has either granted a height variance or created narrowly defined exceptions to accommodate buildings that,by their nature,required more than three stories. For example,the county,in 1973, granted a variance for the Indian River Memorial Hospital site to allow hospital buildings with a height of up to 134 feet. Currently, the tallest portion of the hospital complex has a height of approximately 85 feet. Although height variances have not been allowed for many years, a height exception regulation was adopted in the 1980s to accommodate development of a four story resort hotel located east of SR A-1-A near CR510 (the current Disney Resort site). The most recent height modification was the county's 2004 exception for warehouse and industrial buildings in 100+acre industrial parks and industrial subdivisions west of I-95. That exception is subject to a 2,000 foot setback from I-95, a 1,000 foot setback from SR60,and a 200 foot setback from industrial park/subdivision perimeters. Under those criteria,warehouse and industrial buildings exceeding 35 feet in height are limited to the Indian River Park of Commerce PD,since that is the only industrial development west of I-95 that is 100 acres or larger in size. Pursuant to the current height exception special setback criteria,tall industrial buildings can be located only in the northern one third of the park where the existing CVS facility and stormwater facilities are located. Given those conditions, no other large and tall industrial buildings can be constructed in the park under the current special setback criteria. Based on the county's comprehensive plan,there is the potential to assemble properties and develop new 100+ acre industrial parks north and west of the Indian River Park of Commerce, and possibly at the southeast corner of SR60 and 98th Avenue if and when the New Hibiscus airstrip redevelops. Those (W potential sites are essentially vacant, and may be several years away from being developed as industrial parks. Consequently,there are no ready-to-build sites for another large and tall industrial facility such as the CVS distribution center under the existing industrial building height exception criteria. FACommunity Deve1opment\CurDev\BCC\2013 BCC\WCIPheightexception.doc 2 515