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-Future Land Use Policy 1.23 Policy 1.23 of the Future Land Use Element states that no node should be considered for expansion unless 70% of the land area (less rights-of-way) is developed, approved for development, or otherwise warranted by the proposed development. The intent of Policy 1.23 is to establish specific criteria for node expansion. Without such criteria, decisions are often arbitrary and inconsistent.- The 70% standard then is a measure of whether a node needs to be expanded. For that reason, calculating the developed percent of a node involves determining the acreage characterized by existing development and approved commercial site plans and then dividing that amount by the total node acreage. When the subject request was submitted, staff needed to determine whether or not the request met the 70% development criterion to qualify for node expansion. Staff undertook this analysis by compiling a list of all parcels in the node, obtaining the acreage of each parcel from the Property Appraiser's tax maps, and aggregating these acreage amounts. By using this method, staff calculated the node's size to be approximately 230 acres. Once the total node acreage was established, it was necessary for the staff to determine the percent developed. Again, the staff used the Property Appraiser's information to do this. Based upon tax and use codes, the staff determined which parcels were developed and then calculated the acreage of the developed parcels. Based upon field inspections, the staff compiled an accurate list of developed parcels in the node. For purposes of this analysis, parcels were considered developed if they contained commercial/medical development. The total developed percentage of the node was determined to be ±112 acres, which constitutes only 49% of the node acreage. Since the developed percentage is much less than 70%, this amendment request would be inconsistent with Policy 1.23. However, while the developed percentage of the node is well under the 70% required, Policy 1.23 states a node may be expanded if expansion is otherwise warranted by the proposed development. In this case, the subject property and the node as a whole are being substantially affected by the future construction of Indian River Boulevard. Since the boulevard will effectively isolate the subject property from similar land to the east and make the site unsuitable for residential development, staff feels that node expansion is otherwise warranted and therefore consistent with Policy 1.23. -Economic Development Policy 1.10 Economic Development Policy 1.10 can also be applied to the proposed comprehensive plan amendment request. Policy 1.10 states that, "The county shall utilize existing industries as a magnet to ,attract new development, including support businesses for industries located in Indian River and surrounding counties." Generally, institutional industries such as hospitals will attract support services (clinics, pharmacies, florists, bookstores, etc) to their proximity. Indian River Memorial Hospital is no exception. In the past, the 37th Street/U.S. #1 Hospital/Commercial node has attracted surgery centers, dentist offices, rehabilitation centers and other related offices and clinics. The applicant proposes medical development of the property as well. The subject property is located in proximity to the hospital and shares the same collector roadway, and is therefore consistent with Policy_1.10. -Future Land Use Policy 1.21 Future Land Use Policy 1.21 has applicability to the proposed amendment. That policy's intent is to discourage strip commercial 49 d