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Comprehensive Plan regulates the frequency with which the county may amend its comprehensive plan. According to the county's Comprehensive Plan, plan amendments are limited to four times per calendar year. For that reason, the county accepts general plan amendment applications only during the `'window" months of January, April. July and October. In this case, the subject application was submitted during the January 2016 window, and was the only application submitted during that window. The procedures for reviewing a comprehensive plan amendment involve several steps. First, the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), as the Local Planning Agency, conducts a public hearing to review the request. At that public hearing, the Commission makes a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners (Board) to approve, approve with modifications, or deny the requested amendment. Following PZC action, the Board conducts two public hearings. The first of those hearings is for a preliminary decision on the amendment request. At that hearing, the Board determines whether or not the amendment warrants transmittal to state and regional review agencies for their consideration. If the amendment is transmitted, state and regional review agencies review the amendment as it pertains to each agency's area of focus. Review agencies then send their comments directly to the county and the State Land Planning Agency. Subsequent to staff and/or the applicant addressing any issues raised in the review agency comments, a second and final Board public hearing is conducted. If the Board approves the request at the final hearing, then the approved amendment is submitted to the State Land Planning Agency and to the other review agencies. The amendment becomes effective 31 days after the State Land Planning Agency determines that the approved amendment submittal is complete, unless a challenge is filed by an affected party. PZC Action At its regular meeting of April 14, 2016, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve the proposed amendment (see attachment #2). Board Transmittal Public Hearing The subject public hearing is the second step in the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. At this time, the Board of County Commissioners must decide whether or not to transmit the proposed amendment to state and regional review agencies. If the Board votes to transmit this amendment, it will be scheduled for a final Board hearing in August. Proposed Amendment The proposed amendment primarily consists of minor amendments to the Future Land Use Element, the Recreation and Open Space Element, the Transportation Element, the Economic Development Element, and the Solid Waste Sub -Element of the county's comprehensive plan. The amendments involve changing target dates for policy completion, deleting completed policies, removing/revising out-of-date references, and adding new policies and text based on recent actions by the State and local policy directing entities. 2 126