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A.The process of approvals of development orders <br /> or permits, as defined in s.163.3164(7) and (8), for <br /> affordable housing projects is expedited to a <br /> greater degree than other projects. <br /> Section 163.3164(7), F.S. defines a development order as "any order granting, denying, <br /> or granting with conditions an application for a development permit." Section <br /> 163.3164(8), F.S. defines a development permit to "include any building permit, zoning <br /> permit, subdivision approval, rezoning, certification, special exception, variance, or any <br /> other official action of local government having the effect of permitting the development <br /> of land". <br /> In Indian River County, permits for affordable housing projects are expedited to a greater <br /> degree than other projects. Established policies and procedures for expedited permitting <br /> are found in Policies 1.5 and 1.6 of the Housing Element. These policies read as follows: <br /> POLICY 1.5:By 2015,the county shall establish a web based permitting process. <br /> POLICY 1.6: The county shall take all necessary steps to eliminate delays in the review of affordable <br /> housing development projects. In order to define delay, the county hereby establishes the following <br /> maximum timeframes for approval of projects when an applicant provides needed information in a <br /> timely manner: <br /> - Administrative approval—5 days; <br /> - Minor site plan—5 weeks; <br /> - Major site plan—6 weeks; <br /> - Special exception approval—13 weeks <br /> Whenever these review times increase by 150% or more due to the work load of review staff, the county <br /> will begin prioritizing the review of affordable housing development project applications. In prioritizing <br /> affordable housing development project applications, staff will schedule affordable housing project <br /> applications for review before other types of project applications to ensure that maximum review <br /> timeframes are not exceeded for affordable housing projects. <br /> ANALYSIS: <br /> The county is in the process of establishing a full web-based permitting process. <br /> Currently, some permits can be applied for online. Some components of full web-based <br /> permitting are now available, and the remaining components should be in place by 2015. <br /> Consistent with Policy 1.6, the Community Development Department processes <br /> affordable housing projects ahead of all other projects. This has been done since 1994. <br /> For each affordable housing project application, planning staff notifies other reviewing <br /> departments that the application is an affordable housing project and must be reviewed <br /> ahead of all other projects. Overall, this process has worked well, with affordable <br /> housing projects identified upfront and reviewing departments expediting these project <br /> reviews. For major affordable housing projects, this process has saved applicants several <br /> weeks in application review/processing time. <br /> F:\Community Development\SHIP\AHAC-Affordable Housing Advisory Committee(AHAC)\AHAC 2017\AHAC 2017 5 <br /> report.doc <br />