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r MAY 25 iqq BOOK 89 FAGF 601 -7 The third criterion of Future Land Use Policy 13.3 allows the county to amend the land use map if changes in circumstances affecting the subject property have occurred since the 1990 adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. In this case, there have been no new uses established in proximity to the subject property since the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. The circumstances affecting the subject property are generally the same as they were when the Comprehensive Plan was adopted. Therefore, the third criterion of Future Land Use Policy 13.3 has not been met. While preparing the Comprehensive Plan, the county looked at each commercial node and determined node size based upon the amount of existing development and potential growth projected for the next twenty years within the general market area of the node. The county then adopted the node boundaries. For any of these node boundaries to be changed through a Comprehensive Plan amendment, a change in circumstance affecting the amount of developed land in that node would need to occur. In fact, Policy 1.23 of the Future Land Use Element specifically addresses that issue. 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, or approved for development, with non-agricultural and non-residential uses, unless otherwise warranted. Otherwise warranted includes but is not limited to: • substantial changes in circumstances affecting property adjacent to a node; • instances when expansion of a node is necessary to accommodate a use (such as a regional mall) which has substantial land area requirements and no alternative suitable site is available in existing nodes; • instances when expansion of a node is necessary to include existing adjacent non -conforming uses that cannot otherwise be eliminated; • instances when 60% to 70% of a node is developed and: 1. expansion of the node_ is necessary to accommodate expansion of an existing use when no other adjacent land in the node is suitable and the land proposed for inclusion has the same -owner as the expanding use; 2. a node boundary splits a parcel rendering it unsuitable for development, and the Board of County Commissioners finds that inclusion of the parcel in the node is more appropriate than exclusion of the parcel from the node. The intent of Future Land Use 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. When the subject request was submitted, staff undertook an analysis to determine whether or not the request met the 70% development criterion to qualify for node expansion. Staff proceeded with 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. Using this method, staff determined that the total acreage in the node was 180 acres. Once the total node acreage was established, staff needed to determine the percent developed with non-agricultural and non- residential uses. Again, the staff used the Property Appraiser's 60