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Future Land Use Policy 13.3 The most important policy to consider in evaluating a plan amendment request for consistency with the county's Comprehensive Plan is Future Land Use Element Policy 13.3. This policy requires that one of three criteria be met in order to approve a land use amendment request. These criteria are: a mistake in the approved plan; an oversight in the approved plan; or a substantial change in circumstances affecting the subject property. Staff s position is that this land use amendment request does not meet any of the three criteria as stated above. When the current Comprehensive Plan was approved on February 13, 1990, the plan assigned an agricultural land use designation to the subject property. Due to the location of the subject property and due to development trends in the county, the agricultural land use designation was appropriate for the property. Over the last seven years, no substantial change in circumstances uniquely affecting the subject property has occurred At the Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing, on October 9, 1 5197, the applicant suggested that there have been a number of substantial changes that warrant amending the land use designation of the subject property. As explained in the following paragraphs, those substantial changes that the applicant highlighted do not uniquely affect the subject property. Rather, those changes, including the Indian River Mall and the current economic trends in the citrus industry, have affected many thousands of acres throughout Indian River County. Recent projects along the State Road 60 corridor, including the Indian River Mall, do not represent a substantial change in circumstances that are unique to the subject property. The 3.5 mile distance and the amount of land between the subject property and the State Road 60 corridor add to staffs position that development within the State Road 60 corridor does not represent a substantial change in circumstances regarding the appropriate land use designation for the subject property. Similarly, development projects such as the Indian River Club, located in the southeastern portion of the county, do not represent a substantial change in circumstances in relation to the land use designation of the subject property. Being 4.5 miles from Indian River Club, the subject property is not affected by that development or any other development in that area of the county. Economic trends in the citrus industry also do not represent a substantial change in circumstances to support the applicant's request to redesignate the subject property from AG -1 to M-1. Among other factors, increased competition has recently led to lower profit yields for citrus growers then in previous years, which the applicant contends lowers the value of the land being used for citrus production and, therefore, constitutes a substantial change in circumstances that supports the proposed land use designation. However, these economic trends in the citrus industry affect more than 81,000 acres which are currently being used for citrus production in Indian River County. If declining value for citrus land is justification to increase density, then most land outside of the urban service area would qualify for redesignation. Future Land Use Objective 1 Objective 1 states that Indian River County will have an efficient and compact land use pattern which reduces urban sprawl. Urban sprawl refers to scattered, untimely, poorly planned urban development that occurs in urban fringe and rural areas and frequently invades land important for environmental protection, natural resource protection, and agricultural production. The unchecked spread of residential and related land uses into previously undeveloped land can have serious consequences in a rapidly growing community such as Indian River County. These consequences include the increased cost of public services and facilities, loss of valuable agricultural and open natural land and the possibility of negative environmental impacts. A pattern of dispersed development on large tracts of inexpensive land compounds the effort to provide public services in an efficient and economic manner. Such development provides for an increased demand for services. This can result in the building of expensive new facilities rather than the expansion of existing ones. A system of small dispersed facilities is generally more expensive and less efficient. In addition, renovation, rehabilitation, and extension of certain public facilities can reduce per capita expenditures. Dispersed or leap -frog development also increases the demand for various soft services such as police, fire, and education in areas of the county in which the respective departments had not planned to expand those services. This unexpected demand will increase the cost of providing those services and force the respective departments to provide those services in an inefficient manner. NOVEMBER 4, 1997 57 BOOK 103 FAG 53' L