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BOOK 103 SAGE As publicly owned sites containing estuarine wetlands and native upland habitat, each of the subject properties meets those criteria. For those reasons, the request is consistent with Future Land Use Element Policies 1.5 and 1.6. As part of the staff analysis, all policies in the comprehensive plan were considered. Based upon that analysis, staff determined that the proposed land use designation amendment is consistent with the comprehensive plan. The sites' existing land use designations offer only limited environmental protections. Residential development on the subject properties would be required to preserve only 15 percent of the upland habitat of the sites. In contrast, under the proposed land use designation, the entire area of each site would be preserved, and development would be limited to conservation and compatible passive recreational uses. Although the sites are publicly owned and could be developed as public parks under the existing land use designations, the proposed land use designation provides the sites with additional protection from development. By prohibiting most types of development on the sites, the proposed request will ensure that the environmental quality of the sites will be preserved. For these reasons, the proposed land use amendment is anticipated to positively impact the environmental quality of the subject properties. As noted in the Description and Conditions section of this staff report, state law requires that the Board of County Commissioners hold two public hearings prior to approving county initiated rezonings of more than ten acres. Although normally applied to ensure public participation when the county initiates the rezoning of privately owned land, this requirement also applies to county initiated rezonings of publicly owned land. Because it meets the criteria set in state law, the portion of this request that would rezone Subject Properties 2 and 3 requires two public hearings. The March 16, 1999 Board of County Commissioners meeting will meet state requirements for one of the public hearings. The second public hearing then must be held at least 10 days after the first hearing. Additionally, state law requires that at lust one of the public hearings be held after 5:00 p.m. on a weekday, unless four commissioners vote to conduct that hearing at another time of day. In this case, several factors indicate that holding the second rezoning public hearing at 9:05 am. at a regular Board of County Commissioners meeting would be sufficient to ensure public participation. Those factors include the following: • Although the state requirement for two public hearings is normally intended for rezonings of privately owned land, the subject properties in this case are publicly owned; and • The firture use of these properties already have been discussed at numerous public hearings and public meetings, including Land Acquisition Advisory Committee meetings and other meetings regarding the subject land use amendment and rezoning requests. For those reasons, staff feels that it would be appropriate to hold the second rezoning public hearing at 9:05 am. on April 6, 1999. That is the first Board of County Commissioners meeting that meets the state requirement of at least 10 days between the first and second hearings. Based on the analysis, staff has determined that the proposed amendment is consistent with the comprehensive plan, compatible with all surrounding land uses, and will cause no adverse impacts on the provision of public services. The proposed changes work to ensure the preservation of environmentally sensitive and important habitat. For these reasons, staff supports the request. Based on the analysis, staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommend that the Board of County Commissioners take the follow actions: 1) Approve the request to redesignate Subject Properties 1, 2, and 3 to C-1; 2) Approve the request to rezone Subject Property 1 to Con -1; and 3) Schedule the second rezoning public hearing for Subject Properties 2 and 3 for 9:05 am., at the regular commission meeting of April 6, 1999. MARCH 16, 1999 -32-