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Comnrehem.dve Plan Am ndm nt Review Prorpdures The state allows local governments to use alternative adoption procedures for "small scale" plan amendments that meet certain criteria. Section 163.3187(1)(c) of the Florida Statutes sets the following criteria for small scale amendments; 1. The proposed amendment involves 10 or fewer acres; 2. The cumulative effect of the acreage for all small scale amendments in the jurisdiction does not exceed 80 acres in a calendar year, 3. The proposed amendment does not involve the same property granted a land use designation change within the prior 12 months; 4. The proposed amendment does not involve the same owner's property within 200 feet of property granted a land use designation change within the prior 12 months; 5. The proposed amendment does not involve a change to the comprehensive plan's text; 6. The subject property is not within an area of critical state concern; and 7. The proposed amendment does not involve increasing residential density above 10 unitsiacre Small scale plan amendments are deemed to have fewer impacts than typical plan amendments and are eligible for a streamlined adoption process. In contrast to typical plan amendments which require review and approval by the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA), local governments may adopt small scale plan amendments without review or approval by DCA. In this case, the procedures for reviewing the subject comprehensive plan amendment will be as follows. First, the Planning and Zoning Commission conducts a public hearing to review the request. The Commission has the option to recommend approval or denial of the comprehensive plan amendment request to the Board of County Commissioners. Also, the Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend approval of or deny the rezoning portion of the request. If the rezoning request is denied, only the land use amendment request is forwarded to the Board, unless the denial to rezone is appealed. Following Planning and Zoning Commission action, the Board takes final action to approve or deny the land use amendment and rezoning requests. Besides being exempt from DCA review, small scale amendments are also exempt from the state's statutory limitations on the frequency of adopting comprehensive plan amendments. For example, although the number of standard plan amendments that a local government may consider is not limited, the frequency with which local governments can amend their comprehensive plan is regulated by state law. According to Florida Statutes, standard plan amendments are limited to twice per calendar year. For that reason, the county accepts standard plan amendment applications only during the two `window" months of January and July. All requests submitted during each window month are processed simultaneously. That method ensures that standard plan amendments will be adopted no more than twice per calendar year. State law, however, provides several exceptions to the twice per calendar year limitation. One of those exceptions is for small scale plan amendments. Consequently, a local government may adopt small scale amendments, such as the subject plan amendment, without regard for the twice per calendar year limitation. For that reason, the proposed amendment is exempt from the twice per calendar year adoption limit. JULY 119 2000 -65- RK 114 PG 08 1