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IMPACTS ON LAND WITHIN THE URBAN SERVICE AREA Generally, agriculturally designated land is less expensive than urban land. Also, agriculturally designated land is often taxed at a lower rate. For those reasons, it is significantly less expensive to buy agriculturally designated land and convert it to an urban designation than it is to buy urban land. To the extent that agricultural land is converted to residential land, this will discourage the development of vacant land within the urban service area and produce sprawl. While agriculturally designated land is generally less expensive to buy and therefore more profitable to develop after redesignation for higher density, the cost of providing public services to development on that land is generally more expensive for the public. In contrast to infill development which more efficiently uses existing services, development on newly designated urban land requires urban services (such as paramedics, emergency services, police patrols, fire protection, school bus service, and other services) to cover a larger area at a higher cost. CLONTZ AND SIMILAR PARCELS At the July 11, 2000, public hearing, Mr. Clontz's representative indicated that because of surrounding development Mr. Clontz could no longer spray his grove and, therefore, could no longer maintain the grove. Largely for that reason, the Board directed staff to provide relief for Mr. Clontz. Staff research, however, indicates that State Law (the Florida Right to Farm Act) and County Sheriff Policy allows Mr. Clontz to spray and maintain his grove. For that reason, Mr. Clontz's need for relief is questionable. Another important issue is the similarity between the Clontz site and other sites along the west side of 58'h Avenue, between the Main Canal and 13`h Street, SW. Except for one significantly larger tract, the Clontz site is not substantially different, in terms of size and location, from any of the properties on the west side of 58th Avenue in that area of the county. This is demonstrated in Figure 3, where the significantly larger parcel is shaded. The Clontz property is also similar in terms of zoning, land use designation, infrastructure, and existing land use pattern. Because the Clontz site is not unique, zoning and land use designation actions affecting the Clontz site affect the entire 58' Avenue Corridor in the south county. Because the county must treat similar parcels similarly, providing "relief' for Clontz could create a domino effect, leading to `relief' for all owners of property on the west side of 58th Avenue. Also significant is the compatibility issue. Past experience indicates that compatibility problems are more likely to occur in locations where rural and agricultural uses abut residential uses. Experience also indicates that by increasing separation distances, incompatibilities can often be mitigated and/or reduced. For that reason, using major roads such as 58`h Avenue as urban service area boundaries works to reduce incompatibilities. Thus, in terms of compatibility, the existing urban service area boundary is logical and rational. The separation issue is particularly relevant for the Clontz site. Currently, the Main Canal's 300 foot wide right-of-way and the 58tb Avenue/Lateral `B" Canal's 230 feet wide right-of-way separate the urban and agriculturally designated areas. Expanding the urban service area to include the Clontz site would replace that separation with an area where urban designated land abuts agriculturally designated land containing citrus groves and residences on 10 acre lots. October 9, 2000 7 on 115 PG 362