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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA MEMORANDUM 10 R a, 111::,k1.(, I.1)R AN1F\I)\1I: VI's (L.I:(:I sL,1•I'I \' 1: ) TO: DATE: SUBJECT: Joseph A. Baird; County Administrator DEPARTMENTAHEAD CONCURRENCE: ./r` Stan Boling, AICP; Co unity Development Director March 9, 2015 Consideration of County -initiated Amendments to Land Development Regulations (LDRs) Chapter 902 (Administrative Mechanisms) and Chapter 915 (Planned Developments) to Grant the Planning and Zoning Commission the Authority to Approve Certain Modifications to Planned Development (PD) Setbacks and Other Dimensional Criteria and the Powers of the Board of (Zoning) Adjustment to Grant Variances It is requested that the data herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of March 24, 2015. BACKGROUND In recent months, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) directed staff to initiate two changes to the LDRs regarding Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) approval authority. One change relates to granting the PZC the authority to grant variances and the other change involves granting authority to the PZC to approve certain modifications to setbacks within Planned Developments (PDs). Staff has combined both changes into a single LDR amendment ordinance for the BCC's consideration. • Authority to Grant Variances In most states, including Florida, local governments are granted zoning authority and are obligated to establish a board that has the authority to grant variances from zoning -related setbacks. In general, variances from zoning related setbacks are allowed only under a set of special circumstances unique to an existing lot that prevents or substantially restricts reasonable development of the lot. With respect to Indian River County, the LDRs currently provide for the Board of Adjustment (BOA) to hear zoning related setback variance requests. That 5 member board has been in place for decades; its caseload, however, has fallen dramatically since the early 1990s. In fact, only two variance requests have been considered by the BOA in the last 10 years and the board has not met since October 12, 2009. Because the BOA's caseload is minimal, because it meets so infrequently, and because it has been difficult to maintain the minimum number of BOA members necessary to constitute a quorum, staff requested that the BCC consider delegating zoning -related setback variance authority to the PZC through an LDR amendment and dissolving the BOA. At its December 16, 2014 meeting, the BCC considered staff's request and voted 5-0 to direct staff to initiate an LDR amendment to delegate BOA F.Commonity Development \CwDc BCC12015 BCC\902(BOA)and915(PDplans).doc 67