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providing more than orae route to most destinations. For that reason, the grid system, gencmlly, reduces congestion, aids hurricane evacuation, and should be preserved. There is, however, another factor, unique to 25" Street, SW, that indicates that the referenced segment could be deleted without adverse impacts_ That factor is that the subject segment of 25" Street, SW could attract traffic from only one side, the north side. The south side of the road is bounded by a drainage canal with 100 feet of right-of-way. South of that canal, in St. Lucie County, is a two lane road. The only access from Indian River County to that road is from 27" Avenue or one of the major roads west of 27`h Avenue. Considering those conditions, even if 25`h Street, SW were built, it is unlikely that it would ever serve enough traffic to warrant its designation on the Thoroughfare Plan Map. For that reason, removing the referenced portion of 25" Street, SW is unlikely to impact service levels of other county roads or hurricane evacuation times. For those reasons, the proposed amendment is reasonable. CONSISTENCY WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Staff reviews each comprehensive plan amendment request for consistency with all applicable Policies of the comprehensive plan. As per Section 800.07(1) of the county code, the "comprehensive plan may only be amended in such a way as to preserve the internal consistency of the plan pursuant to Section 163.3177(2) F.S." The goals, objectives and policies are the most important parts of the comprehensive plan. Policies are statements in the plan which identify the actions which the county will take in order to direct the community's development. As courses of action committed to by the county, policies provide the basis for all county land development related decisions --including plan amendment decisions. While all comprehensive plan policies are important, some have more applicability than others in reviewing plan amendment requests. Of particular applicability to this proposed amendment are the following policies. Future Land Use Element Policy 14.3 In evaluating any comprehensive plan text amendment request, the most important consideration is Future Land Use Element Policy 14.3. This policy requires that at least one of three criteria be met in order to approve a comprehensive plan text amendment. These criteria are: • a mistake in the approved plan; • an oversight in the approved plan; or • a substantial change in circumstances. Staff s position is that the proposed amendment request meets the second criteria of Future Land Use Element Policy 14.3. When the comprehensive plan was adopted in 1990, and again when it was revised in 1998 as a result of the Evaluation and Appraisal Process, the county failed to consider the special circumstances concerning the referenced segment of 25`h Street, SW. Because 25"Street, SW could draw traffic from only one side of the street; and because another parallel street is available, there was no need to include the referenced segment on the Thoroughfare Plan Map. For that reason, the Proposed amendment is consistent with Future Land Use Element Policy 14.3. November 13, 2001 42