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FROM: DATE: John W. McCoy. AICP 'ON 4\1\ Senior Planner. Current Development March 12, 2001 SUBJECT: INDIAN RIVER COUNTY'S APPEAL OF A PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION DENIAL OF A REQUEST FOR NIGHTTIME USE OF THE COUNTY GUN RANGE It is requested that the data herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County. Commissioners at its regular meeting of March 20, 2001. BACKGROUND Indian River County is completing construction of a public gun range located north of the terminus of 102nd Terrace and east of I-95, within the St. Sebastian River Buffer Preserve. The project site encompasses a 318 acre portion of the overall Preserve, which contains 6 800 acres and is currently zoned and designated for conservation uses ( CON -1. C-1). As gun range construction nears completion. the county is now finalizing the operational aspects of the range. One such aspect includes limited nighttime operation to accommodate use by the public after normal workday hours. When the Planning and Zoning Commission granted site plan and administrative permit approval for the gun range on October 8. 1998 it's approval included a condition that operation of the range be limited to daytime use only. At that time the applicant (county) did not anticipate the need for nighttime use and did not submit a lighting plan or object to the condition. However, recently the county determined that operation of the gun range until 9:00 p.m. would be needed to allow opportunities for public use after normal daytime work hours. Based on that determination the county requested Planning and Zoning Commission approval to modify the daytime use condition to allow operation of the range until 9:00 p.m. Lighting plan information was included with the request. At its March 8, 2001 meeting the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 2 to 3 on a motion to approve the county s request. That motion did not pass, which effectively denied the request (see attachment #2). The applicant (county) is now appealing the Commission's decision, seeking to overturn the denial and obtain Board approval to allow operation of the gun range until 9:00 p.m. nightly. According to the county's land development regulations (LDRs), appeals of decisions of the Planning and Zoning Commission are considered by the Board of County Commissioners. The Board is now to review the Commissions' decision and grant or deny the appeal and corresponding request, with or without conditions. ANALYSIS: The county's land development regulations (LDRs) provide criteria for the Board to use in its review of an appeal of a Planning and Zoning Commission decision. These criteria. based on LDR section 902.07 (see attachment #5), are as follows: (1) Did the Planning and Zoning Commission fail to follow the appropriate review procedures? (2) Did the Planning and Zoning Commission act in an arbitrary or capricious manner? March 20, 2001 186