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Highlands Today

County Rushes To Set Growth Boundaries

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: December 13, 2007

SEBRING — County and state officials have no control over when Highlands County's home building industry will recover.

That depends on whether the economy keeps slumping or starts jumping.

But government officials will control where the the new development occurs, and that's at the heart of the county commissioners' pending adoption of what the state calls "urban services boundaries."

Commissioners laid the groundwork this week to do just that before the end of this month, with a few twists.

Twist No. 1: The proposed "urban services boundaries" under consideration would allow about 20 years worth of urban development, twice as much as the Florida Department of Community Affairs has asked the county to adopt.

Twist No. 2: County officials agreed to bend their normal planning and review procedures on development issues in order to send their growth boundaries to the state before the year's end.

On Tuesday, commissioners tentatively agreed to OK the urban development boundaries at their meeting next week. The boundary lines – which show the county's three existing urban areas growing out into the surrounding countryside – are almost finished but will be adjusted and fine tuned over the next several days.

In order to send their growth boundary lines to the state DCA by Dec. 31, the county commissioners
cannot follow their usual procedures.

Why So Fast?

Normally, the commissioners would send the proposed growth boundary plan to the Highlands County Planning & Zoning Commission for a public hearing and comment. Then, with the P & Z's recommendations, they would vote on this land-use issue.

To get around that process –– which county Attorney Ross Macbeth emphasized is mandatory under state law –– the commissioners decided to approve the final growth boundary lines on Dec. 18, contingent upon a later review and public hearing held by the planning and zoning commission.

"I just don't think it's possible to do that," Macbeth said. He was referring to fitting in both the public hearing and review of the growth-boundaries plan by the planning/zoning commission, and approval of the plan by the commissioners, before year's end – especially with the Christmas and New Year's holidays almost here.

Where there is a will, though, there is a way, and county officials found it.

Wiggle Room

Lew Carter, chairman of the county planning and zoning commission, told the commissioners a special meeting can be called to consider the urban growth-boundary plan, either before or after the commissioners vote on it.

Final approval of the growth-boundaries plan, from the commissioners and the planning/zoning commission, appears likely between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Why the rush? Why not wait until the new year?

"Another cornerstone of our plan is to beat Hometown Democracy," said attorney Bert Harris III, representing the Lake Placid Growth Management Committee, as he asked commissioners to adopt the county's urban-growth boundaries before the new year starts.

The Lake Placid committee has held more than 50 public meetings over the past three years to develop a comprehensive plan for development of rural areas around the town. Once developed, those areas will be annexed into the town and/or will tie in to Lake Placid's municipal water and sewer systems.

Harris was referring to The Hometown Democracy Amendment, the citizen-generated, proposed state constitutional amendment which may go on the Jan. 29 ballot. If approved, it would strip local and state governments of their authority to approve rezoning and land-use changes, and give that power to local voters through referendum elections on development issues.

Ray Royce, chairman of the Lake Placid Growth Management Committee, said the controversial Hometown Democracy issue isn't a factor in the town's desire to see commissioners adopt the growth-boundary lines by Dec. 31. Lake Placid officials want commissioners to approve their urban growth boundaries before the end of this year to prevent bureaucratic delays in the state's review process, Royce said.

LP DevelopersReady To Go

Some developers are getting ready to roll on housing projects around Lake Placid that will be annexed into the town – if the state DCA doesn't hold up approval on those projects.

In fact, Harris pointed out, landowners have committed to paying 100 percent of the costs for an engineering study on how Lake Placid can provide municipal water and sewer services for those projects.

Richard Woodruff, senior vice president of the Wilson Miller consulting firm, is working on those development projects. The planned water/sewer study will cost between $75,000 to $100,000, and will start following approval of the development projects by both the county commissioners and the state DCA, Woodruff said.

Woodruff said the landowners are hoping for DCA approval by March or April. He estimated six to eight months to complete the water/sewer study.

Whether Hometown Democracy is or isn't a major factor, Lake Placid officials were adamant in repeatedly asking county commissioners to adopt the county's urban-growth boundaries before this year ends.

Midnight Oil

At Tuesday's commissioners meeting, Royce said the town's growth management committee, most of whom were at the commissioners meeting, would resume their work on Lake Placid's "urban services boundaries" at 5 p.m. that day. And, Royce said, the committee would keep working "up to midnight Wednesday," if necessary, so that their final growth plan, with boundary lines, could be submitted to the commissioners by 10 a.m. today.

Ten o'clock this morning is the deadline to put an item on the agenda for the commissioners next meeting, on Dec. 18.

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