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Highlands Today

Despite Economy, Highlands County Prepares For Big Growth

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: November 8, 2007

SEBRING – New home construction may be stalled now. According to the state's leading planners, though, significant population growth in Highlands County over the next decade is about as sure as Florida sunshine.

On Dec. 11, the county commissioners will resume the conversation launched on Tuesday with their planning staff on what could be a major change in managing growth, the "urban services boundary."
Jim Polatty, county development services director, said he's hoping for a big turnout by property owners and developers for comment on both the concept of urban services boundaries and the proposed boundary lines.

"We need to get the input of all the stakeholders," said county planner Don Hanna.
In a move encouraged by the state, the county commissioners could draw boundary lines skirting around Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid, designating the areas where residential growth will be encouraged. Policies would then be adopted to give developers incentives to build within those areas, Hanna said.

The county's urban areas of Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid now total about 18,000 acres. The first draft of the proposed urban services boundaries encircle a total of 65,396 acres, just under 10 percent of the county, said Polatty.

Proposed boundaries for the urban service areas are available on maps in the county planning department.

Polatty and Hanna emphasized that the proposed boundary lines are not only subject to, but also expected to, change.

"This is the first attempt, the first blush, the start point" of setting the boundaries, Hanna said.
Florida now has what Hanna calls "close to the most stringent state regulations on development in the country." New subdivisions require an amendment to the county's comprehensive plan with approval not only from the county commissioners, but also from the state Department of Community Affairs.
DCA is strongly suggesting that the county consider new growth management tools in general and the urban services boundary in particular, Hanna said.

"They are not saying we have to investigate this," he said. But, he added, DCA "has the hammer of approving or not approving comp plan amendments." And, he said, DCA is trying to discourage "leap frog" development that promotes urban sprawl.

If the county develops urban services boundaries and policies to promote growth within those boundaries that are approved by DCA, the state would no longer require DCA approval for projects within those areas, Polatty said.

"The main bull's-eye in this is to get regulatory relief (from state approval) on comp plan amendments," Polatty said.

Hanna said that would be a "huge" benefit to property owners and developers, saving "a lot of time, effort and money."

Polatty said he hopes the commissioners would adopt urban services boundaries in January and send them to the DCA for approval in February.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart said discussing this issue publicly is good but she balks at approving it and sending it to the state early next year.

The county will be getting state funds for a rural lands study, expected to take about six months, she said, and also is working toward developing a strategic growth plan for the entire county.

Those projects should be completed before the commissioners make any decision on urban services boundaries, Stewart said.

One thing is close to certain: despite the nationwide economic downturn, growth in Highlands County will rebound.

Based on studies by the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Highlands County's seasonal population is projected to grow by 32,350 over the next 10 years, reaching just under 150,000 in 2017.

That means an average of 270 people moving to this county every month for the next 10 years. As sources go, Hanna said, the university's bureau is considered the best.

"There is no better source for general (business) estimates and population projections," he said.
Hanna called the projection of 150,000 county residents within 10 years "very achievable." He added, "We can't know if it will happen by the 10-year mark. It could happen in 12 years, it could happen in eight. But we can be pretty certain it is going to happen, and we need to plan for that."

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