Division 29. Concurrency Management.

PDF version - Division 29 (45.2 kb)

Section 29.1. Purpose and declaration of public policy.

(a) The City Commission declares as a matter of public policy that the concurrency requirements of the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act [F.S. § 163.3161 et seq.] are a public necessity, and are important in the protection and enhancement of the quality of life in the City as well as the County and the State.

(b) The purpose of this article is to ensure the availability of public facilities and the adequacy of those facilities at adopted levels of service concurrent with the impacts of development. This intent is implemented by means of a concurrency management system which shall measure the potential impact of a development permit application upon the adopted minimum acceptable level of services, as provided in the capital improvements element of the Comprehensive Plan.

Section 29.2. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Acceptance of completed application means the application for a development order or development permit has been reviewed for completeness and found to have the adequate information necessary to allow continuing the review of the application.

Capital improvement means physical assets constructed or purchased to provide, improve, or replace a public facility; generally large scale, high in cost, nonrecurring, and which may require multiyear financing.

Certificate of concurrency means the document issued by the City Manager that is a prerequisite for the issuance of any development order or permit. At a minimum, the certificate of concurrency shall provide information on the following:

(1) Type of proposal.

(2) Development potential, including site acreage, number of residential units, nonresidential use, type of development, and building square footage.

(3) Individual public facilities reports from the Concurrency Management Team.

(4) Level of service capacity status review.

(5) Permitted impacts for each public facility and service, where applicable.

(6) The date of issuance of certificate of concurrency.

Concurrency means the provision of the necessary public facilities and services required to maintain the adopted level of service standards at the time the impacts of development occur.

Concurrency management system means the procedures and/or process that the City will utilize to assure that development orders and permits are not issued unless the necessary facilities are available concurrent with the impacts of development.

Concurrency monitoring system means the data collection, processing, and analysis performed by the City to determine impacts on the established levels of service for potable water, sanitary sewer, drainage, solid waste, recreation and open space, roads, and mass transit. For traffic circulation: data collection, processing and analysis will be utilized to determine traffic concern areas and traffic restriction areas in addition to impacts on the established levels of service. The traffic circulation data maintained by the concurrency management monitoring system shall be the most current information available to the City.

Development means the construction, reconstruction, redevelopment, conversion, structural alteration, relocation or enlargement of any structure; excavation, landfill or land disturbance, and use, change of use or expansion of the use of the land.

Development order means any order granting, denying or granting with conditions an application for a development permit.

Development permit means any building permit, zoning permit, subdivision approval, certification, conditional use, variance, or any other official action of local government having the effect of permitting the development of the land.

Level of service (LOS) means an indicator of the extent or degree of service provided by, or proposed to be provided by, a facility based on and related to the operational characteristics of the facility. Level of service shall indicate the capacity per unit of demand for each public facility.

Public facilities and services means those facilities and services included in the St. Pete Beach Comprehensive Plan required by F.S. § 163.3177, and for which level of service standards have been adopted.

Significantly degrade means a peak hour increase in traffic volume of five percent or a decrease in average travel speed of ten percent. This criteria shall be the means of evaluating the transportation impacts in traffic restriction areas upon roadway levels of service.

Traffic concern area means an area within which the level of service for a given road facility has been determined by data from the concurrency management monitoring system to have reached a level of service D during the peak hour or is expected to reach a level of service E or worse during the peak hour in the next five years and no construction improvements are planned in the next five years.

Traffic restriction area means an area in which the level of service for a given road facility has been determined by data from the concurrency management monitoring system to be below the acceptable level of service adopted in this article.

Section 29.3. Levels of service adopted by reference.

The adopted levels of service standards, as stated in the City Comprehensive Plan, for public facilities and services are hereby adopted by reference.

Section 29.4. General requirements.

(a) A certificate of concurrency shall be required prior to the issuance of any development permit. An applicant must prepare and complete an application for a certificate of concurrency. If a development will require more than one development permit, the issuance of a certificate of concurrency shall occur prior to the issuance of the initial permit. Upon request by applicants, a preliminary concurrency review shall be performed and a conditional certificate of concurrency may be issued. This conditional certificate shall not be binding upon the City and shall only be effective for the year in which the annual concurrency monitoring report was issued. Only those certificates of concurrency issued for development permits shall be binding. Applicants will be charged a fee established by the City Commission for certificates of concurrency.

(1) Application for development. The property owner, or authorized representative, must provide a complete application for development containing the required documentation for the specific development order or permit. The City Manager shall then review the application for completeness in a timely manner to ensure that the required information is sufficient to accept the application and continue its review.

(2) Development review. When the application for development has been accepted, it shall be processed and reviewed for impacts of the development on the public facilities and services identified in this article.

(3) Concurrency review. The concurrency review shall compare the available and reserved capacity of the facility or service to the demand projected for the proposed development. The available capacity shall be determined by adding the total of the existing excess capacity and the total future capacity of any proposed construction or expansion that meets the requirements of Section 29.6. The levels of service of all facilities and services must be sufficient before a development permit can be issued.

a. Traffic restriction and traffic concern areas. Traffic restriction and concern areas shall be designated on an annual basis at the time the annual concurrency monitoring report is issued. These areas will be designated based on the criteria defined in Section 29.2. Applications for development permits within these areas may require detailed traffic studies.

1. If the development is found to be in a traffic restriction area, a traffic study shall be required. If the traffic study indicates that the affected roadway is not significantly degraded, the project will be found concurrent for traffic.

2. If the development is found to be in a traffic concern area, a traffic study may be required. If the traffic study indicates that the affected roadway LOS may be lowered below the adopted LOS, the project will be found concurrent for traffic only if provisions and measures are attached as conditions to prevent the reduction of the LOS.

3. If the development is found to be in a traffic restriction or traffic concern area and the traffic study indicates that the affected roadway is significantly degraded, the project will be found concurrent for traffic only if provisions and measures are attached as conditions to prevent the significant degradation of the affected roadway.

4. If the development is not found to be in a traffic restriction or traffic concern area but the estimated traffic volumes resulting from the development degrade the peak hour LOS below the adopted LOS standard, the project will be found concurrent for traffic only if mitigation provisions are attached as conditions to prevent the degradation of the affected roadway below the adopted LOS standard.

(4) Certificate of concurrency.

a. The certificate of concurrency shall indicate the date of issuance and shall automatically expire simultaneously with the expiration of the development permit to which it applies. In the event the development permit does not have an expiration date, the certificate of concurrency shall expire one year from the date of the issuance of the development permit. In the event that a time extension is requested prior to the expiration of the development permit, then the accompanying certificate of concurrency may be renewed upon determination by the City Manager that the conditions of concurrency will still be met.

b. Any development order or permit that is issued within the effective period of a validly issued certificate of concurrency shall be vested for the purposes of concurrency until the expiration of that development order or permit, provided that development commences within the validity period of the development order or permit and continues in good faith.

(5) Development order or development permit compliance.

a. Any development orders and development permits approved and issued after the effective date of this article shall be based upon and in compliance with the certificate of concurrency issued for that application.

(b) The burden of showing compliance with the adopted levels of service and meeting the concurrency evaluation shall be upon the applicant. The City Manager may require whatever documentation is necessary to make a determination.

Section 29.5. Exemptions.

Final approved development orders relating to a development of regional impact (DRI) project, pursuant to F.S. ch. 380, are exempt from this article.

Section 29.6. Minimum requirements for concurrency.

An application for a development permit and/or order must comply with the following minimum concurrency requirements for each of the following public facilities and services:

(a) For potable water, sanitary sewer, solid waste, and drainage one of the following are the minimum standards that must be met to satisfy the concurrency requirement:

(1) The necessary facilities and services are in place at the time a development permit or order is issued;

(2) A development permit or order is issued subject to the condition that the necessary facilities and services will be in place when the impacts of the development occur;

(3) The necessary facilities are under construction at the time a permit or order is issued;

(4) The necessary facilities and services are guaranteed in an enforceable development agreement. An enforceable development agreement may include, but is not limited to, development agreements pursuant to F.S. § 163.3220, or an agreement or development order issued pursuant to F.S. ch. 380.

(b) For recreation and open space, one of the following are minimum standards that must be met to satisfy the concurrency requirement:

(1) Compliance with the standards in subsections (a)1-4 of this section;

(2) At the time the development permit or order is issued, the necessary facilities and services are the subject of a binding executed contract which provides for the commencement of the actual construction of the required facilities, or the provision of services within one year of the issuance of the development permit or order;

(3) The necessary facilities and services are guaranteed in an enforceable development agreement which requires the commencement of the actual construction of facilities or the provision of services within one year of the issuance of the applicable permit or order. An enforceable development agreement may include, but is not limited to, development agreements pursuant to F.S. § 163.3220 or an agreement or development order issued pursuant to F.S. ch. 380.

(c) For roads and mass transit, where the City has committed to provide the necessary public facilities and services in accordance with the five-year schedule of capital improvements, the City will satisfy the concurrency requirement by complying with the standards in subsections (a)1-4 and (b)2 of this section and by assuring that the following provisions are met:

(1) The capital improvements element and schedule of capital improvements, in addition to meeting all of the other statutory and rule requirements, is financially feasible. The schedule of capital improvements may include those projects included in the County capital improvement element or in the first three years of the adopted State Department of Transportation five-year work program.

(2) The five-year schedule of capital improvements which includes both necessary facilities to maintain the adopted level of service standards to serve the new development proposed to be permitted and the necessary facilities and services required to eliminate that portion of existing deficiencies which are a priority to be eliminated during the five-year period.

(3) A financially feasible funding system based on currently available revenue sources which is adequate to fund the public facilities and services required to serve the development authorized by the development order and development permit and which are included in the five-year schedule of capital improvements.

(4) The five-year schedule of capital improvements includes the estimated date of commencement of actual construction and the estimated date of completion of the public facility or services.

(5) Actual construction of the road or mass transit facilities and the provision of services must be scheduled to commence in or before the third year of the five-year schedule of capital improvements.

Section 29.7. Action upon failure to show available capacity.

Where available capacity cannot be shown, the following methods may be used to maintain adopted level of service:

(a) A Plan amendment which limits the adopted level of service standard for the affected facilities and/or services.

(b) A binding executed contract between the City and the applicant to provide the necessary improvements.

(c) An enforceable development agreement, which may include, but is not limited to, development agreements pursuant to F.S. § 163.3220.

(d) A change in the funding source.

(e) A reduction in the scale or impact of the proposed development.

(f) Phasing of the proposed project.

(g) Transportation management or restriction programs that reduce the traffic impact of the development by mandating the use of mass transit, increasing effective roadway capacity, shifting the effects on peak hour, etc.

Section 29.8. Concurrency annual monitoring report.

(a) On an annual basis, the City Manager shall prepare a concurrency annual monitoring report. The City Manager shall convey such annual report to the City Commission.

(b) The City Manager shall establish and maintain a concurrency monitoring system for the purpose of monitoring the status of public facilities and services, and to be used in the establishment of each annual report.

(c) The concurrency annual report shall be issued every year and will be effective for one year. Nothing herein precludes the issuance and effectiveness of more frequent concurrency reports, if updating or correction is deemed necessary, including but not limited to circumstances where: errors are noted; the impact of issued development orders, as monitored by the City Manager, indicates a degradation to the adopted level of service; or where changes in the status of capital improvement projects changes the underlying assumptions of the concurrency annual report.

(d) Under no circumstances will a more frequent concurrency report divest those rights acquired by a preceding concurrency annual report, except where a known danger exists to the health, safety or welfare of the general public.

(e) The concurrency annual report shall include, at a minimum, a review of the levels of service and capacity for all the adopted levels of service standards included in the Comprehensive Plan.

Section 29.9. Providing for intergovernmental coordination.

(a) The City as the provider of public facilities or services to other government entities.

(1) The City shall provide services to other local government entities within the County in accordance with the policies included in the Comprehensive Plan. The City shall administer this article such that the development in those areas shall be consistent with the comprehensive Plan and implementing ordinance.

(2) The City shall require that all proposed development within these other local government entities which require City services be submitted to the City Manager to disseminate the proposal to the appropriate review personnel. A certificate of concurrency from the City shall be required for any public facility or services provided by the City to any local government in which a permit or order is proposed to be issued.

(b) The City as the recipient of public facilities or services from other government entities.

(1) The City shall recognize the level of service provided by other governmental entities who provide services or facilities to the City in accordance with the policies of the Comprehensive Plan. The City shall ensure that all development within its area shall be in accordance with such policies as identified in the Comprehensive Plan.

(2) The City shall work with other governmental entities to ensure appropriate intergovernmental coordination. Appropriate methodology for tracking concurrency will be coordinated with these other governmental entities.

Section 29.10. Providing for adequate funding.

The capital improvement element of the Comprehensive Plan was designed to meet requirements of the State law mandating that local governments provide sufficient capacity of public facilities concurrent with development.

The capital improvement element contains all capital improvement needs identified in the individual elements of the Comprehensive Plan, and demonstrates the fiscal feasibility of this Plan. Through annual monitoring, the capital improvement element is corrected, updated, and modified to ensure adequate sources of funding. If it is determined that a level of service standard is reduced because a project is not completed, or if projects not previously identified are added, then an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan will be required.

Section 29.11. Enforcement.

(a) Violations of this article shall be subject to prosecution and punishment pursuant to Section 1-14 of the Code of Ordinances.

(b) In addition to the penalties provided by subsection (a) of this section for violation of this article, any violation of this article shall be subject to appropriate civil action in the court of appropriate jurisdiction.