Set-aside waivers on the agenda for October 3rd PBG Council Meeting

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The October City Council meeting  will held this Thursday, October 3rd at  7pm at the city hall.  It is not a very long agenda but does have two key proposed ordinances that you should review and which are .pdf attachments to this email.

Ordinance 16, 2013 has returned to the agenda with modifications and now added to the agenda is Ordinance 19, 2013 which coupled with Ordinance 16, 2013 allows the City to waive the 25% environmental set aside for government developed projects meeting one or more of the stated criteria.

Modification proposal in Ordinance 16, 2013 states:

“The City shall provide for relief from the requirements of this policy for publicly owned lands upon which environmentally significant lands and/or listed species are located through the Land Development Regulations.  Any such regulations shall establish criteria that the proposed public development must meet in order to qualify for relief from this policy.”

and from Ordinance 19, the criteria:

“The City Council has the authority to grant waivers based on the specific criteria set forth in Section 78-158 of the City’s Land Development Regulations (LDRs). The proposed amendment allows the City Council to waive the City’s 25% environmental set aside pertaining to viable uplands for publicly owned lands. In order to provide relief, the request must satisfy one (1) or more of the following criteria in addition to the requirements of the existing waiver criteria contained within Section 78-158:

(1) The proposed development fulfills a critical government infrastructure need.
(2) The proposed development will have a substantial and beneficial economic impact through revenue generation and job creation.
(3) The request demonstrates that granting the waiver will result in a development that makes a significant contribution to the city’s recreational and/or park space needs.

The subject petition is being processed concurrently with a City-initiated Comprehensive Plan amendment (Ordinance 16, 2013), which is a proposed amendment to Policy 6.1.4.5 of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Ordinance 16, 2013 establishes that the process for receiving a waiver from the City’s 25% environmental set aside requirements is done through the LDRs.”

One could ask – what is driving the need for these modifications?  Is it the Stadium?  Is there another project coming up?  Couldn’t almost any government project fit under criteria 1, 2 or 3?   Why should criteria be waived for government projects when developers are required to provide mitigation when getting waivers?  I don’t know the answers, do you?

Some other ordinances on the agenda are:

• Second reading of Ordinance 17, 2013 – regarding rezoning for the Chase Bank to be located near the intersection of PGA Blvd and US 1
• First reading for Ordinance 18, 2013 – a voluntary annexation of the land formerly housing the Capital Lighting Building and parking lot
• Resolution 53, 2013 – Art in Public places modification for Waterford Hotel – also located near the intersection of PGa Blvd and US 1

The short form of the agenda can be found here and the long form here 

We get the government we deserve – and it’s up to us to watch what they do.  Hope to see you there.