Subject:
Title
Case No. LDR-22-01 (Second Public Hearing)
An ordinance of Pinellas County, Florida, providing for the amendment of Chapter 134 - General and Administrative Provisions, Chapter 138 - Zoning, Chapter 154 - Site Development, Right-of-Way Improvements, Subdivisions, and Platting, and Chapter 158 - Floodplain Management of the Pinellas County Land Development Code. (Legislative)
label
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approval of Case No. LDR-22-01: An ordinance amending Chapter 134 - General and Administrative Provisions, Chapter 138 - Zoning, Chapter 154 - Site Development, Right-of-Way Improvements, Subdivisions, and Platting, and Chapter 158 - Floodplain Management of the Pinellas County Land Development Code.
• This is the second of two required public hearings.
• The first public hearing was held on August 15, 2023.
• This ordinance is part of the overall Building and Development Review Services system improvement.
• The Board of County Commissioners approved a major update to the Land Development Code in 2018 and a similar package of Code enhancements in 2021.
• The proposed amendments will provide additional clarification and flexibility, enhance efficiency, respond to changes in State legislation, and address redundancies and internal consistency issues. Examples include:
a.) Approval process efficiencies
b.) Site plan threshold flexibility
c.) Minor plat process
d.) Changes to comply with State preemptions
• The proposed amendments were reviewed by interdepartmental County staff, the Development Customer Advisory Group, and Forward Pinellas.
• The Local Planning Agency unanimously recommended approval of the ordinance (vote 7-0). No one appeared in support or opposition.
• Periodic Code updates are necessary and expected to occur annually to help us identify additional flexibility, remove redundancy and consistency issues, adapt to changing trends, and respond to changes in State legislation.
Body
Strategic Plan:
Foster Continual Economic Growth and Vitality
4.3 Catalyze redevelopment through planning and regulatory programs
Deliver First Class Services to the Public and our Customers
5.2 Be responsible stewards of the public’s resources
Summary:
Summary
On October 18, 2018, the Board adopted a major update to the Pinellas County Land Development Code that went into effect on January 1, 2019. Prior to that, the last major update to the Code occurred in 1990. The updated Code responds to and reflects the changing conditions and character of the County and establishes the necessary regulatory framework to incentivize economic development, promote responsible growth, and improve the urban design quality throughout unincorporated Pinellas County. The update changed the overall Code to better provide for redevelopment and infill development, enhanced development flexibility, modernized regulations, reduced redundancies, and streamlined and consolidated regulations.
The Land Development Code should not be a long-term static document. Periodic updates are sometimes necessary to adapt to changing trends, respond to changes in State legislation, enhance flexibility, and make other improvements. Since its initial implementation, staff has noted certain sections and components of the updated Code where additional clarification and flexibilities would be beneficial. A few redundancies and internal inconsistency issues were also discovered. The purpose of these proposed amendments is to address and correct these issues, and to enhance the Code even further. The Board approved a similar amendment package involving Chapters 138 and 154 in 2021.
Changes are proposed to four different chapters of the Land Development Code, with most being to Chapter 138 - Zoning. All the changes are summarized in the attached Amendments Summary Table. The proposed Code amendments were reviewed by both internal and external stakeholders and were also vetted by Forward Pinellas staff for consistency with the Countywide Rules.
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Background Information:
The Local Planning Agency (LPA) recommended approval of the Ordinance during their July 12, 2023, public hearing (vote 7-0).
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Staff Member Responsible:
Kevin McAndrew, Director, Building and Development Review Services
Partners:
N/A
Attachments:
LPA Report
Proposed Ordinance Clean
Proposed Ordinance Redline
Amendments Summary Table
Forward Pinellas Consistency Letter
Legal Ad
PowerPoint Presentation