Subject:
Title
Resolution reaffirming the policies of the Pinellas County Comprehensive Plan, including the East Lake Overlay, that restrict density in the north portion of Planning Sector Two to .5 unit per acre and formally requesting that the Pinellas Planning Council add a Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre) land use map category to the Countywide Plan Rules.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approval of the resolution reaffirming the policies of the Pinellas County Comprehensive Plan, including the East Lake Overlay, that restrict density in the north portion of Planning Sector Two to .5 unit per acre and formally requesting that the Pinellas Planning Council add a Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre) land use map category to the Countywide Plan Rules.
• In 1989, the Countywide Plan Rules and associated plan categories were established.
• The land use category for most of the northern portion of the East Lake Tarpon area was Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre).
• In 2015, the Countywide Plan Rules were amended, and many map categories were aggregated to reduce the number of unique land use categories.
• As part of that aggregation, the existing .5 unit per acre designation and 1 unit per acre designation were combined into one land use map category with a maximum density of 1 unit per acre.
• As a result, the parcels identified in Attachment A of the Resolution were increased in density from .5 unit per acre to 1 unit per acre on the Countywide Plan Map.
• This action formally requests that parcels identified in Attachment A to the Resolution, consisting of 2,523 parcels containing approximately 3,285 acres of land be amended on the Countywide Plan Map from the current designation of RVL, Residential Very Low (1 unit per acre) to the new designation of Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre).
• This will align the Countywide Plan Map and the Pinellas County Comprehensive Plan to restrict density in the East Lake Tarpon area to .5 unit per acre for those parcels identified in Attachment A of the Resolution.
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Strategic Plan:
Practice Superior Environmental Stewardship
3.3 Protect and improve the quality of our water, air, and other natural resources
Summary:
Summary
During recent work session discussions, a consensus of the Board of County Commissioners requested that staff coordinate with the Pinellas Planning Council to address a disparity between the County’s Comprehensive Plan and the Countywide Plan Categories and Rules. This issue came to light as a result of recent annexation activity in the East Lake Tarpon area where a developer has elected to annex property into the City of Tarpon Springs in order to increase the residential density from .5 unit per acre to 1 unit per acre.
While the County’s Comprehensive Plan has specific policies that seek to restrict density to .5 unit per acre, the Countywide Plan has set the density at 1 unit per acre. The 1 unit per acre designation was established when the Countywide Plan Map and Rules were updated in 2015. During that update several residential categories were aggregated to reduce the number of unique land use categories. As a result, much of the East Lake Tarpon area, which used to have a maximum density of .5 unit per acre was changed to 1 unit per acre on the Countywide Plan Map. This dynamic has created a substantial incentive to annex property out of the County. Attachment A to the Resolution identifies all unincorporated parcels that are currently limited to .5 unit per acre (Residential Rural) on the County’s Future Land Use Map. This currently consists of 2,523 parcels containing approximately 3,285 acres.
Staff is recommending, through approval of a Resolution, the following course of action to address this issue:
1) Formally recommend/request that the previous Countywide Plan Map category of Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre) be re-established in the Countywide Plan Categories and Rules; and
2) Request that Pinellas Planning Council (Forward Pinellas), upon completion of 1 above, amend Countywide Plan Map for the parcels identified in Attachment A of the Resolution from Residential Very Low (one unit per acre) to Residential Rural (.5 unit per acre)
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Background Information:
N/A
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Staff Member Responsible:
Renea Vincent, Director, Planning
Partners:
Forward Pinellas / Pinellas Planning Council
Attachments:
Resolution and Attachment A