Resolution 394-1989
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Monroe County Commission
RESOLUTION NO. 394 -1989
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A RESOLUTION REVERSING THE DECISION OF THE
PLANNING COMMISSION DECISION OF FEBRUARY 16,
1989, AS MEMORIALIZED IN PLANNING COMMISSION
DEVELOPMENT ORDER NO. 05-89, APPROVING
OUTWARD BOUND'S CAMPGROUND MAJOR CONDITIONAL
USE ON BIG TORCH KEY.
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L~ ~HERE~, this appeal from the Planning Commission's approval
of Outward Bound's major conditional use came before this Board
for hearing based on the record below; and
WHEREAS, the Board members diligently reviewed the record
and heard oral argument of the respective parties on June 6,
1989; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA, as follows:
I. Order
Section 1.
Planning Commission Development Order 05-89
approving Appellee Outward Bound's major conditional use applica-
tion for a campground is hereby reversed and the application
denied.
The grounds for reversal as recited in Commissioner
Stormont's motion are as follows:
[T]he lack of definition in this plan did not
substantiate the statute verification of the
interpretation and the intent and meaning of
the board of county commissioners as exhibited
by the total plan and its consistency.
A further explanation of this holding follows below.
II. Procedural Posture.
Section 2.
Appellee, Outward Bound, applied for a major
conditional use approval for an educational campground. The
application came before the Planning Commission for public
hearing on February 16, 1989. At that hearing the application
was approved. However, the Planning Commission's decision was
not reduced to writing in Planning Commission Development Order
05-89 until April 11, 1989. Therefore, Appellant Cleare Filer's
appeal, filed on May 9, 1989, was timely under Sec. 9.5-69(e),
Monroe County Code.
Appellant is also an adjoining property
owner and appeared at the February 16, 1989, Planning Commission
hearing and, thus, has standing to appeal the Planning Commission
development order under Sec. 9.5-69(e', Monroe County Code.
Section 3. Appellee also timely filed a cross appeal
seeking to strike condition number 5 imposed by the Planning
Commission in Planning Commission Development Order No. 05-89.
III. Facts
Section 4. One March 8, 1988, Appellee filed an applica-
tion for development approval with the County Planning Department
for approximately 70 acres on Big Torch Key. Significantly, the
application stated that the proposed use was to be for "a
non-profit educational institution "See Outward Bound
Approval Application, para. 9. The application listed the
following as "estimated units:"
1 single family residence Program Directors res.
2 units Course Directors housing
5 units Staff housing
3 platforms Student tent platforms
1 unit to include Kitchen, Administrative Building,
Conference Area and Staff lounge
4 units Toilets and shower facilities
Outward Bound application, para. 10.
The site's land use designation is largely sparsely settled (SS'
with a native (NA' strip along the front. See Outward Bound
application, para. 8, and Planning Commission Transcript page 15
(hereinafter P.C.-T p.___'.
Section 5. The following specifics concerning the
Appellee's proposed major conditional use were elucidated at the
February 16, 1989 Planning Commission hearing.
a) Approximately, 19.58 acres of the site are subject to
development with the rest remaining as buffer, P.C.-T p. 14, 28.
b) The actual camping area itself will only be three
elevated tenting platforms. P.C.-T p. 28.
c) The tent platforms are not expected to be extensively
used, however, because of the nature of Appellee's operation.
Appellee's operation is to provide an off-site wilderness
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experience while at the same time providing an education in
self-reliance. P. C. -T p. 20, et seq. The "campers" are not
really camping on site at all and are only there for 2 - 4 hours
at the beginning and end of their trip. P. C. -T p. 20. Occa-
sionally, "students taking a semester course for college credit
or ... a group of executives ... in for a seminar or workshop,"
P.C.-T p. 28, are expected to camp on the platforms.
d) Otherwise, the remaining buildings and structures are
to be "an administrative building to house the program director,
the course director, the food service and logistics director,
staff eating area and a lounge area and a galley..." P.C.-T pp.
28, 29, an approximately 75 foot dock, id., a permanent logistics
building, id., permanent small cottages for staff housing, P.C.-T
p. 30, a ropes/obstacle course, id., and a parking lot, id.
e) All buildings and structures would be in the SS dis-
trict except for the dock which would be in a NA district.
f) The maximum number of staff members are expected to be
on site will be approximately 30. P.C.-T p. 23.
IV. Questions Presented
Section 6. Appellant's points on appeal are essentially
these:
a) Is Appellee's major conditional use a campground
permittable in a SS district?
b) Is the dock, approved as part of Appellee's major
conditional use, a marina permittable in a NA district?
Section 7. Appellee/Cross Appellant's point on appeal is:
Is the absolute prohibition on any future development in the
50 acre buffer, contained in condition 5 of Planning Commission
Development Order No. 05-89, an unreasonable and arbitrary abuse
of discretion by the Planning Commission?
V. Conclusions Of Law
Section 8. Following the recommendation of the Planning
Department, the Planning Commission, inter alia, determined that
Appellee's project use was a campground permittable in a SS
district under Sec. 9.5-238(c)(4), Monroe County Code.
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Section 9.
Campground is nowhere defined in the Monroe
County Code. Campground space, however, is defined as:
[A] space, whether improved, used for tent camping,
including pop-ups, by a single house keeping unit
for tenancies of less than six (6) months.
Liberally construing the word campground in Sec. 9.5-238(c)(4),
Monroe County Code, in order to ascertain the intent of the
drafters, as this Board should under Sec. 9.5-3(a), Monroe County
Code, a campground logically must be a project principally
consisting of, and devoted to, campground spaces. Simply put, a
campground in a SS district is a major conditional use whose
principal use is camping.
Section 10.
Applying
the
ci ted Monroe County Code
sections to the facts at hand, it is apparent that Appellee's
major conditional use cannot pass muster under the Code rubric of
campground. Appellee's students will not generally camp on site;
many more of the on-site structures are devoted to noncamping
uses, ie., lounges, logistic storage, permanent residences for 30
on-site staff members, etc., and the primary purpose of the whole
major conditional use is as an eleemosynary educational insti-
tute.
In short, Appellee's principal use is not a campground
under any reasonable reading of the Monroe County Code and, as
such, is not permittable in an SS district.
Section 11.
In view of the result reached in Section 1,
it is unnecessary to address either Appellant's other point on
appeal or Appellee/Cross Appellant's point.
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PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of
Monroe County, Florida, at a regular meeting of said Board held
on the 27th day of June, A.D., 1989.
BOARD OF COUNTY CO~1MISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
By
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Mayor/Chairman
(SEAL)
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:mannp JL. lKolbagc
BRANCH OFFICE
3117 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
MARATHON. FLORIDA 33050
TEL. (305) 743.9036
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
MONROE COUNTY
500 WHITEHEAD STREET
KEY WEST. FLORIDA 33040
TEL. (305) 294.4641
BRANCH OFFICE
P.O. BOX 379
PLANTATION KEY, FLORIDA 33070
TEL. (305) 852.9253
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July 7, 1989
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Department of Community Affairs
Howard Building
2571 Executive Center Circle, East
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
po c:r 1-/3(0 -Ier"
and
Department of Community Affairs
Post Office Box 990
Key West, Florida 33041
p.ca 1- /50 -/lY
Gentlemen:
At a Regular Meeting in formal session on June 27,
1989, the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County
adopted Resolution No. 394-1989 reversing the decision of
the Planning Commission's decision of February 16, 1989, as
memorialized in Planning Commission Development Order No.
05-89, approving Outward Bound's Campground Major
Conditional Use on Big Torch Key.
Enclosed please find a certified copy of said
Resolution.
very truly yours,
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Danny L. Kolhage
Clerk of Circuit Court
and ex officio Clerk
Board 0 County Commissioners
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by:
Rosalie L.
Deputy Clerk
cc: Mayor M. Puto
Commissioner E. Lytton
County Attorney R. Ludacer
County Administrator T. Brown
Asst. Co. Admin. D. Craig
File
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