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Item M4 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: March 20 , 2002 Division: Growth Management Bulk Item: Yes No X Department: N/A AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Approval of resolution authorizing the Growth Management Division staff to prepare a single, comprehensive request for beneficial rights determination on behalf of the owners of 21 building permit applications awarded a ROGO allocation on Big Pine, which have not been issued permits due to the an inadequate level of service on U.S. Highway 1. ITEM BACKGROUND: Due to the level of service problems on U.S. Highway 1 on Big Pine Key, a moratorium has been in place on all new traffic generating development, including single family residences for a total of almost eight years. A total of 26 applicants have been waiting to be issued a building permit of which 18 have a ROGO allocation and 5 have scored sufficiently high to receive an allocation, but require a nutrient reduction credit to be formerly awarded an allocation. All of the 21 applicants with a ROGO allocation, have been on hold for approximately five years. Six of these applicants are presently suing the County for a permanent and temporary taking of property rights without compensation. In the staffs estimation, the shortest time period that the moratorium could be lifted may be six months to a year with the programming of a cross-island connector and three years if the County must wait for completion of the proposed three-lane facility. Therefore, the County staff believes that based on the results coming from the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan process and recognizing the continued hardships and costs to these applicants, it would be in the public interest to provide an opportunity for relief to these applicants through the beneficial use process. The staff is recommending that it be authorized to prepare a single comprehensive request for beneficial use determination on behalf of the owners of 21 building permit applications awarded ROGO allocations on Big Pine, which have not been issued permits due to the inadequate level of service on U.S, Highway 1, PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: N/ A CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES: N/A STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Approval TOTAL COST: N/A BUDGETED: Yes N/ A No COST TO COUNTY: N/A REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes N/A No AMOUNT PER MONTH N/A Year APPROVED BY: County Atty X DOCUMENTATION: Included X Risk Management _N/A_ DIVISION DIRECTOR APPROVAL: To Follow Not Required_ DISPOSITION: AGENDA ITEM # ~~ County of Monroe Growth Management Division 2798 Overseas Highway Suite 410 Marathon, Florida 33050 Voice: (305) 289 2500 FAX: (305) 289 2536 Board of County Commissioners Mayor Charles "Sonny" McCoy, Dis!. 3 Mayor Pro Tern Dixie M. Spehar, Dis!. I Comm. Murray Nelson, District 5 Comm. George Neugent, District 2 Comm. Nora Williams, District 4 MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Timothy J. McGarry, AICP_L11I1 Director of Growth Manag~ l March 5, 2002 DATE: SUBJECT: Resolution Authorizing the Staff to Prepare A Single, Comprehensive Request for Beneficial Use Determination Overview The Growth Management Division staff is requesting authorization from the Board of County Commissioners to prepare a single, comprehensive request for beneficial use determination, on behalf of the owners of 21 building permit applications awarded ROGO allocations on Big Pine Key, which have not been issued a building permit over the last five years due to the inadequate level of service on U.S. Highway 1. A copy of the proposed authorizing resolution is attached, Background Due to the level of service problems on U.S. Highway 1 on Big Pine Key, a moratorium has been in place for a total of almost eight years on all new traffic generating development, including single family residences. A total of 26 applicants have been patiently waiting to be issued a building permit. 21 of these applicants have been awarded a RaGa allocation and 5 have scored sufficiently high to receive an allocation, but only require a nutrient reduction credit. Of the 21 applications with ROGO allocation awards, 18 were processed prior to the nutrient reduction credit requirement in July 1997 and the remaining three either purchased or obtained their nutrient reduction credits through the normal process., Although the remaining 5 applicants received sufficiently high scores to receive an allocation, they never received any nutrient reduction credits due to the backlog of permits requiring credits outside of Big Pine Key. By fall of this year, all the owners of the 21 permit applications with ROGO allocation awards will have been waiting at least five years to be issued permits to build their residences. The remaining five applications will have been in the system less than five years. C: \DOCUMENT\A GENDA \beneficialreport,doc Page 1 of3 It should be noted that five of the owners of the applications among the 21 are presently suing the County for a permanent and temporary taking of property rights without compensation. Issue In the staffs estimation, the shortest period of time that the moratorium could be lifted may be at least six months to a year with the programming of a cross-island connector. If the cross-arterial does not go forward, the staff estimates that it will be at least three years if the County must wait for completion of the proposed three-lane facility. The County staff is concerned about further delays and hardships experienced by these applicants until the level of service issue can be fully addressed, Five years is a very long period of time to wait for a permit. The modeling results for the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) demonstrate that Big Pine Key can accommodate another 200 new dwelling units over the next 20 years without compromising the Key Deer's and other endangered/threatened species habitats. Among these 200 new dwelling units accounted for by the proposed HCP are the 26 approved building permit applications either with a ROGO allocation award or awaiting an allocation award once a nutrient reduction credit is provided. The County staff believes that based on the results coming from the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan process and the recognition of the costs incurred by and hardships endured by these applicants, it would be in the public interest to provide an opportunity for relief through the beneficial use process. Although a beneficial use determination would allow these applicants to receive building permits by overriding concurrency requirements of the County's Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations, the County Growth Management Division staff believes that any such relief should be consistent with the proposed HCP. Thus, the number of building permits issued should be limited to no more than 10 per ROGO year. Therefore, the staff proposes to limit any comprehensive beneficial use determination to the first 21 building permit applications, which have received ROGO allocations. [This course of action does not preclude the owners of the remaining five applications to file their own applications for beneficial use.] Hopefully, the level of service issue will be addressed within the next year to allow the remaining five to be issued with needing a beneficial use determination. The staff proposes to prepare a single, comprehensive request for beneficial use determination on behalf of the owners of the 21 building permit applications at no charge to the applicants. The request will establish the case for the applicants based on the criteria for beneficial use determination and will include recommended special conditions for the release of the permits to ensure consistency with the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan, County regulations, and the County's agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for review of County building permits in designated environmentally sensitive lands. C:\DOCUMENT\AGENDA \beneficialreport.doc Page 2 of3 The prepared request and staff report will be presented to the Hearing Officer for determination of beneficial use. The Hearing Officer will prepare a recommended determination for consideration by the BOCC. Any grant of beneficial use by BOCC will still require DCA approval. Recommendation The Growth Management Division staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve the attached resolution to a authorize it to prepare a single, comprehensive request for beneficial use determination for the subject building permit applications on Big Pine Key, C: \DOCUMENT\AGENDA \beneficialreport,doc Page 3 of3 RESOLUTION -2002 A RESOLUTION OF THE MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AUTHORIZING THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT DIVISION STAFF TO PREPARE A SINGLE, COMPREHENSIVE REQUEST FOR BENEFICIAL USE DETERMINATION ON BEHALF OF THE OWNERS OF 21 BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS AWARDED ROGO ALLOCATIONS ON BIG PINE KEY WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN ISSUED PERMITS DUE TO INADEQUATE LEVEL OF SERVICE ON U.S. HIGHWAY 1 WHEREAS, the Big Pine Key segment ofU.S, Highway 1 has been operating at an inadequate level of service for almost eight years; and, WHEREAS, this inadequate level of service has required that no building permits for new residential buildings be issued on Big Pine Key; and, WHEREAS, permits for 21 approved building permit applications awarded ROGO allocations have been waiting nearly five years or more to be issued; and, WHEREAS, the Growth Management Division staff believes that it will be at least six months to a year before any likely relief is provided from the traffic concurrency constraints on permitting; WHEREAS, the results of the impact modeling for the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan indicate that Big Pine Keys can accommodate an additional 200 new dwelling units at 10 units per year, including the 21 to be built with the subject building permits awaiting issuance; and, WHEREAS, Policy 101.18.5, Monroe County Year 2010 Comprehensive Plan and Chapter 9.5, Article VI, Division 2, Monroe County Code, provide an administrative process, called "beneficial use," to grant relief to property owners that may have been denied reasonable economic use of their property; and, WHEREAS, the Growth Management Division staff is of the opinion that costs and hardship to these applicants from the more than a five-year delay provides probable grounds for favorable consideration under the beneficial use provisions of the County's regulations; and, WHEREAS, beneficial use determination will allow the 21 permits to be issued despite the traffic concurrency problem on Big Pine Key; now therefore C: \DOCUMENT\ VESBENE\bigpinebeneficial.doc Page 1 of2 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA THAT: 1. The Growth Management Division staff is hereby authorized to prepare a single staff-sponsored request for beneficial use determination for the 21 building permit applications with ROGO allocation awards on Big Pine Key, which are to be processed in accordance with the criteria and procedures in Sections 9.5-171 through 9.5-174, Monroe County Code, 2. The Growth Management Division staff is also directed to incorporate in its beneficial use report to the Hearing Officer specific recommendations that ensure consistency with the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan, Florida Building Code, and Land Development Regulations, and coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the release of any permits. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners, Monroe County, Florida at a regular meeting of said Board held on the March 20, 2002. Mayor Charles "Sonny" McCoy Mayor Pro Tern Dixie Spehar Commissioner Murray Nelson Commissioner George Neugent Commissioner Nora Williams (SEAL) Attest: Danny L. Kolhage, Clerk BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA By: By: Deputy Clerk Mayor/Chairperson C: \DOCUMENT\ VESBENE\bigpinebeneficia1.doc Page 20[2