Planning seeks comments on Unified Development Code (UDC)

Sarasota County Planning Dept. is looking for input on its effort to make the development and zoning regulations more consistent and user friendly. Here's its latest update:

Sarasota County wants your input! 

2nd Preliminary Draft of the UDC Now available 

Sarasota County is creating a Unified Development Code (UDC) that updates and brings together the land development and zoning regulations, which control the development of all properties in the unincorporated area of Sarasota County. The new code will be more user-friendly and allow the public to more easily find the rules that apply to a property. Sarasota County is committed to keeping the public involved and up-to-date throughout this process. A UDC Project web page has been established for this purpose at www.scgov.net (Keywords: 'Unified Development Code'). The proposed UDC ultimately will be subject to the full public hearing process and presented to various groups, advisory committees, and the Sarasota County Commission for consideration. Sarasota County staff have been working with the consulting firm of Calvin, Giordano & Associates (CGA) to create the UDC. Phase I of this 3 phased effort began in March of 2017 with a discovery process conducted by CGA that involved discussions with various representatives of the community, public review bodies, and county staff. Phase II engaged the community through 3 public workshops in September, October, and November of last year. Phase III will involve the full public hearing review process that concludes with the Board of County Commission taking action on a final draft of the proposed UDC. CGA has prepared a 2nd Preliminary Draft of the proposed UDC, which is a full draft of the UDC, and it is now available for public review on the UDC Project web page.  The County fully anticipates that the UDC will continue to evolve as it makes its way through the development process, including organizational changes, additional updates, and more refined editing. There will be an additional draft of the proposed UDC prepared by CGA that responds to comments received on the 2nd Preliminary Draft. As review comments are received and modifications are made, it is anticipated that there will be a revised draft of the proposed UDC submitted for further review by mid-March of 2018. A formal review draft will subsequently be prepared by CGA for the full public hearing process by the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. This formal review process is anticipated to be initiated in May of 2018. You may provide your comments directly on the UDC Project web page or by submitting them to the Planning and Development Services Department at planner@scgov.net. Input received will be addressed by the consultant as the UDC Project moves forward. Sarasota County prohibits discrimination in all services, programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, familial status, religion, or genetic information. Persons with disabilities who require assistance or alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), or who wish to file a complaint, should contact Sarasota County ADA/Civil Rights Coordinator, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, Florida 34236, Phone: 941-861-5000; TTY 7-1-1 or 1-800-955-8771, E-mail: adacoordinator@scgov.net. Thank you for your time and interest in this effort! We appreciate your feedback!

Two planning stories from the News Leader

Sarasota News Leader -

Draft of county’s Unified Development Code available on county webpage so public can offer comments

Goal is to combine Sarasota County’s zoning and land-use regulations in a much more user-friendly documentFile photo

The Fort Lauderdale consulting firm working with Sarasota County staff to update the county’s zoning and land use regulations into a Unified Development Code (UDC) has produced its first draft, the county has announced.

That document is available on the UDC Project webpage, a news release says. Anyone may provide comments directly on the UDC Project webpage or by submitting them to the Planning and Development Services Department at planner@scgov.net, the release points out. Those comments will be addressed by the consultant as the project moves forward, the release notes.

More . . .

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Those concerned with the Quad parcels near the Celery Fields wonder why Sarasota County is in such a rush to sell them (after 20 years of doing nothing). Meanwhile, in Englewood, parcels once purchased by the County for use as a park are now for sale at a deep discount:

Sarasota News Leader - snippets:

County to lose more than $2.3 million on two Englewood parcels it bought years ago for a park — if it can sell both at board-approved prices

The first parcel, located at 50 Southwind Drive, was purchased by the Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department for $1,250,000 in 2007, “with the intention of creating a neighborhood waterfront park in conjunction with an adjacent site purchased separately by the Englewood CRA [Community Redevelopment Area],” a staff memo said.

That adjacent property was the land at 800 W. Perry St., for which the Englewood CRA paid $2,203,656, a separate staff memo explained.

...

“I think the lesson to be learned here is we don’t purchase property as a park without consulting with the neighbors on the other side to see if they want a park,” Commissioner Nancy Detert added. “That’s what I’ve found, historically has been the situation with this. It’s really hard to imagine that we’ve had [the land] this long, years, and years and years,” she continued, “and it hasn’t appreciated.”

The first UDC workshop: Purpose, Customers, Scope

Matt Osterhoudt, Planning Director, foreground. Chris Brimo, CGA, background

The first of three public workshops on the UDC to be conducted by the Sarasota Planning Dept. was held on Wed., Sept. 20, 2017 in Osprey.

UDC? What is it?

The Unified Development Code aims to bring together about 700 pages of Sarasota County zoning rules and 100 pages + appendices of Land Development Regulations.

Timing?

The project began in March 2017 and is designed to last about 18 months, through Summer 2018.

Cost?

$285,000, from Zoning funds.

Purpose?

To clean up conflicts, contradictions, outdated references and other incompatibilities between Sarasota's Zoning Code, last overhauled in 2003, and its Land Development Regs (LDRs), even older than that.

Consultant?

Calvin Giordano & Associates (CGA) - Florida consulting firm.

Benefit?

According to Sarasota County Planning Director Matt Osterhoudt, there is overlap, redundancy, and inconsistencies between the zoning code, which regulates everything from land use to chicken tending, and the LDRs, which are the rules that a few big developers use when they propose new developments.  

Bringing these two codes into harmony will save time and money for those that use the codes. This seems an eminently sensible thing to do.

Main beneficiaries?

The developers, builders, and contractors who need a clear, well ordered set of rules to look to when they are proposing new developments.

And the Public?

The public, the communities that are impacted by new development, is - or should be - a constituency that is addressed here. But it's not clear whether that is the case. (See also this open letter regarding the public's role in planning).

At the UDC workshop there were in fact more members of the public than there were members of the developer and builder communities. People with questions about impacts, with concerns about weakening the Comp Plan, and with strong objections to current rules that fail the public interest. One example: the weak and very narrow notification policies that require developers to let folks within 500, or 750 feet of a target site, know that a rezoning is proposed. 

Another example: antiquated land use designations out of sync with the rapidly changing landscapes of Sarasota County. Recent example: A developer proposed a demolition waste plant in a burgeoning residential, retail, and eco-tourism area because of a land use designation from 37 years ago -- a time when no neighborhoods, schools, businesses, or nature preserve were there. 

What's the problem?

At the workshop, when members of the public noted that certain notification procedures for public lands seem to fail to reach people who will care, and who will be affected if a proposed development (such as a waste plant at the Celery Fields) were to go forward, the response was that surplus lands are "outside the scope" of this UDC code overhaul.

At this point, Sarasota County Planning appears to view as its main customers those developers and builders who must use these codes every day in order to do what they do. Fair enough. And the project seems well organized to accomplish its task. 

Planning views the Board of Commissioners -- its employer -- as another constituency it must please.

But it's not clear whether Planning fully recognizes that the Public who elected the Board, and whose taxes pay both the Board's and the Planning Department's wages, have standing here as well. 

What can be done to give the Public clear relevant standing?

As environmental advocate Jono Miller put it after the hearing, one way to address this is to have the public involved up front, early in the "scoping session" that designs projects like the UDC code, sets project parameters, and decides whose interests will be served.  

More representatives from the Public were at this workshop than developers, builders or contractors.  

Builders and contractors will surely benefit from a cleaned-up, better organized code. But will our communities see any benefit to their concerns about notification, updated land use, and more? Maybe we need to be there as equal participants when future such projects are scoped. Advisory boards could reserve seats for the public interest.

What's next?

The public interest here is entirely distinct from that of the developers, builders and contractors. It needs to be better understood and integrated into the planning process. 

One can hope that the openness of the Planning Dept. to record all comments on the UDC update, and to transmit them to the Board, will register. 

Matt Osterhoudt also stated that he and fellow planners will make themselves available to meet with any individual or group that wishes to do so.

Anyone may get in touch with Planning via any of three ways:

• Email staff at planner@scgov.net

• Submit comments through this form on the planning website.

• Meet directly with Matt Osterhoudt or Bill Spaeth of Sarasota Planning.

Better understanding of the needs of those who use county codes, and those impacted by that use, can come from closer dialog.

Two more public workshops are planned in October and November. The first revised code document is expected to be ready to be seen in December.