title
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FEES (B)
Ordinance No. 0-09-65; Petition No. PZ-09-76 TCH
An ordinance of the City of Gainesville, Florida, relating to environmental review fees; amending section 30-250 of the Land Development Code of the City of Gainesville by creating an environmental review process and requirements; and amending Appendix A, Schedule of Fees, Rates and Charges, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Gainesville to add fees for environmental review; providing directions to the codifier; providing a severability clause; and providing an immediate effective date.
recommendation
The City Commission adopt the proposed ordinance.
explanation
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT
The need for environmental fees was identified as a budgetary issue in the summer of 2007. Public Works staff subsequently developed a fee structure and made a presentation on the matter to the builders association in March 2008. A fee study was completed for the City in May 2008. The fee study recognized that there are expenses incurred by the City in doing environmental reviews of land development applications, including land use, zoning and development plans, and therefore recommended that an environmental review fee be established.
This ordinance proposes to amend the Land Development Code to establish environmental review and process requirements. Public Works Department staff has worked with the City Attorney's Office on these requirements, which establish the scope of environmental review; authorize the City Manager or designee to conduct environmental reviews; establish the levels of review; require a review report; and establish fee requirements. In addition, this ordinance proposes to amend Appendix A, Schedule of Fees, Rates and Charges, of the Code of Ordinances, to establish fees for environmental reviews.
Public notice was published in the Gainesville Sun on June 30, 2009. The Plan Board held a public hearing on July 23, 2009, and by a vote of 7-0, recommended the City Commission approve the petition, revised by the Plan Board as follows: include all rezonings for purposes of environmental review; include significant ecological communities and significant uplands in the list of environmental features of concern; exclude mitigation for trees from environmental review (as this is regulated elsewhere in the Code); and provide that Level 1 review may be required by the City Manager or designee. Staff has incorporated all of the revisions, except for the latter. Staff is concerned with Level 1 review being discretionary. Staff believes the real concern of the Plan Board and citizens centered around requiring Level 1 review due to the presence of a water well. To address this concern, staff has removed wells from the list of environmental features of concern, so that presence of a well will no longer trigger a Level 1 review.