OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CHERYL L. BROWN 117 WEST
DUVAL STREET,
DIRECTOR 4TH FLOOR, CITY
HALL
OFFICE (904) 630-1452
FAX (904) 630-2906
E-MAIL: CLBROWN@coj.net
LUZ COMMITTEE WORKSHOP MINUTES
October 1, 2013
4:30 p.m.
City Council Chamber
1st floor, City Hall
117 West Duval Street
Attendance: Council Members Lori Boyer (Chair), Bill Bishop, Matt
Schellenberg, Jim Love, Robin Lumb
Excused: Ray
Holt, Don Redman
Also: Jason
Gabriel – Office of General Counsel; Folks Huxford and Gary Kresel – Planning
and Development Department; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division; Phillip
Zamarron – Legislative Services Division
Chairwoman Boyer called the
meeting to order at 4:34 p.m.
Zoning/land use change
notification process
Gary Kresel of the Planning
and Development Department distributed and discussed the rezoning/land use
change notification letters the department sends out to property owners within
350 of the subject property. St. Johns
County and Nassau County send out a 1-page letter describing the proposed
action, while Jacksonville sends a 15-page packet which includes a map of the
site and descriptions of all the possible uses by right and by exception within
the proposed land use or zoning category. The department could save considerably on
printing and postage costs by reducing the size of the packet, but still wishes
to convey the information the public needs to be informed about the issue. In
response to a question, Mr. Kresel indicated that the department does not send
subsequent notification letters if a bill is deferred to a later date. Committee members suggested sending a single,
2-sided page similar to the adjoining counties, with a map included, that
briefly describes the proposed change and important dates and contact
information, and also including an Internet URL that would take interested
parties directly to the Planning Department’s file for more detailed
information. Committee members were
invited to suggest further improvements to the sample letter. Council Member Boyer suggested including both
the Planning Department and City Council Legislative Services Division contact
information so the public can be kept up-to-date as hearing dates change.
Comprehensive Plan
periodic evaluation and appraisal reviews
Ms. Boyer explained that the
state has revised its regulations on comprehensive plan reviews and removed the
description of items that were previously required to be included in the 7-year
Evaluation and Appraisal Reports produced by local governments to evaluate the
success of their comp plans.
Jacksonville needs to decide what should be included in our EAR and what
purpose we want the evaluation process to serve. Council Member Bishop
requested the Planning Department to suggest what form the EAR should take and
what information it should contain that would be useful for long range planning
purposes. Council Member Schellenberg
suggested a summary overview report of all the factors covered by the comp plan
and a deeper analysis of identified problem areas or issues of concern. Ms. Boyer suggested a chart showing all land
use map conversions to help identify trends in overall land use patterns in the
city. Mr. Bishop suggested maps showing what development has taken place in conformity
with the Future Land Use Map and what development required amendments to the
map before it could take place. He urged
the department to be true planners and to write a readable report that says
something concrete about our current planning situation and offers creative
solutions and plans for the future.
There being no further
business, the agenda meeting was adjourned at 5:01 p.m.
Jeff
Clements, Council Research Division (904) 630-1404
Posted 10.4.13 11:00
a.m.