Property Description
The subject property known as Pappy’s Patch is approximately 67 acres located at the northeastern corner of Florida Avenue and Deleon Street, west of Lake Charm Drive East Rural Area. The future land use designations on the subject property are Rural-3 (1du/3ac) and Rural-5 (1du/5ac), and the zoning designations are A-3 and A-5. The property is made up of 14 separate parcels owned by three (3) different property owners: Dew-Florida Avenue, LLC; Stevenson, Judith A CO-TRS & May, Joan R CO-TRS; and Dew-1675 Deleon, LLC.
History
Seminole County has a long-standing recognition of the rural character and agricultural primacy of the land now known as the East Rural Area. Both the 1977 and 1987 Seminole County Comprehensive Plans designated the area as General Rural and Suburban Estates discouraging development requiring urban services.
In 1991, following the enactment of the 1985 Florida Growth Management Act and the completion of the 1991 Seminole County Rural Area Plan, Seminole County established the Urban/Rural Boundary in the Comprehensive Plan. The Boundary established the delineation between the Urban Service Area and the East Rural Area of the County. Further, as recommended by the 1991 Seminole County Rural Area Plan, the County adopted the Rural Future Land Use Designations: Rural-3, Rural-5, Rural-10; and supporting Comprehensive Plan Goals, Objectives and Policies to strengthen and preserve the character and lifestyle of the East Rural Area as well as discourage urban sprawl.
Subsequently, some lands were removed from the Rural Area and some were annexed into cities and urbanized.
In 2004, as a result of these annexations and to strengthen the Rural Area’s protection, the Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance No. 2004-36 proposing amendments to the Seminole County Home Rule Charter, through referendum vote to designate a Rural Boundary, establish a Rural Area, and provide that the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan control the density and intensity of development on all Rural Area lands.
Seminole County voters approved a referendum vote (56.5% approval) establishing a Rural Area and a Rural Boundary in the Home Rule Charter through a map and legal description. The Charter was amended to include Section 5.2 Rural Boundary and Rural Area. In establishing the Rural Area, the Board of County Commissioners excluded existing incorporated land on the map and in the legal description. Therefore, the 1991 Urban/Rural Boundary line and Charter Rural Boundary line only differ in that the Charter Boundary line does not include lands annexed into cities prior to 2004, or Chuluota, which was removed from the Rural Area in 1999. Later, the Rook and Mermel properties were also removed from the Charter Rural Boundary line (please see history below).
Section 5.2 Rural Boundary and Rural Area of the Seminole County Charter states:
A. Rural Lands.
There is hereby established a Rural Boundary as more delineated on that certain map titled “Rural Boundary Map” and dated August 10, 2004, and a “Rural Area” as described in that certain legal description titled “Legal Description for Rural Areas” and dated August 10, 2004, both of which are on file in the official records of the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners. “Rural Lands”, for the purpose of this Section, are those contained within the area depicted in the above referenced legal description. After the effective date of this section the Future Land Use Element of the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan shall include a copy of the map and legal description.
B. Removal of Property from Rural Area.
The Board of County Commissioners may remove property from the “Rural Area” and amend the Rural Boundary accordingly, by ordinance whenever, in the opinion of the Board, such a change is necessary. Nothing herein shall authorize the County Commission to expand the “Rural Area” beyond the area contained in the above referenced legal description.
C. Future Land Use Designations.
From and after the effective date of this section the future land use designations contained in the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan shall control the density and intensity of development on all Rural Lands, as that term is defined herein. The Board of County Commissioners must approve all changes to the future land use designations of all Rural Lands, regardless of whether some or all of the Rural Lands are located within a municipality.
Section 5.2 (C) of the Charter, requires that the Board of County Commissioners approve all changes to the Future Land Use designations regardless of whether any lands in the Rural Area are located within a municipality. The Charter does not preclude a rural area property from annexing into a City but does give land use authority to the County.
In 2005, as directed by the 2004 Charter Amendment the Board of County Commissioners adopted a Rural Area Legal Description and associated maps into the Comprehensive Plan. FLU Issue 11 of the Future Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan was updated to read:
“In 2004, Seminole County voters approved a referendum that established a Rural Area and a Rural Boundary in the Home Rule Charter through a map and a legal description. The Charter Amendment also required the County to add the map and legal description to the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan, which are herein added to the FLU Exhibits as “Rural Boundary Map” and “Rural Area Legal Description”. The Charter Amendment stated that, for the legally described Rural Area as shown in the “Rural Boundary Map”, the Future Land Use designations contained in the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan shall control the density and intensity of development. Additionally, the Board of County Commissioners must approve all changes to the Future Land Use designations regardless of whether any lands in the Rural Area are located within a municipality.”
Since the adoption of the 2004 Charter Amendment, the County has removed property from the Rural Area pursuant to Section 5.2(B) of the Charter on two occasions (Map attached as Exhibit A):
1. The first was the Rook property in 2006, which was annexed into the City of Winter Springs less than a month prior to the 2004 Charter Amendment referendum vote. Litigation between the City and County regarding the 2004 Charter Amendment ensued and in order to settle the lawsuit; resolve the conflict between the City of Winter Springs and Seminole County; and to ultimately protect the Rural Boundary established by the Charter Amendment, the Board of County Commissioners voted to remove the Rook property from the Rural Area; and
2. In 2013, the second property to be removed from the Rural Area was the Mermel Property for inclusion in the Southern Oaks subdivision. The request to remove the property from the Rural Area was done in conjunction with a tri-party agreement between the County, the City of Winter Springs, and the property owner restricting the use of the property to a stormwater pond, tot lot and green space and prohibiting the acreage of the Mermel property from being included in the density calculation of the Southern Oaks subdivision. In addition, no vertical construction was permitted on the land. According to the August 27, 2013 BCC Minutes for this item, Staff and the Commissioners, who voted in favor of the Ordinance to remove the property, felt that the request was a unique situation and with the execution of the tri-party agreement and associated deed restrictions the removal of the property would not disrupt the integrity of the Rural Boundary.
Both the Cities of Winter Springs and Oviedo are contiguous to the subject property; however Future Land Use Policy 1.8.4 of the City of Winter Springs Comprehensive Plan prohibits the processing of voluntary annexations and the initiation of involuntary annexations east of Deleon Street.
Policy 1-1.3.5 Annexations of the City of Oviedo Comprehensive Plan states that, the City shall only annex unincorporated properties located within the Future Oviedo Annexation Area Boundary as provided for in the City of Oviedo/Seminole County Joint Planning Interlocal Agreement (JPA). Section 4(b) of the JPA states that any lands annexed into the City from the Rural Area, as designated in the Seminole County Home Rule Charter and Seminole County Comprehensive Plan, may only have a future land use amendment approved by the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, who retains final authority for such actions involving all lands in the Rural Area, regardless of whether said lands are in the Unincorporated County or in the City. However, the City of Oviedo/Seminole County Joint Planning Agreement is expired. Staff is currently working with City Staff on a new Joint Planning Area Agreement.
Request
Strawberry Lane, LLC is requesting to remove the subject property from the Rural Boundary established by the 2004 Charter Amendment in Section 5.2 of the County Charter and adopted in the Seminole County Comprehensive Plan. The request does not include an associated amendment to the future land use designation or zoning designation of the subject property.
The Applicant is requesting to have the subject property removed from the Rural Boundary pursuant to Section 5.2 (B) Removal of Property from the Rural Area of the Seminole County Charter so that it is no longer considered rural land and therefore no longer subject to Section 5.2(C) Future Land Use Designations of the Seminole County Charter. The Applicant is requesting that the County “abdicate authority over land use decision making in the Rural Area”.
Seminole County Charter Section 5.2(B) states:
B. Removal of Property from the Rural Area. The Board of County Commissioners may remove property from the Rural Area and amend the Rural Boundary accordingly, by Ordinance, whenever, in the opinion of the Board, such a change is necessary.
In accordance with this Charter provision, the Board of County Commissioner’s decision to remove property from the Rural Boundary is a legislative decision. Legislative decisions must be based on reasonable grounds with adequate consideration of circumstances, so they are not arbitrary and capricious.
The term necessary is dependent upon the facts and circumstances presented by the Applicant to the Board for consideration.
The Applicant submitted a letter (attached as Exhibit B) requesting the removal of the subject property from the Rural Area and outlines in that letter that they believe it is necessary for the Board to remove from the property from the Rural Area because: circumstances have changed since 2004; and by removing the property from the Rural Area the developer will be afforded fair due process. However, the Applicant has not demonstrated a change in circumstances and the request does not provide any supporting facts or conditions specific to the subject property as to why the requested change is necessary. Furthermore, given the configuration of the subject property, if the request were approved, it would create a rural enclave and potential incompatibilities since two intervening parcels between DeLeon Street and N. Division Street are not included in the request.
Absent of any unique circumstance related to the subject property, staff believes that pursuant to Section 5.2(C) of the Seminole County Charter, the Future Land Use Element Plan Amendment Review Standards for Amending the Urban/Rural Boundary (Attached as Exhibit C) could be utilized to demonstrate necessity. The Applicant has not provided any documentation demonstrating compliance with these standards nor have they illustrated a unique circumstance or evidence of public interest on which the Board may make a finding of necessity.
Thus, in Staff’s professional opinion, the Applicant has not provided a basis to establish that the removal of the subject property from the Rural Area is necessary under Section 5.2(B) of the Seminole County Charter.