Okaloosa County BOCC — June 7, 2016 — D - 1A.04.00 Admin. Adjust. Height

EXHIBIT D 1A.04.00 ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENT. 1A.04.01 Purpose and Intent: The purpose of the administrative adjustment process is to provide flexibility in property development without requiring the time and expense of adjustments from this Code through a public hearing process, and is further intended to provide a streamlined alternative to the variance process heard by the Board of Adjustment. 1A.04.02 Authority: The Planning Official, or designee, shall have the authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny applications for administrative adjustment consistent with the requirements specified in this Section. Any such adjustment shall be from the requirements of this Code only. The Planning Official does not have the authority to approve an administrative adjustment for: allowable uses, density, intensity, or any other provision prescribed in the Comprehensive Plan; any requirement of the Flood Hazard Area regulations; allowing expansion of any nonconforming use or structure; requirements of the Okaloosa Island Covenants; or, as otherwise specified in this Code. 1A.04.03 Procedure. 1. An individual requesting an administrative adjustment pursuant to this part shall obtain and fill out all the necessary information on the application form as provided by the Growth Management Department. If the applicant is someone other than the owner of the property for which the adjustment is requested, the application must be accompanied by a notarized letter authorizing the applicant to act as the property owner's agent for purposes of obtaining the adjustment. 2. The application shall send to each adjacent property owner the following: a. a letter (using the template provided by the Growth Management Department) stating the exact adjustment requested and which shall also notify the adjacent property owner of his or her right to object to the requested adjustment and the timeframe within which objections, no objections, or comments must be returned to the Growth Management Department; b. a letter on which the adjacent property owner can indicate whether he or she has no objection or objects to the proposed adjustment, along with a postage-paid envelope addressed to the Okaloosa County Planning Manager, 402 Brookemeade Drive, Crestview, FL 32536. All notices and materials sent pursuant to this part shall be sent via US Mail Return Receipt with the return receipt addressed to: Okaloosa County Planning Manager, 402 Brookemeade Drive, Crestview, FL 32536. The applicant must also provide a list with the names and addresses of all adjacent owners to whom the notices were sent, along with copies of the receipts from the US Post Office indicating the day on which each notice was sent. 3. The Growth Management Department shall begin its review of the requested administrative adjustment upon receipt of the application, but shall not render any decision until such time as the first of the following occurs: a. the Department has received letters from all the adjacent property owners stating their objections or lack thereof; or, b. fourteen (14) calendar days have lapsed from the date the post mark on the last return receipt received by the County indicates that the notification was received by the adjacent property owner. 4. The Planning Official shall render a decision regarding the proposed adjustment based on the guidelines provided in 1A.04.04, below, and shalI render the decision in writing to the applicant no more than 5 days folIowing the earlier of 1A.04.03.3 a and b. 1A.04.04 Review Guidelines: The Planning Official shall make a final decision regarding an application for administrative adjustment based upon consideration of the following factors. 1. The comments and objections received from adjoining property owners. 2. The administrative adjustment will not interfere with the rights of others or create harm or hardship for other property owners, and will not otherwise constitute a threat to the general health