Okaloosa County BOCC — June 16, 2015 — Attachment 1 Administrative Adjustments Strike Through and Underline — reading text

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 Damage Prevention regulations; allowing expansion of any nonconforming use or structure, or; as otherwise specified in this Code. 1.A.04.03 Procedure Explanation: The existing Administrative Adjustment provisions of the LDC do not provide any written procedure for the filing, noticing of adjacent property owners, processing, or timelines for such applications. The proposed language underlined below corrects this by providing uniform standards for application contents, noticing of adjacent property owners, and establishes timelines for the processes involved. 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 the obtaining the adjustment. 2. The applicant 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 1.A.04.04, below, and shall render the decision in writing to the applicant no more than 5 days following the earlier of 1A.04.03.3 a and b. 1A.04.034 Review Guidelines: The Planning Official shall make a final decision regarding an application for administrative adjustment based upon consideration of the following guidelines and criteria. 1. There has been no objection from any adjacent property owner or other potentially adversely affected party. The comments and objections received from adjoining property owners. Explanation: The existing language (stricken) seems to imply that a single objection from one of many possible adjacent property owners would be sufficient to deny an administrative adjustment which is otherwise reasonable. The proposed language mandates that the Planning Official must consider comments and objections from neighboring property owners, but allows flexibility in the decision. It should be noted that Section 1A04.07 allows for the appeal of the Planning Official’s decisions regarding administrative adjustments. 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, safety, and welfare of the public. 3. The action involved provides a reasonable adjustment under the specific circumstances of each application. 4. The action involved is generally consistent with the spirit and intent of this Code and the Comprehensive Plan. 5. The action involved is the absolute minimum necessary to provide relief under the specific circumstances of each application. 6. The action involved otherwise complies and is consistent with other applicable requirements of this Code and any other county, state, or federal laws and regulations. 1A.04.045 Allowable Adjustments: Only the following adjustments may be approved by the Planning Official, or designee. 1. Bulk Regulations. Bulk regulations including yard setbacks, building height, lot size, etc. may be reduced no more than 20% under those prescribed in Chapter 2 of this Code. 2. Parking Requirements. Parking requirements may be reduced no more than 20% under those prescribed in subsections 6.04.02 and 6.04.03 of this Code. 3. Parking Lot Pavement & Striping. Reduce or waiver the requirement for paving and striping parking lots, except handicapped parking requirements, prescribed in subsection 6.04.061 of this Code, after approval from the Public Works Department. This does not include reduction of parking spaces required pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act or Florida Accessibility Code. Explanation: It has never been staff’s intention that the administrative adjustment process be used to reduce the amount of handicapped parking required under applicable federal and state rules. This is unambiguously expressed by the proposed language. 4. Landscaping. Landscaping requirements may be reduced no more than 20% under those prescribed in subsection 6.05.02 of this Code. 5. Compatibility Screening & Buffering. Screening and buffering requirements may be reduced or waived when it can be conclusively demonstrated that compatibility buffering is not necessary to protect adjacent land uses. 6. Keeping Chickens and Ducks. The keeping of poultry as it relates to chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), and domesticated ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus - Pekins and Indian runner only) may be allowed in the R-1 zoning district subject to the following restrictions: Explanation: The propose language, below, provides the specific standards through which chickens and two varieties of duck may be kept on properties in the R-1 zone by way of an administrative adjustment. This language is proposed as part of staff’s recommended changes to fulfill the Board of County Commissioners’ directive to develop language within the Land Development Code to allow the limited keeping of poultry in residential areas under controlled circumstances. a. The minimum size of a residential lot on which chickens or domesticated ducks may be kept is one-half (1/2) of an acre. No more than 4 chickens or domesticated ducks may be kept per individual lot by way of an administrative adjustment. The keeping of more than 4 chickens or domesticated ducks on an individual residential lot shall be by way of special exception. b. Roosters are prohibited. c. No person shall slaughter any chickens or ducks on any residential property.  d. The sale of eggs or any other products is prohibited. e. The chickens or ducks shall be provided with a house/coop and must be kept in the house/coop during non-daylight hours. The space per bird in the house/coop shall not be less than four (4) square feet per bird. The house/coop must be impermeable to rodents, wild birds and predators, including dogs and cats. f. Ducks must be provided a wading pool (a children’s “kiddie pool” with a minimum radius of no less than 48 inches will suffice) which must be maintained with clean, fresh water. g. Under no circumstances shall the house/coop be closer than twenty (20) feet to any property line of an adjacent property, or within thirty (30) feet of any adjacent residential structure. h. During daylight hours the chickens or domesticated ducks may be kept either in the hen house/coop or a fenced enclosure in order to allow open air ranging. The top of any fenced enclosure must be covered with fence or chicken wire to prevent the birds from leaving the enclosure and to prevent the entry of predators. i. Enclosed areas may not be any closer than five feet (5’) from any property line, j. All fenced enclosures shall be so constructed and maintained as to prevent the harboring of rodents or other pests within the enclosure. k. Houses/coops and covered enclosures may not be located in the front yard. l. Odors from chickens or ducks, their manure, or other chicken or duck related substances shall not be detectable at the property boundaries. m. Houses/coops and enclosures shall be kept in a neat condition, including provision of clean dry bedding materials and regular removal of waste materials. All manure not used for composting or fertilizing must be removed promptly. n. All feed and other items associated with the keeping of chickens or ducks that are likely to attract or to become infested with or infected by rodents or other pests shall be kept in secure containers or otherwise protected as to prevent rodents and other pests from gaining access. o. No dog or cat that kills a chicken or duck will, for that reason alone, be considered a dangerous or aggressive animal. 1A.04.056 Application: Application for administrative adjustment shall be made only on forms provided by the Department. 1A.04.067 Appeals: A final decision regarding an administrative adjustment made by the Planning Official may be appealed by an adversely affected party in the manner prescribed in Section 11.02.00 of this Code.