Okaloosa County BOCC — February 18, 2014 — Action Item Printout — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: February 18, 2014 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Mid Bay Regional Activity Center Amendments DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: 5 - Commissioner Windes STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Decide whether to expand the proposed Mid-Bay Regional Activity Center BACKGROUND: The 187.1 acre Mid-Bay Regional Activity Center (RAC) was approved by the Board of County Commissioners on September 12, 2000, based on findings that the then-vacant land was suitable for high-intensity development, and was served by adequate existing and planned infrastructure. As the attached drawing (RAC Ordinance Exhibit A) shows, the RAC is bounded on the north by Choctawhatchee Bay, on the east by the Regatta Bay subdivision, on the south by US Highway 98, and on the west by State Road 293, Destin Middle School, and the previously permitted Mid-Bay Marina DRI. The creation of regional activity centers is governed by Section 28-24.014 of the Florida Administrative Code. If an area is designated as a regional activity center, the thresholds for which a proposed development would be subject to development-of-regional impact review are increased. This was done to expedite review. Regional activity centers must be reviewed and approved by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity as well as other state review agencies whose interests are affected. As of this writing, the proposed RAC expansion has been reviewed by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida Department of Transportation, West Florida Regional Planning Council, and the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority all of whom have provided responses expressing no objections (see attachments). The City of Destin has participated in the County's review of the expansion and has provided the attached letter of no objection to the expansion. The City will be involved in the review of any development within the RAC as well as any revisions to the Infrastructure Agreement. Following the creation of the RAC in 2000, the County and Developer entered into an infrastructure agreement to address the roads that would be needed to support development resulting from the RAC. Since that time, the developer, Okaloosa County, and the State coordinated to complete major intersection improvements at the intersection of Highway 98 and SR 293. In addition, the developer completed an internal network of roads that are parallel to, and relieve congestion on, SR 293 and Highway 98. In recognition of the developer’s contributions, the infrastructure agreement vests a number of vehicle trips for development in the RAC boundary. This vesting period runs until September 2015. Development within the RAC to date includes the Destin Commons shopping center which is currently developing an additional 100,000 square feet, for a total of approximately 500,000 square feet of commercial retail, restaurants, and entertainment venues; a Lowe’s hardware store; and a Rooms-to-Go furniture dealer. The latter are located on parcels to the east of Destin Commons along Highway 98. The northern part of the RAC, known as Turnberry Harbour Planned Unit Development (PUD), was approved for residential condominiums and related recreational and commercial development in 2006 by way of two PUD ordinances, 06-03, and 06-50. The two PUD’s were combined into a single PUD in Okaloosa County Ordinance 2008-14. The approved development is as follows: Phases I and II consisting of 990 condominium units in 14 buildings ranging in height from 75 to 200 feet; a private membership club of approximately 25,000 square feet with a pool and tennis courts. The PUD also included an entry gatehouse of approximately 1,000 square feet, a modular office of approximately 2500 square feet, and an office building of 12,290 square feet. The proposed changes to the RAC would add approximately 23 acres, all of which are described on Exhibit A to the proposed ordinance. Only two parcels, the Mid-Bay Marina in the northwest corner, and Parcel E on the farthest north-eastern part of the RAC, are proposed for development as enumerated, below. However, amendment of the RAC does not grant approval for any of the proposed uses which must still undergo development review and receive all requisite approvals (including concurrency and all other provisions of the Land Development Code): 1. The Mid-Bay marina DRI consists of 12.94 acres, was approved as a DRI on December 21, 1999. A summary of the completed and remaining development is attached. The applicant has proposed to rescind the DRI development order and incorporate the property and remaining vested development into the Amended Unified Turnberry Harbour PUD. This would be a separate action from the proposed RAC expansion. 2. Parcel “E” consisting of 5.99 acres is proposed to become part of 10.21 acres known as Phase III of the Turnberry Harbour condominium development. The PUD amendment proposes to add 150 condomium units in Phase III to be developed in 3 to 5 buildings with a maximum height of 89 feet. The Phase III parcel is planned to be compatible internally with previously approved development, and with neighboring existing development, and will be subject to concurrency requirements. 3. The remaining five parcels to be added to the RAC total 3.9 acres. They include one 2.23 acre parcel consisting of the existing Legendary Marina Drive roadway. The developer proposes to add parking along the roadway to be shared with the Destin Middle School. The other five parcels are less than 1 acre. No significant development is proposed for these parcels. It should also be noted that, in addition to adding the above-described properties to the RAC, the attached ordinance also extends the previously mentioned vesting period for an additional 20 years or until the trips are used up, whichever comes first. If the Board approves the proposed expansion of the RAC, the developer will submit a follow-up Comprehensive Plan amendment that will illustrate the location of the RAC on the Future Land Use Map, along with a text amendment that will establish a policy or policies within the Comprehensive Plan to address the RAC. OPTIONS: The Board can either approve, not approve, or delay action on the expansion of the Mid-Bay Regional Activity Center. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the Board consider the facts presented herein as well as any facts that may be presented at the public hearing, and then decide whether or not to adopt the ordinance expanding the boundaries of the Mid-Bay Regional Activity Center and extending the vesting period of the banked trips. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: Ernie Padgett, County Administrator