The above cases were owner initiated and heard at the May 6, 2013 Planning Board meeting. Under the Land Development Code (LDC) 2.08.00.E.1., “the Board of County Commissioners shall review the record and the recommendation of the Planning Board and either adopt the recommended order, modify the recommended order as set forth therein, reject the recommended order, or remand the matter back to the Planning Board for additional facts or clarification. Findings of fact or findings regarding legitimate public purpose may not be rejected or modified unless they are clearly erroneous or unsupported by the record. When rejecting or modifying conclusions of law, the Board of County Commissioners must state with particularity its reasons for rejecting or modifying the recommended conclusion of law and must make a finding that its substituted conclusion of law is as or more reasonable than the conclusion that was rejected or modified. However, the Board of County Commissioners may not modify the recommendation to a more intensive use than recommended by the Planning Board; rather the matter shall be remanded with instructions. The review shall be limited to the record below. Only a party of record to the proceedings before the Planning Board or representative shall be afforded the right to address the Board of County Commissioners and only as to the correctness of the findings of fact or conclusions of law as based on the record. The Board of County Commissioners shall not hear testimony."

 

To further the County’s policy of “decreasing response time from notification of citizen needs to ultimate resolution,” the Board is acting on both the approval of the Planning Board recommended order and the LDC Map Amendment for this month’s rezoning cases. This report item addresses only the review and upholding of the Planning Board’s recommendation. The next report item will address the Public Hearing for the LDC Zoning Map Amendment.

This action may increase the ad valorem tax base for Escambia County.

N/A