BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA

Analysis of Proposed Text
PCT130109 Steep Grades
Attachment #1 includes all proposed amendments in legislative format and provides staff notes
describing each change.
The fundamental concept of the requested amendment is provided in the proposed text addition to
Conservation Policy 1.3.2 (e), “…in order to help direct development and growth to inside the
Urban Service Area and further the protection of lands outside of the Urban Service Area,
significant grade regulations are not required by the Comprehensive Plan within the Urban Service
Area. Land development regulations may provide protection appropriate for more compact urban
development inside the Urban Service Area for significant grades near wetlands, water bodies,
watercourses, floodways, floodplain, and karst.”
County staff has prepared draft amendments to the Land Development Code. The code amendment
establishes a system for the protection of significant and severe grades that are within 100 feet of
wetlands, water bodies, watercourses, floodways, floodplain, and karst features. This effectively
deregulates steep grades that are not within 100 feet of the designated environmental features, while
continuing protection of steep grades that would be most at risk for impacting water quality through
erosion associated with construction activity. The 100 foot protection area around sensitive
environmental features is consistent with the 100 foot buffers utilized for the Lake Lafayette and
Lake McBride Special Development Zones. The draft code changes for the County are provided in
Attachment 2.
City Growth Management staff is closely monitoring this amendment and the draft County code
changes. Growth Management staff will seek direction regarding potential City code changes from
the City Commission through the Long Range Target Issues Committee process. However, due to
the November 2010 Minimum Countywide Environmental Regulations Charter Amendment, City
regulations will need to be equivalent or more restrictive than the minimum regulations established
by the County.
It is important to note that the existing County code requirements for erosion control will remain.
Section 10-4.327 in the County Code provides the specific requirements for erosion control
measures to address environmental degradation associated with sediment transport. This section of
code is provided for reference in Attachment 7.
To aid in the understanding of the geographic scope of the requested change, staff prepared maps of
two different areas in the community showing the steep grades that are within 100 feet of the
designated environmental features and those that are not within 100 feet of the designated
environmental features. The data on steep grades utilized for these maps is not intended to be used
on a parcel specific basis. However, at the scale represented on the maps below, staff believes this
is a good representation of the general areas that would receive protection and that would be
deregulated.
Page 551 of 622 Posted at 5:00 p.m. on April 1, 2013
5