HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 07 06 Public Hearing 402 Amending Chapter 9 of the City CodeLOCAL PLANNING AGENCY AGENDA
ITEM 402
July 6, 2005
Meeting
Consent
Information
Public Hearin X
Re ular
REQUEST:
The Community Development Department -Planning Division, and City Attorney requests that
the Local Planning Agency hold a Public Hearing to consider amending Chapter 9 of the City
Code, as it relates to the subdivision process.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this Agenda Item to request the Local Planning Agency hold a Public
Hearing to update pertinent subdivision provisions of the City Code.
On March 28, 2005, the City Commission conducted a formal review of Section 9-3 of
the City Code and directed the City Attorney to work with staff to further study the
impacts of Section 9-3 on the subdivision of land within the City. Most of the
recommendations of the City Attorney and staff are embodied in attached draft Ordinance
No. 2005-23 (Staff will provide a list of minor proposed changes).
Presently, the Code prohibits more than one division of a platted lot into 2 new lots,
regardless of how large the originally platted lot was or the character of the surrounding
properties. Further, changes in Chapter 177, Florida Statutes, which sets forth
requirements for final subdivision plats, have made platting more expensive and time
consuming. Other local cities and Seminole County have adopted "lot split" provisions
for extremely simple divisions of property, where the new lots meet all applicable
requirements and no new roads, sewer lines, water lines, or other infrastructure are
needed.
One of the prime themes of the proposed ordinance is to promote compatibility between
the property to be subdivided or split and the surrounding properties.
APPLICABLE LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY:
Florida Statute 163.2511-163.3246: (Provides that land development regulations for
municipal planning be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan).
Florida Statute 166.041 Procedures for adoution of ordinances and resolutions.
July 6, 2005
Public Hearing Item 402
Page 2
Florida Statute 177 Land Boundaries.
Winter Springs Charter Article IV. Governing Body.
Section 4.06. General powers and duties.
Section 4.15 Ordinances in General.
Winter Springs Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9
CHRONOLOGY:
June 23, 2005- Public Noticing in Orlando Sentinel of LPA Public Hearing
July 6, 2005- P & Z Board (LPA) to hear and make recommendation
FINDINGS:
• The request is in keeping with the intent of the City's Comprehensive Plan, and
Chapter 163 of Florida Statutes.
• The request is in conformance with the purpose and intent of the City Code and
with all applicable requirements.
• The request is in keeping with Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the State Constitution.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the LPA hold a Public Hearing and recommend Approval to the
City Commission for Adoption of Ordinance 2005-23.
Staff will provide a list of proposed minor modifications to the document at the LPA
meeting.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Ordinance 2005-23
LPA ACTION:
Page 2
Draft` June 6, 2005
ORDINANCE NO. 2005- Z 3
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA, AMENDING
CHAPTER 9, ARTICLE I, REGULATING THE
SUBDIVISION OF ORIGINALLY PLATTED LOTS;
REQUIRING ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR REPEATS;
AUTHORIZING LIMITED LOT SPLITS WITHOUT THE
NECESSITY OF PLATTING UNDER CERTAIN LIMITED
REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS; PROVIDING FOR
THE REPEAL OF PRIOR INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES
AND RESOLUTIONS, INCORPORATION INTO THE CODE,
SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City is granted the authority,. under Section 2(b), Article VIII,. of the State
Constitution, to exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by law;
and
WHEREAS, municipalities are also granted authority to regulate the subdivision of land
within its municipal borders pursuant to Chapter 177, Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida, hereby finds this
Ordinance to be in the best interests of the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Winter
Springs.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER
SPRINGS HEREBY ORDAINS, AS FOLLOWS:
eetion 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby incorporated herein by this
reference.
Section 2. Code Amendment. The City of Winter Springs Code, Chapter 9, Article
I, is hereby amended as follows: underlined type indicates additions and striiceoat type indicates
deletions).
CHAPTER 9.
ARTICLE L IN GENERAL
***
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No. 2005-
Page 1 of 5
Sec. 9-2. Division of land: city commission aaoroval required.
No owner of real property being a subdivision or lot split as defined in this chapter, shall sell lots
or tracts of land from such tract roe without first having divided such property- in
accordance with the requirements hereof; ` Before such lot or tract is divided. the lots or,tracts
proposed to be divided shall be surveyed by a duly licensed surveyor and approved by the city
commission by plat or a lot split resolution
-. ,
lrcapp~roveci in accordance with the specific applicable provisions of this chapter and F.S. Ch.
1??. No permit shall be issued for the construction of any building or structure or for an electrical
hookup on any lot or tact sold in violation of this section.
Sec. 9-3. Dividing platted property.
An owner of a single lot o~arcel of sufficient size, except in a platted area of a planned unit
development, may, with prior approval of the city commission, divide an originally platted single
lot or parcel by dividing the lot or parcel under the replattin ova r lot split procedures set forth in
this chapter .
. Each parcel or lot so divided shall in
every respect meet the criteria established elsewhere in this Code for the category of zoning and
other relevant Codes under which the property is zoned and each parcel or lot shall meet the
engineering requirements set out elsewhere in this chapter. In such instance, and only within the
strict application of this section, may the full provisions of this chapter be waived and variances
granted thereto. No building permit shall be issued for the erection of any building or structure or
for an electrical hookup on a previously platted lot or parcel which is divided contrary to this
section.
Sec. 9-4. Waiver to s~ttbdivisiv~t engineering development plea requirements.
For subdivisions or lot splits where no new streets, water, sewer, or drainage or other infrastructure
strnetares are involved, application for approval of preliminary or final subdivision en 'n~ eating
develonrnent plans may be waived provided, however, that a plat of the proposed subdivision or the
metes and bounds legal description of the proposed lot split
subdivision shall be submitted far review by the city staff. The recommendation of the city staff shall
be subject to approval by the city commission. The purpose of this approval is to ensure that the
proposed subdivision plat or lot split conforms to applicable requirements of tlu's~chanter the
city of winter springs
Ordinance No. 2005-
Page 2 of 5
***
Sec. 9-9 Replatting Origi ray nl~atted lots car, parcels may be replatted in accordance with the
platting.provisions of Chapter 177. Florida Statutes and this chapter.
Secs 9-10. General Criteria for Approval Before an~ plat replat or lot split application is
approved by the city commission under this chapter, the applicant must demonstrate and the city
commission must find that th_.proposed pliit replat or Iot split meets the following criteria•
(a) The application is in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and applicable law
~b The application is consistent with the citescomprehensive ,plan and applicable city master
plans.
(c) The application is compatible and in harmony with the surrounding neighborhood including
with respect to the size of existing surrounding lots and development trends in the neighborhood
which have been previously approved by the city commission.
(dLhe application does not create any nonconfornun,~ lots tracts of land or developments
Le) The application does not create burdensome congestion on the streets and highways.
~ The application promotes the orderly layout and use of land.
(g The a plication provides for adze ,, uate li t and air.
~h~e application does not create overcrowding of land.
~i The application facilitates the a,~eauate and economical provision of water. sewer and other
public services.
(j) The application provides for proper ingress and egress.
Sec. 9-11. Lot Splits. The City Commission may by resolution at a public hearing_grant waiver,
from the platting requirements of this chapter for divisions of land that ponstitute a lot split•
(a) For purposes of this section, the term "lot split" shall mean a division of a tract of land or lot that
will result in the creation of exactly one 1 ~ additional lot or tract of land~rovided the following
conditions are met:
(1) The lour tract of land to be split is a previously platted lot or legal description of record
~2) Each lot or tract of land created hereunder shall abut a public or approved private street
unless.~erpetual cross-access easements alreadyexist on the lotto be split or are determined
not to be necessary: or, if necessary. are provided by separate instrument.
(3) The lot split. shall in every res ep ct meet the criteria established elsewhere in this chapter and
the City Code for the category of zoning and other relevant Codes under which the propertX
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No. 2005-
Page 3 of 5
is on d.
Eve lot split shall be processed in the following manner:
x,11 An application form provided by the community development department shall be
complete, and filed with thie department, accompanied with the following
a. An apph,.~cation ffee approved by the city commission by resolution:
b. Twelve paper copies ofthe proposed lots 1>l it:
c. A statement indicating whether new streets, water, sewer.. drainage structures, or other
infrastructure aze involved; and
d. Legal descriptions and acres e~ of the .two proposed lots or tracts of land and a scaled
c~rawing_sho_wing the intended division shall be prepared by a duiv licensed land surveyor
registered in the state. If a lot or tract of land contains any principal or accessory structures,
a survey showing the structures on the lot or tract of land shall accompany the application.
(21 Upon approval of the lot split by resolution. of the city .commission, the resolution shall
be duly recorded in the public records of Seminole County and recorded on the appropriate
city maps and documents.
(c) No further division of an approved lot gplit is permitted under this section, unless a plat is
prepared and approved in accordance vYith this chapXer.
Sec. 9-912-9.25. Reserved.
ection 3. Repeal of Prior Inconsistent Ordinances and Resolutions. All prior
inconsistent ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Commission, or parts of prior ordinances
and resolutions in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict.
tion 4. Incorporation Into Code. This Ordinance shall be incorporated into the
Winter Springs City Code and any section or paragraph, number or letter, and any heading maybe
changed or modified as necessary to effectuate the foregoing. Grammatical, typographical, and like
errors may be corrected and additions, alterations, and omissions, not affecting the construction or
meartirxg of this ordinance and the City Code may be freely made.
Section 5. Severability. IF any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word or
provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
competent jurisdiction, whether for substantive, procedural, or any other reason, such portion shall
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No. 2005-
Page 4 of S
Ordinance No. 2005-23
In 1999, an amendment to Chapter 177, Florida Statutes, took effect, requiring cities and
counties to have aFlorida-licensed professional surveyor review and certify every subdivision
plat for consistency with the Chapter 177 criteria for plats. This increased the monetary and time
cost of platting property. For subdivisions with multiple lots, this was often a minor expense, but
in jurisdictions that do not have lot split provisions for extremely simple divisions of land, this
became a relatively costly endeavor (e.g. when a couple decide to divide farmland acreage
among their children). Seminole County and the City of Oviedo had lot split provisions in effect
before this amendment to Chapter 177. The City of Lake Mary soon adopted a lot split provision
after the amendment.
Currently in the City of Winter Springs, there is no lot split provision. When a person decides to
divide a 5 or 10 acre lot into 21ots, a plat is required. This takes considerably more time and
money to plat than if a lot split provision were enacted. Further, once a platted lot is split once
into 21ots, it cannot be further split, pursuant to Section 9-3 of the City Code.
The key to dividing property is to ensure that all lots created are consistent with the applicable
Future Land Use designation and zoning district requirements (no non-conforming situations) as
well ensuring harmony and compatibility with surrounding lot shapes and sizes. Land-locked
properties and "flag lots" should not be created.
The proposed ordinance needs a prohibition on "flag lots" as well as a list of exemptions (e.g.
when right-of--way (ROW) is provided for a roadway, when a well site is provided to the City, or
when a lift station site is provided). -