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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 05 22 Reports McLemore Date: May 22, 2006 The attached Document was provided to the City Commission by Mr. Randy Stevenson on May 22, 2006 during Manager McLemore's Report. DRAFT - Subject to Revision MEMORANDUM TO: Seminole County Joint Services Advisory Committee FROM: Community Development Technical Advisory Subcommittee DATE: May 24, 2006 SUBJECT: Items for Study/Recommendation Introduction: The Community Development Technical Advisory Subcommittee has been asked to review and prepare recommendations regarding Community Development related services provided by Seminole County and the Cities of Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford, and Winter Springs. The following serve on the subcommittee: Bryan Cobb, Development Services Director, City of Oviedo, Chairman Russell Gibson, AICP, Planning and Community Development Director, City of Sanford Dan Matthys, AICP, CPM, Planning and Development Director, Seminole County Patrick Miller, Community Services Director, City of Longwood Juan (John) Omana, Community Development Director, City of Lake Mary Sandra Smith, AICP, Acting Community Development Director, City of Casselberry Randy Stevenson, ASLA, Community Development Director, City of Winter Springs Tim Wilson, Growth Management Director, City of Altamonte Springs The subcommittee has developed a list of topics for further study and recommendation. We request direction from the Joint Services Advisory Committee on whether or not to proceed with further study and preparation of recommendations pertaining to the list of topics provided herein. Discussion: The Community Development Technical Advisory Subcommittee has conducted six (6) meetings to date. Initial discussions concentrated on services that the governmental agencies are currently collaborating and coordinating; and services that have common standards, processes, and/or regulations. The governmental agencies within the County currently collaborate on the following: 1. The Seminole County GIS Users Group meets regularly to share land based and demographic information and coordinate the provision of GIS services within the County. 2. The Seminole County Addressing Committee meets regularly to coordinate addressing county-wide and troubleshoot identified problem areas. 3. The Seminole County Planners Technical Advisory Committee meets regularly to address the planning requirements of the State's Growth Management. This committee is currently working on a School Concurrency Interlocal Agreement. 4. The Seminole County Building Officials meet regularly to address building code issues and develop consistency in interpretation of the Florida Building Code. 5. The Cities and Seminole County Tax Collector's Office collaborate on the collection of Occupational License taxes. Seminole County Joint Services Advisory Committee memorandum May 24, 2006 Page 2 DRAFT - Subject to Revision 6. The Code Enforcement staffs of the Cities and County recently conducted a joint, county- wide sweep of snipe signs. Other joint activities are in the planning stages. Services that have common standards, processes, and/or regulations include building inspection and plans examination; geographic information systems; and addressing. The subcommittee has also been informed that the Joint Services Advisory Committee requested that we evaluate future land use densities and intensities and zoning district minimum regulations within the County to determine if county-wide consistency can be achieved. In addition to its regular meetings, the subcommittee also met with the Seminole County Building Officials to seek their. input on building related services that could be collaborated among the governmental agencies within the County. The subcommittee also plans to meet with the other standing county-wide committees to seek their input regarding issues pertinent to their area of expertise. . Based. on our discussions to date, the subcommittee recommends the following list of topics for further study and preparation of recommendations: 1. Contractor LicensinglDisciplinarv Board Seminole County has an appointed board that addresses contractor licensing and disciplinary issues within the unincorporated County. This proposal is to expand this board's authority to address contractor licensing and disciplinary issues countywide. The Board's membership may need to be reorganized to include city representatives and/or certain construction trades. The cities will need to provide funding for investigation and adjudication of cases involving city jurisdictions. A fee structure will need to be established to cover these costs. 2. Future Land Use Densities and Intensities; and Zoning District Minimum Regulations The Joint Services Advisory Committee requested that the subcommittee evaluate land use intensity/density and the associated zoning categories countywide particularly those designations and districts adjacent to jurisdictional boundaries. The subcommittee agrees thl;lt consistency among the general future land use designations and zoning districts will be beneficial. Each jurisdiction has special future land use designations and zoning districts that may not be applicable countywide. Therefore, the subcommittee recommends evaluating the standard future land use designations (i.e. Low Density Residential) and zoning districts (i.e. R-l, Single Family Residential) to determined which can be standardized countywide. 3. Mutual Aid Agreement for Building Inspection and Plans Examination Services Each of the jurisdictions need staff assistance from time to time due to illness, resignation, and increased demand for services when an agency is short staffed. The proposed mutual aid agreement will formalize a process by which the other agencies in the County can provide assistance to cover staff shortages on a temporary arrangement. The subcommittee met with the County Building Officials Committee regarding this issue. Most jurisdictions have agreements with private providers to supply staffing in times of need. However, this is quite costly. The Building Officials expressed concern that when one jurisdiction is busy, all of the jurisdictions are busy. During times of high demand, allocating staff resources to another Seminole County Joint Services Advisory Committee memorandum May 24, 2006 Page 3 DRAFT - Subject to Revision jurisdiction may not be possible. However, the Building Officials reacted positively to having an agreement that gives the jurisdictions the ability to share resources. The mutual aid agreement can be structured to also address training, fees, and sharing of other services among the jurisdictions. 4. Private Provider RFO/Continuing Services Agreements for Building Inspection. Plans Examination. Surveyor Peer Review. Transportation Planning. and Environmental Planning Services Most jurisdictions have agreements with private providers to supply staffing in times of need and to provide an expertise not available on staff. This proposal will involve the preparation of countywide Requests-for-Qualifications (RFQ) for the identified fields in an effort to reduce contract fees for services. The subcommittee believes that a multiple jurisdiction RFQ will be more attractive to private providers. Each jurisdiction will have the ability to access these services. 5. Training Program for Building Staffs to Achieve and Maintain State-required Standard Certifications/Licenses Building staffs are required to obtain a certain level of training in order to obtain State certifications. They are also required to continue the training in order to maintain these certifications. A countywide training program will provide localized training utilizing existing staff resources. Sharing of this knowledge and expertise will help reduce training costs, especially those requiring out of area travel and overnight stay. It will also be helpful in creating more consistent interpretation of the various building and life safety codes, exchanging of information between jurisdictions on common problem areas that are occurring, and raising the level of competency of professional staff. 6. Standardized Building Application Forms Standardized building application forms requiring the same information countywide will provide a valuable customer service enhancement to local contractors and property owners. This will save time as well as create fewer errors in filling out application information to make the application complete. 7. Implementation of SB 360 (State Growth Management Act) requirements through the Seminole County Planners Technical Advisory Committee The Seminole County Planners Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) was created to address State growth management requirements that affect the County and the cities. It has also become a forum for addressing other issues and sharing information among the jurisdictions. This proposal is to use PT AC as the technical clearinghouse for all countywide growth management and comprehensive planning mandates. PTAC's role would be collaboratively address state growth management requirements that require amendments to each jurisdictions comprehensive plan or the establishment of interlocal agreements among the County's jurisdictions, including the School Board. Current examples include the update to the school board interlocal agreement that will clear the way for an educational element in Seminole County Joint Services Advisory Committee memorandum May 24, 2006 Page 4 DRAFT - Subject to Revision each jurisdiction's comprehensive plan, as well as establish the framework for school concurrency and required agreements between the school board and developers. Upcoming issues include concurrency for all other services and facilities and interagency agreements for transportation, utilities and other required services. 8. Geographic Information System (GIS) Services The opportunity exists for better coordination and exchange of land-based information. The subcommittee identified a need for a compatible GIS system among the jurisdictions to increase our ability to share information; to assist internal and external customers with land- based data analysis; to allow for easy property file maintenance; and to increase consistency with the mapping layers. This proposal is similar to standardizing building application forms in that it will allow for the provision of consistent information to customers and users of GIS servIces. 9. Property Addressing Program A countywide property addressing program will enhance the operations of the County E9-1-1 system by reducing duplicate and similar street names and creating consistency with address mimbering sequences. The County and the cities have an interlocal agreement that requires collaboration in addressing problem areas throughout the County. This proposal will expand this collaboration to include the creation of a countywide addressing program with consistent processes for updating non-conforming addressed areas and standardizing addressing methods for multi-unit land use types and structures. Recommendation: Following its review and discussion of the above list of topics, we recommend that the Joint Services Advisory Committee provide direction regarding what items within the above list, and/or items not included in the above list, that the Subcommittee should proceed with further study and preparation of recommendations.