(PENSACOLA, F.L.) --- Many city departments prepared their recommendations over the last few months for the first public hearing on the Land Development Code (LDC) at the Pensacola City Council on August 17.
From Affordable Housing Advisory Committee LDC update meetings to the August 11 City of Pensacola Planning Board, appointed officials worked hard on LDC language to present to officials and the public on August 17, with the second public hearing on September 24.
On August 11, the Pensacola Planning Board spent more than two hours reviewing the LDC, beginning with board members concerned about voting on "multiple changes" they were not informed of before the meeting, raising questions about oversight.
One of the biggest changes to the LDC was the tree ordinance financials, sponsored by Mayor D.C. Reeves and Councilman Jared Moore. OpGov.News reported the 400% increase in June, with residential mitigation caps raised from $400 to $1,500 per protected tree.
(Photo: Pensacola Planning Board meeting August 11 that centered heavily on the Land Development Code language, fees that raised concerns for officials, residents)
Additionally, the Planning Board finalized the new financials, including a $5,000 fee to remove a 40-inch-or-larger live oak, plus a $1,000 application fee if the property has four or fewer dwelling units.
Resident Colin Gold had an issue with that.
(Photo: Resident Colin Gold shares his concerns on Land Development Code Tree Ordinance language, which will be finalized in September after another public hearing)
“As soon as you get to a fifth unit, suddenly it's uncapped, and if you do the math,” Gold said, adding it's $500 per linear inch, a very large difference between a five-unit development and a four-unit development. “To me, that doesn't make sense because it should be proportional, so I would like to see, perhaps, a cap that is proportional with the dwelling size.”
Board member Danny Grundhoefer admitted that “for the last 20 minutes I thought residential was capped at $6,000.”
(Photo: City of Pensacola Planning Board Member Danny Grundhoefer discusses Land Development Code (LDC) language, tree ordinance fees August 11)
“That's what's not clear, and maybe there just needs to be language and a description that shows if you have three 40-inch trees, that a homeowner knows that he's not paying the $6,000 cap; he's gonna be paying $30,000,” Grundhoefer said.
Resident Renee Borden also raised $6 thousand-dollar concerns, noting the language reads the residential mitigation cap as per property, not per tree, and the $6K fee “is insufficient to deter developers, especially in gentrifying neighborhoods.”
“Mr. Gruenhoffer, I agree; I think everybody thought that this was a cap per property, not necessarily per tree, but you do see the discrepancy between what we're considering residential and what could potentially be a commercial type development,” Borden said.
Maria Rosasco also had issues with the LDC language regarding developers, residential property, and tree ordinances.
(Photo: Board members shared concerns with the August 11 presentation; some said it did not include prior information for their concern that afternoon)
“I think a really good way to differentiate them is why not look at whether they're homestead exempted,” Rosasco said. “Then you kind of know, are you truly the homeowner?”
“That’s one way,” Rosasco said.
Rosasco said she has “done a lot of extensive research looking at many Florida tree ordinances.”
“Sarasota actually considers a live oak at 24 inches, not 40,” Rosasco said. “40 is quite huge.”
Additionally, Rosasco said she is “sad to see that all the protected heritage size trees aren't in this $5,000 map cap, if you will.”
When it comes down to it, the tree ordinance isn't strong enough to save trees, and the language doesn't help.
“We're taking this massive machinery that is breaking all over those protective root zones prior to the construction ever happening and prior to the tree approval ever coming in,” Rosasco said. “So there's a lot of ways to fine-tune the verbiage of it.”
(Photo: Maria Rosasco shares his concerns with the City of Pensacola Planning Board on the Tree Ordinance verbiage in the LDC update)
By the meeting's end, city staff was directed to further research homestead exemptions and to revisit Tree Trust funds used for administrative costs versus actual tree planting. Officials also had a preliminary discussion of the Comprehensive Plan, a required seven-year update on state-mandated amendments.
The Agenda Memorandum on the Comprehensive Plan reads that it is “intended to be a broad, long-range document that guides overall growth in a Florida county or municipality. It is not intended to include a high level of specificity, as the specific regulations for growth and development are contained in the local land use regulations – Land Development Code (LDC).”
(Photo: OpGov.News Key Takeaways from City of Pensacola Planning Board Meeting August 11)
Officials will make recommendations on that at the September meeting.
Additionally, OpGov.News platform picked up the August 11 Key Takeaways below, which can be read here.
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