Orange County Rezoning Approval Process
Tomorrow is the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting that is another milestone for the Lake Pickett Text Amendment Applications. You can view the agenda here: Planning and Zoning Commission – June 18, 2015 Agenda. While this meeting does not decide the fate of the applications, it most certainly carries weight. The commission can approve or deny the applications based solely on consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. If the applications are approved, the next step will be a hearing in front of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) who will either approve or deny “TRANSMITTAL”. This is not the end game, in fact, it is only just another milestone.
If the Planning and Zoning Commission denies the applications on the basis of non-consistency with the Comprehensive Plan then the applicants have the option of appealing the ruling and can go in front of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) who will make the final determination or they can redesign and resubmit or they can abandon the applications.
The vote by the BCC on July 28th is only for “TRANSMITTAL”. This means the real work begins. It means the BCC approved the applications provided many criteria are met by different agencies. Agencies such as St. Johns river Management, FDOT and many more. The applicant will have to satisfy all of the criteria and then go before the Planning and Zoning Committee and Board of County Commissioners once again for approval.
This phase is called “ADOPTION” and is where the most time and money is spent. If Commissioner Edwards is not satisfied with the agreements reached with the applicants during this phase, the applications will most likely not survive. I believe the fate of these applications lie not only in the will of the people but a plan that will fix the roads. There would be no sense in approving these developments and leave the roads in the state they are in now or worse. The only reason to proceed forward with the applications is if there would be a positive impact to the area.