HB 1333 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to growth management; amending s.
3	163.3184, F.S.; providing a cross-reference; creating s.
4	163.3247, F.S.; providing a popular name; providing
5	legislative intent; providing definitions; identifying
6	those local governments that are subject to the act;
7	requiring that those local governments amend their
8	comprehensive plans to include land use strategies,
9	development controls, and best-management practices to
10	ensure the protection of Florida's springs; requiring
11	certain local governments to develop a Wekiva Sector Plan;
12	providing for transportation requirements for the Wekiva
13	Parkway; providing for regulatory programs and land
14	acquisition; providing for planning assistance to local
15	governments; providing an effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
20	163.3184, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
21	163.3184 Process for adoption of comprehensive plan or
22	plan amendment.--
23	(1) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
24	(b) "In compliance" means consistent with the requirements
25	of ss. 163.3177, 163.31776, when a local government adopts an
26	educational facilities element, 163.3178, 163.3180, 163.3191,
27	and 163.3245, and 163.3247,with the state comprehensive plan,
28	with the appropriate strategic regional policy plan, and with
29	chapter 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code, where such rule is
30	not inconsistent with this part and with the principles for
31	guiding development in designated areas of critical state
32	concern.
33	Section 2. Section 163.3247, Florida Statutes, is created
34	to read:
35	163.3247 Wekiva River Springs Protection.--
36	(1) POPULAR NAME.--This section may be known by the
37	popular name the "Wekiva River Springs Protection Act."
38	(2) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--
39	(a) The Legislature recognizes the Wekiva River and its
40	tributaries, along with the St. Johns River and associated lands
41	in central Florida, as one of the most valuable natural assets
42	of the state. The Wekiva River and its tributaries have been
43	designated an Outstanding Florida Water, a National Wild and
44	Scenic River, a Florida Wild and Scenic River, and a Florida
45	Aquatic Preserve.
46	(b) In 1988, the Legislature enacted the Wekiva River
47	Protection Act, codified in part II of chapter 369, to protect
48	the resources of the Wekiva River Basin. The Wekiva River
49	Protection Act delineates an area comprising portions of Lake,
50	Orange, and Seminole Counties as the Wekiva River Protection
51	Area.
52	(c) The Wekiva River is a spring-fed system associated
53	with 19 second-magnitude and third-magnitude springs and
54	numerous smaller springs. The Legislature recognizes that a
55	spring is only as healthy as its groundwater recharge basin. The
56	groundwater that feeds springs is recharged by seepage from the
57	surface and through direct conduits such as sinkholes. Because
58	of this, the health of the spring systems is directly influenced
59	by activities and land uses within the spring recharge basin.
60	(d) Protection of groundwater that recharges the springs
61	connected to the Wekiva River is crucial to the long-term
62	viability of the Wekiva River ecosystem and the region's water
63	supply. The volume of groundwater moving toward discharge to
64	form the Wekiva River spring system has diminished over time,
65	given withdrawals of water for consumptive use and loss of
66	recharge due to land development trends. The Water Needs and
67	Sources Assessment indicates that the Wekiva Basin is located in
68	a Priority Water Resource Caution Area, indicating that water
69	supply problems are projected to become critical by 2010 and
70	projected water use may result in unacceptable impacts to
71	natural systems and groundwater quality, including decline in
72	the water table affecting wetland vegetation and reduced spring
73	flows. The St. Johns Water Management District projects a 20-
74	percent reduction in spring flows by the year 2020.
75	(e) Because the majority of the groundwater recharge basin
76	of the Wekiva River is located outside the Wekiva River
77	Protection Area as delineated in part II of chapter 369, no
78	special protection currently exists for critical groundwater
79	recharge lands. Therefore, the Legislature directs local
80	governments within the Wekiva River Springs Protection Area or
81	groundwater recharge basin of the Wekiva River to amend their
82	comprehensive plans to include land use strategies, development
83	controls, and best-management practices to ensure the protection
84	of the Wekiva River springs system.
85	(f) In addition to the planning requirements for the
86	Wekiva River Springs Protection Area, the Legislature authorizes
87	local governments with first-magnitude, second-magnitude or
88	third-magnitude springs to adopt similar springshed protection
89	strategies applicable to a springshed protection area as
90	delineated in the local government's comprehensive plan.
91	(g) Recognizing the need to balance regional
92	transportation needs in central Florida with protection of the
93	Wekiva River Protection Area in part II of chapter 369, as
94	recommended by the Wekiva Basin Area Task Force in its Final
95	Report dated January 15, 2003, it is the intent of the
96	Legislature that each comprehensive plan for the rural areas of
97	Lake, Orange, and Seminole Counties and any rural area within
98	the municipalities in those counties as described in
99	subparagraph (4)(a)1. be revised to include a Wekiva Sector
100	Plan, as a component to the local government comprehensive plan,
101	which is designed to protect the rural character of the area and
102	recharge areas in the Wekiva River Basin. The sector plan must
103	be adopted and in effect before the permitting and construction
104	of the "Wekiva Parkway."
105	(3) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
106	(a) "Effective recharge areas" means those areas that
107	contribute medium (4 to 8 inches of recharge to the aquifer
108	annually) to high (greater than 8 inches of recharge to the
109	aquifer annually) recharge to replenish the aquifer and sustain
110	spring flows. These recharge areas, sometimes referred to as
111	"most effective areas of recharge," are vulnerable to
112	contamination due to the rapid movement of surface waters down
113	through the soils to the aquifer.
114	(b)1. "First-magnitude springs" means those springs
115	identified by the Florida Geological Survey as discharging at
116	least 100 cubic feet of water per second;
117	2. "Second-magnitude springs" means those springs
118	discharging 10 to 100 cubic feet of water per second; and
119	3. "Third-magnitude springs" means those springs
120	discharging 1 to 10 cubic feet of water per second,
121
122	on or before July 1, 2003.
123	(c) "Rural character" means characterized by a pattern of
124	land use in which open space, agricultural and silvicultural
125	lands, the natural landscape, and vegetation predominate over
126	the built environment; that fosters traditional rural
127	lifestyles, supports rural-based economies such as agriculture,
128	timber, ecotourism, and aquaculture, and provides opportunities
129	to both live and work in rural areas; that provides visual
130	landscapes associated with rural areas and rural communities;
131	and that is compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and
132	consistent with the protection of the quality and quantity of
133	water resources, including natural surface water flows and
134	groundwater recharge and discharge areas.
135	(d) "Springshed protection area" means a land-planning
136	area wherein special springshed features require additional
137	protection through local government comprehensive plans and land
138	development regulations, including land that is most sensitive
139	to environmental contamination and merits special protection.
140	The area subject to land planning for springshed protection
141	includes the areas of groundwater contribution and recharge,
142	sinkholes, depressions, and stream-to-sink features, including
143	areas around the spring itself, and first-magnitude, second-
144	magnitude and third-magnitude springs.
145	(4) DESIGNATION OF THE WEKIVA RIVER SPRINGS PROTECTION
146	AREA AND THE WEKIVA SECTOR PLAN AREA.--
147	(a) The Wekiva River Springs Protection Area means the
148	groundwater recharge basin of the Wekiva River generally
149	depicted as within the yellow line on Figure 5, and the Wekiva
150	Sector Plan Area means the area generally depicted as the yellow
151	hatchmarks on Figure 5a, in the Final Report of the Wekiva Basin
152	Area Task Force dated January 15, 2003. Before September 30,
153	2003, and after giving notice to all local governments with
154	jurisdiction over any land proposed to be included in the Wekiva
155	River Springs Protection Area, the state land planning agency
156	and the St. Johns River Water Management District shall hold a
157	rule-development workshop to recommend definitive boundaries for
158	the Wekiva River Springs Protection Area and the Wekiva Sector
159	Plan Area based on the following criteria:
160	(a) The Wekiva River Springs Protection Area must include
161	the portions of Lake, Orange, and Seminole Counties, and all or
162	portions of the municipalities in those counties, within the
163	areas of groundwater contribution and recharge to the Wekiva
164	River and its tributaries and springs.
165	(b) The Wekiva Sector Plan Area must include the rural
166	areas of Lake, Orange, and Seminole Counties, and any existing
167	rural area within municipalities in those counties, to form a
168	contiguous sector planning area without enclaves. The Wekiva
169	Sector Plan Area should, to the extent feasible, avoid areas
170	within municipalities that are developed at urban densities and
171	intensities of use.
172	(c) Within 45 days after receipt of the recommended
173	boundary, the Administration Commission shall adopt, modify, or
174	reject the recommendation and shall by rule establish the
175	definitive boundaries of the Wekiva River Springs Protection
176	Area and the Wekiva Sector Plan Area.
177	(5) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WEKIVA RIVER
178	SPRINGS PROTECTION AREA.--
179	(a) For those local governments located within the Wekiva
180	River Springs Protection Area, the comprehensive plan must
181	include land use strategies, development controls, and best-
182	management practices to ensure their protection from
183	incompatible land uses and land use activities that may directly
184	or indirectly adversely impact the spring's water quality; water
185	quantity; visual, economic, and recreational qualities; and
186	other characteristics. Land use strategies, development
187	controls, and best-management practices are to apply throughout
188	the Wekiva River Springs Protection Area.
189	(b) Land use strategies are also to include, at a minimum,
190	public education, partnerships with property owners,
191	consideration of land use or development rights acquisition,
192	cooperative management of public owned lands, economic
193	development and ecotourism, best-management practices for
194	agriculture and silviculture, and the provision of appropriate
195	drainage, wastewater treatment, and water supply to support new
196	or existing development.
197	(c) Provisions for nonregulatory programs to reduce
198	residential and other development rights and strengthen local
199	governments' capacity to achieve the objectives of this act to
200	retain recharge areas, environmentally sensitive lands, and
201	rural character. Nonregulatory programs include conservation
202	easements, purchase of development rights, and transfer of land
203	use credits or development rights. Transferable land use
204	credits or development rights increase density and cluster
205	development rights in appropriately designated receiving areas,
206	while discouraging development in recharge areas and
207	environmentally sensitive lands. Land use credits and
208	development rights may be transferred from one jurisdiction to
209	another as reflected in the applicable comprehensive plans that
210	assign and distribute land use credits or development rights and
211	designate appropriate receiving areas.
212	(d) Land use strategies and development standards to
213	protect the quality and quantity of recharge that replenish the
214	aquifer and maintain springs flows and best-management practices
215	to mitigate land use impacts which are consistent with the
216	Florida Springs: Land Use Strategies and Best Management
217	Practices Manual must be adopted. Land use strategies include
218	locating low-impact land uses near the springs and in areas of
219	high recharge. Low-impact land uses include preservation,
220	conservation, recreation, unimproved rangeland, silviculture and
221	very-low-density rural residential use that, generally, has no
222	more than one unit per 10 acres. In addition, the following
223	best-management practices are to be used to mitigate impacts in
224	the recharge basin of the Wekiva River:
225	1. Reduce impervious surface (streets and parking areas)
226	to reduce runoff and retain recharge;
227	2. Maintain open space and natural recharge areas to
228	protect groundwater resources and wildlife habitat;
229	3. Manage stormwater impacts to reduce runoff and maintain
230	water quality of recharge;
231	4. Provide enhanced wastewater treatment for septic tanks,
232	central treatment systems, and a septic tank maintenance
233	program;
234	5. Use landscape design and maintenance to reduce impacts
235	from chemicals and conserve water resources, including golf
236	course design and maintenance; and
237	6. Site, construct, and maintain golf courses using
238	special management zones, best-management practices, integrated
239	pest management, and a natural resource management plan to
240	prevent, manage, and monitor potential impacts to water
241	resources.
242	(e) The comprehensive plan amendments required by this
243	subsection must be adopted by July 1, 2004, or as part of any
244	comprehensive plan amendment that proposes to increase the
245	density or intensity of use within the Wekiva River Springs
246	Protection Area. A local government may not amend its
247	comprehensive plan thereafter unless it has adopted the required
248	comprehensive plan amendments. The Administration Commission
249	may impose the sanctions provided by s. 163.3184(11) against any
250	local government that fails to adopt the required comprehensive
251	plan amendments by January 1, 2005, using the procedure in s.
252	163.3191(11).
253	(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 380, the
254	numerical guidelines and standards provided in s. 380.0651 and
255	in chapter 28-24, Florida Administrative Code, must be reduced
256	by 50 percent as applied to proposed developments entirely or
257	partially located within the Wekiva River Springs Protection
258	Area.
259	(6) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
260	WEKIVA SECTOR PLAN AREA.--
261	(a) The Wekiva Sector Plan is intended to be a
262	cooperative, coordinated effort between the local governments
263	within the sector plan area with the objective of maintaining
264	rural character and protecting groundwater recharge resulting in
265	no net loss of recharge potential. Through intergovernmental
266	coordination, each participating local government shall adopt
267	the sector plan as applicable to its planning jurisdiction to
268	assure furtherance of the objectives of this act and
269	compatibility among local governments.
270	(b) Each local government within the Wekiva Sector Plan
271	Area shall adopt the sector plan as an amendment to the local
272	government comprehensive plan that addresses the following
273	content requirements:
274	1. A detailed land use plan that does not exceed the
275	overall type, intensity, and density of development now
276	permitted by the applicable local comprehensive plan within the
277	sector plan area. However, flexibility is available to convert
278	between land use categories, as long as provisions to protect
279	rural character and groundwater recharge remain at levels that
280	are equal to or greater than existing levels. The sector plan
281	may include innovative and flexible planning techniques, such as
282	performance standards for open space and impervious surface
283	coverage, clustering, transfer of development rights, and land
284	acquisition, for the purposes of ensuring the predominance of
285	open space, agricultural and silvicultural lands, the natural
286	landscape, and vegetation over the built environment.
287	2. A detailed transportation plan that addresses as
288	applicable the Wekiva Parkway alignment, interchange locations,
289	and the need for any additional or expanded regional or local
290	roadways, including alignment, interchange locations, and design
291	and construction features. The transportation plan should
292	include an evaluation of any programmed road improvements within
293	or which might affect the Wekiva River Protection Area and
294	Wekiva River Springs Protection Area and eliminate any
295	improvements that are inconsistent with maintaining rural
296	character or protecting groundwater recharge or that are made
297	unnecessary by the Wekiva Parkway.
298	3. Infrastructure planning, including best-management
299	practices and incentives for enhanced wastewater treatment and
300	effluent disposal, stormwater management, the inspection and
301	maintenance of existing onsite treatment and disposal systems,
302	and for the installation of enhanced onsite treatment and
303	disposal systems.
304	4. Land use strategies, development standards, and best-
305	management practices to protect the quality and quantity of
306	recharge and replenish the aquifer and maintain springs flows
307	consistent with Florida Springs: Land Use Strategies and Best
308	Management Practices Manual.
309	5. Provision for nonregulatory programs to reduce
310	residential and other development rights and retain rural
311	character, such as conservation easements, purchase of
312	development rights, and transfer of development rights.
313	6. Provisions requiring design standards for commercial
314	signs and associated advertising which reflect the rural
315	character of the area.
316	7. Interchange land use plans, as applicable, including
317	provisions for land use planning requirements for each of the
318	interchanges recommended for the Wekiva Parkway, including land
319	use strategies, development standards, and best-management
320	practices to maintain rural character and protect groundwater
321	recharge. The interchange land use plans must address
322	appropriate land uses and compatible development, secondary road
323	access, access management, right-of-way protection, vegetative
324	protection and landscaping, signage, and the height and
325	appearance of structures. The interchange land use plans must
326	also direct appropriate changes to land development regulations.
327	(c) During the period of time between the effective date
328	of this act and the effective date of the local comprehensive
329	plan amendment adopting the Wekiva Sector Plan, a local
330	government that has planning jurisdiction within the Wekiva
331	Sector Plan Area may not amend its comprehensive plan to
332	increase the types, intensities, and densities of land uses
333	within the Wekiva Sector Plan Area, or to identify or schedule
334	new road improvements within the area, except for the necessary
335	comprehensive plan amendments needed to plan, design, engineer,
336	and acquire the right-of-way for the Wekiva Parkway. Permitting
337	and construction of the Wekiva Parkway may not occur until the
338	completion of the sector plan.
339	(7) TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WEKIVA PARKWAY.--
340	(a) The Department of Transportation, the Orlando-Orange
341	County Expressway Authority, and the Seminole County Expressway
342	Authority shall provide to the Governor and the Legislature a
343	report of their joint recommendations on a funding plan that
344	addresses the Wekiva Basin Area Task Force recommendations in
345	its Final Report dated January 15, 2003, and any legislation
346	needed to implement the recommendations.
347	(b) The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority and the
348	Department of Transportation shall locate the precise corridor
349	location and interchange locations for the Wekiva Parkway within
350	the corridor generally depicted in Figure 3, "Recommended
351	Corridor for the Wekiva Parkway," of the Final Report of the
352	Wekiva Basin Area Task Force dated January 15, 2003. The
353	transportation agencies shall apply the "Guiding Principles for
354	Corridor Location" in selecting the final roadway alignment and
355	shall apply the "Guiding Principles for the Wekiva Parkway
356	Design Features and Construction" to the construction of any new
357	expressways, including the Wekiva Parkway, and to the expansion
358	of existing expressways within the Wekiva Sector Plan Area and
359	the Wekiva River Protection Area, as recommended by the Task
360	Force.
361	(c) This act is repealed effective July 1, 2008, unless
362	purchase of the right-of-way for the Wekiva Parkway has been
363	completed.
364	(8) REGULATORY PROGRAMS AND LAND ACQUISITION.--
365	(a) The St. Johns River Water Management District shall
366	review existing rules and statutes to determine the
367	appropriateness of modifications necessary for protection of the
368	Wekiva River Springs Protection Area as recommended by the
369	Wekiva Basin Area Task Force in its Final Report dated January
370	15, 2003.
371	(b) The State of Florida shall give the highest priority
372	and use all means at its disposal for completing the acquisition
373	of the Wekiva-Ocala Greenway Florida Forever Project. Efforts
374	should be made to identify and acquire additional lands in the
375	Wekiva River Springs Protection Area, including efforts to
376	protect agricultural lands through the purchase of easements as
377	provided in the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, ss.
378	570.70 and 570.71.
379	(9) TIMING OF PLAN AMENDMENTS.--Plan amendments related to
380	the implementation of the Wekiva Parkway and plan amendments
381	required by this section shall be exempt from the twice per year
382	limit on the adoption of plan amendments as provided in s.
383	163.3187(1).
384	(10) PLANNING ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.--The state
385	land planning agency and appropriate state and regional agencies
386	shall provide planning assistance to the affected local
387	governments in the development of comprehensive plan amendments
388	to meet the requirements of this act. The state land planning
389	agencies, with the support of the Department of Environmental
390	Protection and the St. Johns Water Management District, shall
391	develop model land development regulations for springshed
392	protection.
393	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.