| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to Broward County; requiring Broward |
| 3 | County to establish a plan for the annexation of |
| 4 | unincorporated areas and the annexation of such areas by |
| 5 | one or more ordinances; requiring consultation; providing |
| 6 | definitions; providing for public hearings; requiring |
| 7 | certain notices and publication of notices; providing for |
| 8 | interlocal agreement establishing certain criteria for |
| 9 | annexations; authorizing referenda; exempting certain |
| 10 | property; requiring certain consent for certain |
| 11 | annexations; providing for statutory construction; |
| 12 | providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. (1) Notwithstanding any general or special law |
| 17 | to the contrary, the Board of County Commissioners of Broward |
| 18 | County shall present a comprehensive plan consistent with the |
| 19 | provisions of s. 2, Art. I of the State Constitution no later |
| 20 | than November 30, 2004, in consultation with the Broward County |
| 21 | Legislative Delegation and the municipalities within the county |
| 22 | for the annexation of all remaining developed and developable |
| 23 | unincorporated areas within Broward County into those |
| 24 | municipalities. No later than September 15, 2005, |
| 25 | notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the |
| 26 | Board of County Commissioners of Broward County shall by one or |
| 27 | more ordinances cause the annexation of all remaining developed |
| 28 | and developable unincorporated areas within said county into |
| 29 | municipalities in a manner consistent with the established plan. |
| 30 | Such ordinances shall describe each area to be annexed by its |
| 31 | legal description and shall provide the effective date of such |
| 32 | annexations. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the |
| 33 | contrary, or any charter provision to the contrary, such |
| 34 | ordinances shall apply with equal effect to both unincorporated |
| 35 | and municipal areas within the boundary of such county. |
| 36 | (2) Each of the areas annexed into a municipality shall be |
| 37 | a part of said municipality pursuant to section 171.062, Florida |
| 38 | Statutes, on the effective date of the annexation. Such |
| 39 | ordinance shall be filed with the Department of State by the |
| 40 | county not later than 30 days subsequent to the date of the |
| 41 | adoption of the ordinance. |
| 42 | (3) As used in this act, the following terms shall be |
| 43 | defined as follows: |
| 44 | (a) "Municipality" means a municipality created pursuant |
| 45 | to general or special law authorized or recognized pursuant to |
| 46 | s. 2 or s. 6, Art. VIII of the State Constitution. |
| 47 | (b) "Contiguous" means that a substantial part of a |
| 48 | boundary of the territory sought to be annexed by a municipality |
| 49 | is coterminous with a part of the boundary of the municipality. |
| 50 | The separation of the territory sought to be annexed from the |
| 51 | annexing municipality by a publicly owned county park; a right- |
| 52 | of-way for a highway, road, railroad, canal, or utility; or a |
| 53 | body of water, watercourse, or other minor geographical division |
| 54 | of a similar nature, running parallel with and between the |
| 55 | territory sought to be annexed and the annexing municipality, |
| 56 | shall not prevent annexation under this act, provided the |
| 57 | presence of such a division does not, as a practical matter, |
| 58 | prevent the territory sought to be annexed and the annexing |
| 59 | municipality from becoming a unified whole with respect to |
| 60 | municipal services or prevent their inhabitants from fully |
| 61 | associating and trading with each other, socially and |
| 62 | economically. However, nothing in this act shall be construed to |
| 63 | allow local rights-of-way, utility easements, railroad rights- |
| 64 | of-way, or like entities to be annexed in a corridor fashion to |
| 65 | gain contiguity. If any provision or provisions of special law |
| 66 | or laws prohibit the annexation of territory that is separated |
| 67 | from the annexing municipality by a body of water or |
| 68 | watercourse, that law shall prevent annexation under this act |
| 69 | (c) "Urban services" means any services offered by a |
| 70 | municipality, either directly or by contract, to any of its |
| 71 | present residents. |
| 72 | (d) "Compactness" means concentration of a piece of |
| 73 | property in a single area and precludes any action that would |
| 74 | create enclaves, pockets, or finger areas in serpentine |
| 75 | patterns. Any annexation pursuant to this act shall be designed |
| 76 | in such a manner as to ensure that the area will be reasonably |
| 77 | compact. |
| 78 | (4) The plan required in subsection (1) shall be |
| 79 | established in the following manner: |
| 80 | (a) Broward County shall provide for any staff or |
| 81 | professional services it deems necessary for the preparation and |
| 82 | implementation of the annexation plan. |
| 83 | (b) Broward County shall hold at least two public hearings |
| 84 | prior to adoption of the annexation plan. |
| 85 | (c) Any such public hearings shall be noticed by |
| 86 | publication at least 7 days in advance of each such meeting in a |
| 87 | newspaper of general circulation in the county. |
| 88 | (d) The annexation plan shall include recommendations, |
| 89 | submitted to each area to be annexed, for the extension of urban |
| 90 | services on substantially the same basis and in the same manner |
| 91 | as such services are provided within the rest of the annexing |
| 92 | municipality prior to annexation. |
| 93 | (e) Broward County and each municipality that would be |
| 94 | affected by the annexation plan shall attempt to negotiate in |
| 95 | good faith an interlocal agreement between each municipality and |
| 96 | the county. The interlocal agreement should include, at a |
| 97 | minimum, the completion of planned infrastructure improvements |
| 98 | by Broward County and a transitional plan. |
| 99 | (5)(a) In determining the annexation of unincorporated |
| 100 | lands within Broward County as provided for by this act, such |
| 101 | county shall utilize the following criteria: the total area to |
| 102 | be annexed must be contiguous to the municipality's boundaries |
| 103 | at the time the annexation proceeding is begun and must maintain |
| 104 | compactness, and no part of the area shall be included within |
| 105 | the boundary of another incorporated municipality. |
| 106 | (b) Part or all of the area to be annexed must be |
| 107 | developed for urban purposes. An area developed for urban |
| 108 | purposes is defined as any area which meets any one of the |
| 109 | following standards: |
| 110 | 1. It has a total resident population equal to at least |
| 111 | two persons for each acre of land included within its |
| 112 | boundaries. |
| 113 | 2. It has a total resident population equal to at least |
| 114 | one person for each acre of land included within its boundaries |
| 115 | and is subdivided into lots and tracts so that at least 60 |
| 116 | percent of the total number of lots and tracts are 1 acre or |
| 117 | less in size. |
| 118 | 3. It is so developed that at least 60 percent of the |
| 119 | total number of lots and tracts in the area at the time of |
| 120 | annexation are used for urban purposes, and it is subdivided |
| 121 | into lots and tracts so that at least 60 percent of the total |
| 122 | acreage, not counting the acreage used at the time of annexation |
| 123 | for nonresidential urban purposes, consists of lots and tracts 5 |
| 124 | acres or less in size. |
| 125 | (c) In addition to the area developed for urban purposes, |
| 126 | the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County may include |
| 127 | in the area to be annexed any area which does not meet the |
| 128 | requirements of this subsection if such area meets either of the |
| 129 | following criteria: |
| 130 | 1. Lies between the municipal boundary and an area |
| 131 | developed for urban purposes, so that the area developed for |
| 132 | urban purposes is either not adjacent to the municipal boundary |
| 133 | or cannot be served by the municipality without extending |
| 134 | services or water or sewer lines through such sparsely developed |
| 135 | area; or |
| 136 | 2. Is adjacent, on at least 60 percent of its external |
| 137 | boundary, to any combination of the municipal boundary and the |
| 138 | boundary of an area or areas developed for urban purposes as |
| 139 | defined in this subsection. |
| 140 | (6) When an unincorporated area meets the criteria in |
| 141 | subsection (5) and is contiguous to more than one municipality, |
| 142 | Broward County is authorized to hold a binding referendum to |
| 143 | determine into which municipality the unincorporated area shall |
| 144 | be annexed. A special election may be called by the Board of |
| 145 | County Commissioners of Broward County wherein only qualified |
| 146 | electors within the unincorporated area as provided in this |
| 147 | subsection shall vote. Notwithstanding section 101.161, Florida |
| 148 | Statutes, the names of some or all contiguous municipalities |
| 149 | shall appear on the ballot. If two municipalities appear on the |
| 150 | ballot pursuant to this subsection, the unincorporated area |
| 151 | shall be annexed into the municipality receiving a majority of |
| 152 | votes of the electors voting in said election. If more than two |
| 153 | municipalities appear on the ballot pursuant to this subsection, |
| 154 | the unincorporated area shall be annexed into the municipality |
| 155 | receiving the plurality of the vote of the electors voting in |
| 156 | said election. Annexations accomplished pursuant to this |
| 157 | subsection shall be effective pursuant to subsection (2) on a |
| 158 | date determined by the county's annexation plan, but in no event |
| 159 | later than September 15, 2005. |
| 160 | (7) No existing commercial and entertainment complex |
| 161 | located on property with a land area of at least 50 acres shall |
| 162 | be annexed by the procedure provided in this act unless the |
| 163 | owner or owners consent to the annexation. |
| 164 | (8) No existing county regional facility shall be annexed |
| 165 | by the procedure provided in this act unless the affected county |
| 166 | and the annexing municipality consent to same by ordinance of |
| 167 | each governing body with the consent of the regional facility. |
| 168 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |