HB 1549

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to rural land stewardship; amending s.
3163.3177, F.S.; providing for agricultural landowners to
4participate in the rural land stewardship program;
5revising criteria for rural land stewardship areas;
6requiring the Department of Community Affairs to make
7provisions for landowner agreements; providing an
8effective date.
9
10Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12     Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (11) of section
13163.3177, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
14     163.3177  Required and optional elements of comprehensive
15plan; studies and surveys.--
16     (11)
17     (d)1.  The department, in cooperation with the Department
18of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of
19Environmental Protection, water management districts, and
20regional planning councils, shall provide assistance to local
21governments in the implementation of this paragraph and rule 9J-
225.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code. Implementation of
23those provisions shall include a process by which the department
24may authorize local governments and landowners to designate all
25or portions of lands classified in the future land use element
26as predominantly agricultural, rural, open, open-rural, or a
27substantively equivalent land use, as a rural land stewardship
28area within which planning and economic incentives are applied
29to encourage the implementation of innovative and flexible
30planning and development strategies and creative land use
31planning techniques, including those contained herein and in
32rule 9J-5.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code. Assistance may
33include, but is not limited to:
34     a.  Assistance from the Department of Environmental
35Protection and water management districts in creating the
36geographic information systems land cover database and aerial
37photogrammetry needed to prepare for a rural land stewardship
38area;
39     b.  Support for local government implementation of rural
40land stewardship concepts by providing information and
41assistance to local governments regarding land acquisition
42programs that may be used by the local government or landowners
43to leverage the protection of greater acreage and maximize the
44effectiveness of rural land stewardship areas; and
45     c.  Expansion of the role of the Department of Community
46Affairs as a resource agency to facilitate establishment of
47rural land stewardship areas in smaller rural counties that do
48not have the staff or planning budgets to create a rural land
49stewardship area.
50     2.  The department shall encourage participation by local
51governments of different sizes and rural characteristics in
52establishing and implementing rural land stewardship areas. It
53is the intent of the Legislature that rural land stewardship
54areas be used to further the following broad principles of rural
55sustainability: restoration and maintenance of the economic
56value of rural land; control of urban sprawl; identification and
57protection of ecosystems, habitats, and natural resources;
58promotion of rural economic activity; maintenance of the
59viability of Florida's agricultural economy; and protection of
60the character of rural areas of Florida. Rural land stewardship
61areas may be multicounty in order to encourage coordinated
62regional stewardship planning.
63     3.  A local government, in conjunction with a regional
64planning council, a stakeholder organization of private land
65owners, or another local government, or any landowner or
66landowners with 2,500 acres or more of contiguous agricultural
67land as described in s. 193.451, shall notify the department in
68writing of its intent to designate a rural land stewardship
69area. The written notification shall describe the basis for the
70designation, including the extent to which the rural land
71stewardship area enhances rural land values, controls urban
72sprawl, provides necessary open space for agriculture and
73protection of the natural environment, promotes rural economic
74activity, and maintains rural character and the economic
75viability of agriculture.
76     4.  A rural land stewardship area shall be not less than
772,500 10,000 acres and shall be located outside of
78municipalities and established urban growth boundaries, and
79shall be designated by plan amendment. The plan amendment
80designating a rural land stewardship area shall be subject to
81review by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to s.
82163.3184 and shall provide for the following:
83     a.  Criteria for the designation of receiving areas within
84rural land stewardship areas in which innovative planning and
85development strategies may be applied. Criteria shall at a
86minimum provide for the following: adequacy of suitable land to
87accommodate development so as to avoid conflict with
88environmentally sensitive areas, resources, and habitats;
89compatibility between and transition from higher density uses to
90lower intensity rural uses; the establishment of receiving area
91service boundaries which provide for a separation between
92receiving areas and other land uses within the rural land
93stewardship area through limitations on the extension of
94services; and connection of receiving areas with the rest of the
95rural land stewardship area using rural design and rural road
96corridors.
97     b.  Goals, objectives, and policies setting forth the
98innovative planning and development strategies to be applied
99within rural land stewardship areas pursuant to the provisions
100of this section.
101     c.  A process for the implementation of innovative planning
102and development strategies within the rural land stewardship
103area, including those described in this subsection and rule 9J-
1045.006(5)(l), Florida Administrative Code, which provide for a
105functional mix of land uses and which are applied through the
106adoption by the local government of zoning and land development
107regulations applicable to the rural land stewardship area.
108     d.  A process which encourages visioning pursuant to s.
109163.3167(11) to ensure that innovative planning and development
110strategies comply with the provisions of this section.
111     e.  The control of sprawl through the use of innovative
112strategies and creative land use techniques consistent with the
113provisions of this subsection and rule 9J-5.006(5)(l), Florida
114Administrative Code.
115     5.  In selecting a landowner or landowners, the department
116shall by written agreement:
117     a.  Ensure that the landowner has expressed intent to
118designate a rural land stewardship area pursuant to the
119provisions of this paragraph and clarify the intended rural land
120stewardship area.
121     b.  Ensure that the landowner has the financial and
122administrative capabilities to implement a rural land
123stewardship area.
124     6.5.  A receiving area shall be designated by the adoption
125of a land development regulation. Prior to the designation of a
126receiving area, the local government shall provide the
127Department of Community Affairs a period of 30 days in which to
128review a proposed receiving area for consistency with the rural
129land stewardship area plan amendment and to provide comments to
130the local government.
131     7.6.  Upon the adoption of a plan amendment creating a
132rural land stewardship area, the local government shall, by
133ordinance, assign to the area a certain number of credits, to be
134known as "transferable rural land use credits," which shall not
135constitute a right to develop land, nor increase density of
136land, except as provided by this section. The total amount of
137transferable rural land use credits assigned to the rural land
138stewardship area must correspond to the 25-year or greater
139projected population of the rural land stewardship area.
140Transferable rural land use credits are subject to the following
141limitations:
142     a.  Transferable rural land use credits may only exist
143within a rural land stewardship area.
144     b.  Transferable rural land use credits may only be used on
145lands designated as receiving areas and then solely for the
146purpose of implementing innovative planning and development
147strategies and creative land use planning techniques adopted by
148the local government pursuant to this section.
149     c.  Transferable rural land use credits assigned to a
150parcel of land within a rural land stewardship area shall cease
151to exist if the parcel of land is removed from the rural land
152stewardship area by plan amendment.
153     d.  Neither the creation of the rural land stewardship area
154by plan amendment nor the assignment of transferable rural land
155use credits by the local government shall operate to displace
156the underlying density of land uses assigned to a parcel of land
157within the rural land stewardship area; however, if transferable
158rural land use credits are transferred from a parcel for use
159within a designated receiving area, the underlying density
160assigned to the parcel of land shall cease to exist.
161     e.  The underlying density on each parcel of land located
162within a rural land stewardship area shall not be increased or
163decreased by the local government, except as a result of the
164conveyance or use of transferable rural land use credits, as
165long as the parcel remains within the rural land stewardship
166area.
167     f.  Transferable rural land use credits shall cease to
168exist on a parcel of land where the underlying density assigned
169to the parcel of land is utilized.
170     g.  An increase in the density of use on a parcel of land
171located within a designated receiving area may occur only
172through the assignment or use of transferable rural land use
173credits and shall not require a plan amendment.
174     h.  A change in the density of land use on parcels located
175within receiving areas shall be specified in a development order
176which reflects the total number of transferable rural land use
177credits assigned to the parcel of land and the infrastructure
178and support services necessary to provide for a functional mix
179of land uses corresponding to the plan of development.
180     i.  Land within a rural land stewardship area may be
181removed from the rural land stewardship area through a plan
182amendment.
183     j.  Transferable rural land use credits may be assigned at
184different ratios of credits per acre according to the natural
185resource or other beneficial use characteristics of the land and
186according to the land use remaining following the transfer of
187credits, with the highest number of credits per acre assigned to
188the most environmentally valuable land and a lesser number of
189credits to be assigned to open space and agricultural land.
190     k.  The use or conveyance of transferable rural land use
191credits must be recorded in the public records of the county in
192which the property is located as a covenant or restrictive
193easement running with the land in favor of the county and either
194the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of
195Agriculture and Consumer Services, a water management district,
196or a recognized statewide land trust.
197     8.7.  Owners of land within rural land stewardship areas
198should be provided incentives to enter into rural land
199stewardship agreements, pursuant to existing law and rules
200adopted thereto, with state agencies, water management
201districts, and local governments to achieve mutually agreed upon
202conservation objectives. Such incentives may include, but not be
203limited to, the following:
204     a.  Opportunity to accumulate transferable mitigation
205credits.
206     b.  Extended permit agreements.
207     c.  Opportunities for recreational leases and ecotourism.
208     d.  Payment for specified land management services on
209publicly owned land, or property under covenant or restricted
210easement in favor of a public entity.
211     e.  Option agreements for sale to public entities or
212private land conservation entities, in either fee or easement,
213upon achievement of conservation objectives.
214     9.8.  The department shall report to the Legislature on an
215annual basis on the results of implementation of rural land
216stewardship areas authorized by the department, including
217successes and failures in achieving the intent of the
218Legislature as expressed in this paragraph.
219     Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.