Florida Senate - 2009                                    SB 1454
       
       
       
       By Senator Constantine
       
       
       
       
       22-01429-09                                           20091454__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Wekiva River Protection Area;
    3         amending s. 369.305, F.S.; deleting an obsolete date
    4         relating to the review of local comprehensive plans by
    5         counties within the protection area; providing an
    6         effective date.
    7         
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9         
   10         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 369.305, Florida
   11  Statutes, is amended to read:
   12         369.305 Review of local comprehensive plans, land
   13  development regulations, Wekiva River development permits, and
   14  amendments.—
   15         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that comprehensive
   16  plans and land development regulations of Orange, Lake, and
   17  Seminole Counties be revised to protect the Wekiva River
   18  Protection Area prior to the due dates established in ss.
   19  163.3167(2) and 163.3202 and chapter 9J-12, Florida
   20  Administrative Code. It is also the intent of the Legislature
   21  that the counties emphasize this important state resource in
   22  their planning and regulation efforts. Therefore, each county
   23  shall, by April 1, 1989, review and amend those portions of its
   24  local comprehensive plan and its land development regulations
   25  applicable to the Wekiva River Protection Area, and, if
   26  necessary, adopt additional land development regulations which
   27  are applicable to the Wekiva River Protection Area to meet the
   28  following criteria:
   29         (a) Each county's local comprehensive plan shall contain
   30  goals, policies, and objectives which result in the protection
   31  of the:
   32         1. Water quantity, water quality, and hydrology of the
   33  Wekiva River System;
   34         2. Wetlands associated with the Wekiva River System;
   35         3. Aquatic and wetland-dependent wildlife species
   36  associated with the Wekiva River System;
   37         4. Habitat within the Wekiva River Protection Area of
   38  species designated pursuant to rules 39-27.003, 39-27.004, and
   39  39-27.005, Florida Administrative Code; and
   40         5. Native vegetation within the Wekiva River Protection
   41  Area.
   42         (b) The various land uses and densities and intensities of
   43  development permitted by the local comprehensive plan shall
   44  protect the resources enumerated in paragraph (a) and the rural
   45  character of the Wekiva River Protection Area. The plan shall
   46  also include:
   47         1. Provisions to ensure the preservation of sufficient
   48  habitat for feeding, nesting, roosting, and resting so as to
   49  maintain viable populations of species designated pursuant to
   50  rules 39-27.003, 39-27.004, and 39-27.005, Florida
   51  Administrative Code, within the Wekiva River Protection Area.
   52         2. Restrictions on the clearing of native vegetation within
   53  the 100-year flood plain.
   54         3. Prohibition of development that is not low-density
   55  residential in nature, unless that development has less impacts
   56  on natural resources than low-density residential development.
   57         4. Provisions for setbacks along the Wekiva River for areas
   58  that do not fall within the protection zones established
   59  pursuant to s. 373.415.
   60         5. Restrictions on intensity of development adjacent to
   61  publicly owned lands to prevent adverse impacts to such lands.
   62         6. Restrictions on filling and alteration of wetlands in
   63  the Wekiva River Protection Area.
   64         7. Provisions encouraging clustering of residential
   65  development when it promotes protection of environmentally
   66  sensitive areas, and ensuring that residential development in
   67  the aggregate shall be of a rural density and character.
   68         (c) The local comprehensive plan shall require that the
   69  density or intensity of development permitted on parcels of
   70  property adjacent to the Wekiva River System be concentrated on
   71  those portions of the parcels which are the farthest from the
   72  surface waters and wetlands of the Wekiva River System.
   73         (d) The local comprehensive plan shall require that parcels
   74  of land adjacent to the surface waters and watercourses of the
   75  Wekiva River System not be subdivided so as to interfere with
   76  the implementation of protection zones as established pursuant
   77  to s. 373.415, any applicable setbacks from the surface waters
   78  in the Wekiva River System which are established by local
   79  governments, or the policy established in paragraph (c) of
   80  concentrating development in the Wekiva River Protection Area as
   81  far from the surface waters and wetlands of the Wekiva River
   82  System as practicable.
   83         (e) The local land development regulations shall implement
   84  the provisions of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) and shall
   85  also include restrictions on the location of septic tanks and
   86  drainfields in the 100-year flood plain and discharges of
   87  stormwater to the Wekiva River System.
   88         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.