§ 134-157. Legislative findings and intent.

The board of county commissioners finds and declares that:

(1)

The provisions of F.S. § 163.3161 et seq. establish the local government comprehensive planning and land development regulation act (referred to in this article as "the act").

(2)

The provisions of F.S. § 163.3202(2)(g) provide that counties shall have the power and responsibility to plan comprehensively for their future development and growth, including the adoption and implementation of appropriate land development regulations which are necessary or desirable to implement a comprehensive plan.

(3)

The county adopted its Comprehensive Plan (the "county plan") on August 8, 1989, through the adoption of Ordinance No. 89-32.

(4)

The county plan establishes the minimum requirements necessary to maintain, through orderly growth and development, the character and stability of present and future land use and development in the unincorporated areas of the county.

(5)

The provisions of F.S. § 163.3167 provide for statutory vesting of certain development rights as they may further be defined by local government.

(6)

Section 134-82(b) provides that the board of county commissioners retains the power and authority to enact ordinances, rules and regulations that are more restrictive than those originally adopted in the county plan.

(7)

Section 134-82(c) provides that nothing in the county plan or its subsequent land use regulations shall be construed or applied so as to result in the abrogation of validly existing vested rights.

(8)

Section 134-85(b) provides that the board of county commissioners shall establish administrative procedures which any party challenging denial of a development order or a development permit as an abrogation of vested rights must exhaust before any action on a request for development is deemed final by any court or quasi-judicial proceeding.

(9)

Section 134-86(c)(2)b. provides that a development order or right may be determined to be vested through any administrative procedure subsequently established by the board of county commissioners.

(10)

It is necessary and desirable that administrative determinations of vested property rights be made so as to ensure reasonable certainty, stability, and fairness in the land use planning process in order to stimulate economic growth, secure the reasonable investment-backed expectations of landowners, and foster cooperation between the public and private sectors with respect to growth management.

(11)

The establishment of an administrative determination procedure will promote the goals of the county plan in a manner which is consistent with section 2 of article I of the state constitution guaranteeing all natural persons the inalienable right to acquire, possess and protect property.

(12)

It is the specific intent of the board of county commissioners that no provision of this article be interpreted so as to abrogate validly existing vested private property rights which would exist under the United States or state constitutions.

(13)

It is the specific intent of the board of county commissioners that no administrative determination made under this article result in either a temporary or permanent taking of private property without just or full compensation under the United States or the state constitutions.

(14)

The board of county commissioners specifically intends that it shall be the duty and responsibility of the party alleging vested rights to affirmatively demonstrate the legal requisites of the rights alleged.

(15)

It is the board of county commissioners' specific intention that the procedures provided for in this article not be utilized routinely or frivolously, but rather, only in those extreme circumstances where a potential denial of private property or development rights would otherwise result.

(16)

The delays attendant the full hearing process may be deemed unnecessary for applications for vested rights which are of such a limited nature and are based on clear provisions of a development order.

(17)

In order to effectively administer a program of vested rights applications, it is often necessary to fashion variable forms of relief, consistent with the equitable nature of vested rights decisions. Thus it is the intent of the board of county commissioners for the development review committee, acting in his designated capacity on vested rights matters, to have the authority to fashion the relief necessary to protect the legitimate vested rights of property owners while at the same time protecting the rights of the citizens of the county.

(18)

Both the purpose and intent of the various land development regulations, the provisions of the comprehensive plan and the statutory and case law governing vested rights provide the development review committee with ample guidance in exercising his authority under this article.

(Ord. No. 18-36 , § 3(Att. A), 10-23-18)