Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
February 24, 2016 3:27 p.m.
On February 23, 2016, the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) and the city’s Planning Advisory Board (PAB) met in a joint workshop session to clarify roles of both bodies and city staff with respect to land use planning in the city of Fernandina Beach. Participants also discussed proposals for the city’s 8th Street corridor that emanated from a special study group composed of local citizens, businesses, and city staff. Vice Mayor Robin Lentz also serves on this group. (See separate article)
There was mention of newly identified FBCC goals for the coming year, but no guidance from the commission on their expectations for the PAB or city staff with respect to meshing these goals with current goals or staff workloads.
Senior Planner Kelly Gibson provided workshop participants with an overview of land use planning in the city. She explained the relationship between the city’s Comprehensive (Comp) Plan and the Land Development Code (LDC), which translates the strategic vision of the plan into a regulatory framework. She went on to explain that the PAB has been delegated responsibility as depicted in the slide below:
She also clarified the role of city staff with respect to land use planning:
PAB Chair Judith Lane reminded city commissioners that while the Comp Plan, which has been approved by the FBCC is more strategic in nature, the Land Development Code (LDC) is “where the rubber meets the road.” The community is involved in the routine review and update of the Comp Plan every 9 years as part of the state-mandated Evaluation and Review (EAR) process. The current Comp Plan is scheduled for the next review in 2019.
Commissioner Tim Poynter asked what triggers PAB recommendations to change land development codes. Gibson replied that staff takes direction from the FBCC, via development applications, or from observation that certain parts of the code appear to be triggering routine variance requests or other development problems.
Poynter said that while he expects the PAB to be advisory on problems that arise with respect to land development code, he does not see the board as a proactive, activist board that promotes its own priorities, as opposed to those identified by city staff or the FBCC. He cited as example the recent instance of landscaping buffers and industrial property.
Lane explained that while the PAB is not an advocacy board, it must look at trends when it investigates identified problems to avoid piecemeal code amendment recommendations. She said that in opening up one part of the code to solve existing problems or lack of clarity, sometimes the PAB finds other problems relating to the same code section. She said that the PAB tries to look at where the code is today and where it needs to be in light of FBCC and staff-identified priorities and direction.
Commissioner Len Kreger, who served as PAB Chair before his election to the FBCC, said that he likes the PAB as it is. He expressed his preference to begin the EAR process earlier to give the public more time to consider changes and provide input. He added that many aspects of the existing Comp Plan have not been implemented to date, suggesting that the PAB should be a driving force to see that such work is completed.
Commissioner Roy Smith expressed impatience with the long deliberative process and the multiple committees and subcommittees that review changes before they are presented to the FBCC. He said, “I don’t want things to take 40 years.”
Lane reminded commissioners that the Comp Plan is a living document subject to constant changes because of changes in federal and state laws. She said that most of the changes the PAB considers arise from staff recommendations. When the PAB considers changes, they try to do so by category (e.g., zoning district) as opposed to specific parcels. She added that there is no perfect document, but that as the pace of development picks up in the city, the problems become more apparent.
Both PAB Members Mark Bennett and Jon Lasserre reminded commissioners that they only recommend changes to the FBCC, which has the authority and responsibility to accept, reject or modify them.
PAB Chair Lane stressed that the Community Development Department staff has been “cut to the bone,” severely limiting the research and background work that can form the basis of PAB deliberations. Poynter said that in light of limited resources, he looked toward city staff to determine the PAB’s priority for what absolutely needs consideration and the amount of time needed to implement goals.
Kelly Gibson said that as the city’s planner, she benefits from a better understood and accepted alignment between staff effort, commission goals and PAB expectations.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.