Volusia County poised to make smart growth the law

By Al Everson
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 15, 2008 - 7:46:43pm

After years of wondering how to manage growth in Volusia County, leaders are poised to adopt some revolutionary concepts.

Elected officials, planners and consultants use the phrase "smart growth" to describe a pair of goals: first, clustering homes more densely so large chunks of newly developed land can be left unscathed, and, second, lessening new neighborhoods' dependence on private vehicles for routine travel.

Holding development to these standards is supposed to protect the rural core in the center of the county, known as the Volusia Conservation Corridor, from rampant urbanization.

"The vision of smart growth was to build on what we've done," Clay Henderson told the County Council.

Henderson, an attorney and former County Council member, drafted many of the documents that could make smart growth part of the county's development law.

The ideas are being refined into an ordinance to be presented to the County Council Dec. 4.

"Generally, people in Volusia County are not happy with the sprawl and the transportation gridlock," Council Member Jack Hayman said.

Assuring future growth doesn't add more problems means changing the standards and regulations for development, he noted.

At their meeting Nov. 6, County Council members said they're ready to do that.

"We're trying to figure out which way to go. We're getting down to specifics now," Growth and Resource Management Director Greg Stubbs said.

Stubbs said planners have consulted with developers, environmentalists, business interests and agricultural groups, but still don't expect a perfect consensus.

"Everything that gets approved at the end will not please everyone," he said,

Promoting green development

Instead of encouraging development of homes on large lots in rural areas, the county's proposed policy for the Conservation Corridor will encourage clustering: concentrating homes on a smaller portion of the parcel.

The remainder of the parcel — actually the bulk of it — will be undeveloped. To make certain the green space stays grassy and wooded, the land will be a permanent conservation easement.

Under the pending regulations, a developer would be required to set aside no less than 60 percent of his or her development parcel as green space.

The developer could qualify to build even more homes if he or she sets aside additional green space. The higher density would be an incentive to save more acreage — perhaps as much as 75 percent — from development.

There is a cap. A conservation development would be restricted to no more than 600 homes. The plan would also be required to meet school-capacity standards to prevent overcrowding of classrooms.

To protect the Volusia Conservation Corridor, the county needs stricter development standards, because it cannot afford to put all of the county's rural core in the public domain.

"We just don't have the money to buy all that property," County Chair Frank Bruno said.

The Volusia Conservation Corridor is a series of connected wetlands and woodlands, estimated at about 50,000 acres, that extends from the Flagler County line southward to the St. Johns River.

Some of the land is owned by federal or state agencies, such as the Florida Division of Forestry or the St. Johns River Water Management District, as well as the county. Other tracts are privately owned, but county officials may consider acquiring them or buying the development rights.

The county has bought endangered land with money from special property taxes approved by voters for that purpose.

Saving part of Florida's wilderness

For conservation land the county is unable to buy, housing density would be limited to one dwelling unit per 5 acres.

The ConservatIon Corridor includes many tracts designated as Map A lands. Map A, also known as the Environmental Core Overlay, is a planning tool adopted by the County Council and the municipal governments within the county. It marks the environmentally sensitive lands. Most of the parcels are in the unincorporated areas of the county.

In looking at the Conservation Corridor and Map A, former Deltona City Commissioner David Santiago questioned why a sizable tract belonging to Miami Corp. was left off Map A.

"It's clearly not in Map A," Santiago told the County Council. "Do bears not walk through there?"

Miami Corp. owns some 57,000 acres in Volusia and Brevard counties. About 47,000 acres are in the southern part of Volusia County. The future look of the vast spread has not yet been determined.

The future is in the past

Interestingly, the current proposal for safeguarding environmentally sensitive lands is remarkably close to a plan drafted in 1967.

Assistant County Attorney Jamie Seaman showed a document planners recently found titled "How Should We Grow: Some Beginning Considerations."

The attractive brochure, prepared by the now-defunct Volusia Area Planning Commission, noted the county should work "to preserve prime agricultural lands for agricultural pursuits," and "To preserve and enhance scenic areas, historic sites, and open spaces, and ... To conserve natural resources by preventing further contamination of air and water, and protecting water recharge areas and surface water bodies."

As the county prepares to adopt new environmental standards, Hayman advised his colleagues to avoid rushing approval, until the cities are ready to endorse the regulations.

A 1986 county charter amendment, approved by voters, empowers the county to enact minimum environmental standards applicable inside the cities, as well as in the unincorporated areas.

Henderson noted the Conservation Corridor comprises the "palmetto curtain," a sort of natural dividing line between East and West Volusia.

As well as dividing the county geographically, the corridor also has marked a line between political philosophies distinct to the tourism-driven economy of the urban east, and the more conservative and rural west.

Ironically, Henderson said, saving the palmetto curtain from unchecked development may now help unite the county.

— al@beacononlinenews.com

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