Placement: New Business
Action Requested: Motion / Vote
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Authorize Staff to Take All Actions Necessary to Preserve the City’s Rights and Interests Related to the Oak Ridge Ranches Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Oak Ridge Ranches PUD Rezoning and PUD Preliminary Site (Master) Plan with an Associated Wetland Waiver
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Submitted By: Mary Savage Dunham, Planning and Zoning
Strategic Plan Link: The City's Goal of high-quality infrastructure and facilities.
Executive Summary (General Business): The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to hear several applications that will result in approval of large scale planned development. The applications are known as the Oak Ridge Ranches Comprehensive Plan Amendment (the “CPA”) and Oak Ridge Ranches PUD Rezoning and PUD Preliminary Site (Master) Plan with an Associated Wetland Waiver (the “Rezoning”), collectively (the “Applications”). The Applications were scheduled for September 19, 2023, but were continued to October 12, 2023. At this time staff and staff’s consultant are still reviewing the traffic analysis associated with the Applications dated September 9, 2023. Staff is diligently working to understand the implications of the approval of the Applications on the City. Staff is seeking direction from the Council as staff prepares for the approval hearings so that staff can take actions at the hearings on the Applications in a manner that preserves the City’s rights and interests, including participating as interested parties and raising objections to matters that may not be in the best interest of the City.
Presentation Information: Planning and Public Works may provide a brief presentation.
Staff Recommendation: Move that the Council authorize staff to take all actions necessary to preserve the City’s rights and interests in all matters related to the Applications, including but not limited to, participation as an interested party and raising objections.
Alternate Recommendations:
1. Move that the Council amend the recommendation and authorize staff to take all actions necessary to preserve the City’s rights and interests in all matters related to the Applications, including but not limited to, participation as an interested party and raising objections.
2. Move that the Council table the discussion to a future meeting and provide direction to staff.
Background: The Oak Ridge Ranches project site is approximately 3,229.24 acres located north of Glades Cut-Off Road, south and adjacent to the C-24 canal, and on the west side of Range Line Road in St. Lucie County. The CPA requests to change the Future Land Use designation from AG-5 (Agricultural-5) to MXD (Mixed Use Development). The Rezoning seeks to rezone the property from the Agricultural-5 and Commercial Neighborhood Zoning Districts to the Planned Unit Development Zoning District and a preliminary PUD site (master plan) which includes a wetland waiver. Both applications, if approved, would allow, up to 8,6000 dwelling units and up to 650,000 square feet of non-residential development. A revised development program by use is provided in the Traffic Impact Analysis and shown below producing a net trip generation of 67,861 daily, 4,431 AM peak-hour, and 6,515 PM peak-hour trip ends. This provides for the following specific proposed development:
• 5,300 single-family dwelling units
• 1,900 multi-family dwelling units
• 1,400 senior adult housing
• 600,000 sf of commercial
• 3,200 student K-8 school(s)
Issues/Analysis: Staff has several concerns. These projects have been advancing at an accelerated pace and securing action/approvals from the County in advance of having all the technical information in place and completely reviewed. The approval hearings for the CPA and Rezoning are all scheduled for October 12, 2023, even though the City remains concerned that the traffic analysis for the Applications has technical deficiencies and that there is no existing agreement or condition to mitigate impacts to the City’s roadway network. Not mitigating for affected roadways would put the burden on the City, rather than the developer or County, to make the necessary improvements necessitated by the project in the future. While City and County staff have been in frequent communication on the Applications, the City’s staff is receiving new information on the Applications regularly, and late in the process, which has made it difficult to fully analyze and understand the impacts on the City. While City staff is grateful that new and more informative material is being provided to the City upon its request, it is difficult for the City to provide well-informed and meaningful input to the County when the data on the Applications is in flux. Consequently, the City and the County have not yet agreed on what the transportation impacts to the City will be.
Finally, this is one of several large development projects west of the City in various stages of review, yet a regional traffic analysis has not been completed, and it is our opinion that piecemealing the approvals without understanding how all the projects will cumulatively impact the roadway network is not proper planning and may result in missed opportunities for the City and the County to ensure the proper mitigation is required.
Notably, all of these concerns were raised by staff at the September 19, 2023, Board of County Commission hearings on the Applications, as the Board of County Commissioners allowed public comment prior to moving to continue the Applications. Consequently, staff remains optimistic that the City, County and developer will continue to work together and a solution and ensure that impacts on the City’s roadway network are mitigated as part of any approvals with specific conditions or other agreements.
Financial Information: n/a
Special Consideration: The adoption hearing for these Applications is currently scheduled for October 12, 2023. Staff is working to quantify the list of specific impacts and issues based upon the most recent submittal and the process is moving quickly so staff wanted to schedule a time for a discussion with the entire Council.
Location of Project: The site is approximately 3,229.24 acres located north of Glades Cut-Off Road, south and adjacent to the C-24 canal, and west side of Range Line Road in St. Lucie County.
Attachments:
1. September 11, 2023 Staff memo to Council
2. September 8, 2023 Planning letter to SLC
3. September 8, 2023 PW letter to SLC
4. September 16, 2023 Traffic review memo
5. Staff presentation.
NOTE: All of the listed items in the “Attachment” section above are in the custody of the City Clerk. Any item(s) not provided in City Council packets are available upon request from the City Clerk.
Internal Reference Number: 9328
Legal Sufficiency Review:
Reviewed by Elizabeth L. Hertz, Senior Deputy City Attorney. Approved as to Legal form and sufficiency by James D. Stokes, City Attorney.