Item 8B - AGENDA ITEM # 8B
OCTOBER 11, 2010
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION MEETING
STAFF REPORT
AGENDA ITEM: Request from the Community Development Board for the City Commission to make a
revision to the current procedures required to consider and act upon applications for
Use -by- Exceptions. D "�
SUBMITTED BY: Sonya Doerr, AICP ,I2
Community Development Director
DATE: September 20, 2010
BACKGROUND: The following excerpt from the minutes of the September 21st Community
Development Board meeting is self - explanatory. The Community Development Board has discussed this
issue on several occasions and have now asked staff to formally take this request to the City Commission.
As noted in the minutes, the Community Development Board had no preference for which body hears Use -
by- Exceptions, but simply feel that the current process is excessive. Making such a change in procedure
would require a relatively simple revision to Section 24 -63 of the Land Development Regulations.
minutes of the September 21, 2010 regular meeting of the Community Development Board
6.a Use - by - Exception Approval Procedures
As discussed at previous meetings, Mr. Lambertson said the he believes the current process for consideration
of a Use -by- Exception is onerous and burdensome, in both time and resources for all parties involved. The
applicant is required to apply and appear before two bodies; staff is required to prepare reports and
presentations for and appear before two bodies, and two bodies are required to review materials and hear
essentially the same presentations. He asked Ms. Doerr to seek direction from the City Commission as to
whether or not this is the best expenditure of valuable time and resources, and to consider a revision to
Chapter 24 such that Use -by- Exceptions would be required to come to either the Community Development
Board or the City Commission for action, but not both bodies. The Community Development Board felt that
the City Commission should make the decision regarding which body should hear Use -by- Exception, and
expressed no preference for either. It was noted that final decisions on similar special use applications are
made by the Planning Commission at the City of Jacksonville. All Board members concurred. Ms. Doerr
confirmed that she would confer this request to the City Commission.
Each of the conventional Zoning Districts include a list of uses that may be approved as a Use -by- Exception.
We typically have no more than 4 -5 of these a year. The most common inquiries continue to be related to
used vehicle sales and automotive repair, although changes in the regulations and policy direction from the
City Commission have substantially reduced the number of applications for such uses since it easier to
discourage potential applicants where a clear policy direction has been set. This year we have had four Use -
by- Exception applications; last year we had none; 2007 and 2008 each saw four. These have included retail
wine sales; veterinary clinic, farmer's market; temporary storage of towed vehicles in the industrial district;
dog boarding, fuel sales; plumbing contractor and used car sales.
BUDGET: No budget issue.
RECOMMENDATION: Direction to staff.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
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REVIEWED BY CITY MANAGER:
October 11, 2010 regular meeting