January 13, 2005

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on January 13, 2005, at 1:03 p.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Present were: Chairman Ron Pritchard, D.P.A., Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Helen Voltz, Susan Carlson, and Jackie Colon, Interim County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

AUTHORIZATION, RE: SUBMIT GRANT FOR OPERATION I-95 ALIVE

Chairman Pritchard stated there is an addition to the Agenda that the Board will hear first. He stated Sheriff Jack Parker is bringing a proposal to the Board.

Sheriff Jack Parker stated he is doing what he promised he would never do if elected Sheriff, and is coming before the Board at the last minute asking it for help. He stated it is in line with what the Board has made a top priority in recent years, and that is the safety on I-95. He advised yesterday something was dropped into his hands; and he wanted to take advantage of it if possible. He stated when he came into the Sheriff’s Office he made it clear that one of his objectives was not only to deal with the jail and other important issues but that something needed to done about safety on I-95. He advised there were 27 deaths last year, 24 the year before, and 17 the year before that; and so there is an escalating number of traffic fatalities. He stated in the last four years Brevard County has lost almost 70 people on I-95 and had almost 3,000 crashes; it is absolutely horrendous; and it is beyond comprehension if the numbers and data are looked at. He stated Chief Bill Farmer and he talked about it; they have been out there many nights at 2:00 a.m. and seen some of the carnage; and unless you are out there looking at it, it is beyond comprehension. He stated Brevard County represents about one-half of the interstate in the State of Florida that is not yet three lanes; most of the interstate in the State of Florida is three lanes; and the interstate to the south and north of Brevard County is three lanes. He stated there are efforts to three lane the interstate but it will not commence until late 2007; and it will be a five or six-year construction project. He advised the major contributing factor to all of the crashes is excessive speed; and he is sure that everyone who drove to the Government Center today noticed people passing at 90 mph constantly. He stated through more vigorous, aggressive enforcement the Sheriff’s Office can make a difference. He advised there is some money available for projects such as this with a deadline of today; and his office has prepared a grant application, but he needs the Board’s permission to proceed with it. He stated the Sheriff’s Office is going to ask the State of Florida to give it $480,000; $80,000 would be used for a one-time only electric and static signage to talk about zero tolerance for speed, the types of fines that exist, and warning that it is a dangerous roadway; and $400,000 of it would be used to create a task force of five Deputy Sheriffs. He stated it would not be the same five Deputys all of the time; they will work in four to eight-hour increments with a Sergeant; and they will cover the strip of I-95 from the north to the south. He stated they would bring to the public well over 2,000 hours of that particular service for that money. He advised he has been in conversations with the Florida Highway Patrol, and they have applauded the Sheriff’s Office in this and welcomed any help they could possibly get in making enforcement more of a priority in Brevard County when it comes to I-95. He stated it will be called Operation I-95 Alive; and the Board’s support is requested. He advised there is a grant match, but he does not want to come before the Board and ask for more money; and the money could be found from the Sheriff’s existing resources and savings, and existing personnel who are already doing the job. He stated for example, Sergeants who are already on duty, cars the Sheriff’s office already has, and fuel from fuel savings from bringing back vehicles that it really did not need to have out there right now; and those are all things the Sheriff is doing. He stated he realizes it is a new concept asking for the Board’s support only and no money at this point in time. He stated they can make a significant difference; there will be true performance measurements that they believe will show decline in the deaths and decline of the increase of deaths on I-95 through more aggressive enforcement; and if they are successful, they may get additional support and funding from the State of Florida until they get through the construction project to make Brevard County safer.

Chairman Pritchard inquired if Sheriff Parker was asking for support but no money. Sheriff Parker responded yes sir.

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to authorize Sheriff Jack Parker to apply for a grant from the State of Florida in the amount of $480,000 to fund Operation I-95 Alive, which will include $80,000 for signage and $400,000 for the I-95 Task Force. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Colon stated one of the things that has been her issue while being on the Board is regarding the medians; there are areas on I-95 from Jacksonville to Miami that are vegetated; and it prevents the head-on collision if someone falls asleep. She advised the evening Sheriff Parker was sworn in there was an accident on I-95; and there is no way that person lived. She inquired is there something the Sheriff can do as far as vegetation in the medians. She stated this is something close to Representative Bob Allen’s heart.

Sheriff Parker stated the enforcement is just one part of the corrective action; and speeding up construction by working with the Legislative Delegation to try to make the widening of the interstate more of a priority and doing other innovative things like creating barriers are other parts. He advised those are the most horrific accidents when people come across medians going 80 miles per hour or faster and hit cars head-on on the other side; and there is very little chance for survival. He stated this is the tip of the iceberg; and it is the catalyst to get things moving in that direction and to work in partnership with the Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, the local Legislative Delegation, and Board of County Commissioners as a team. He stated the amount of interest the jail provided when there were five suicides deserves a lot of interest and attention. He stated it deserves full attention. He stated Mitch Needleman is proud to be a part of this as well; he will be sponsoring it from his side; and he will be looking for other legislative support for this particular item.

Commissioner Carlson inquired what agency is the grant generated from. Sheriff Parker responded right now it is a general appropriation fund, no specific agency at this time. Commissioner Carlson stated she is wondering what are the chances of actually getting the grant. Sheriff Parker stated the chances are good in the fact there was some money for projects like this that seemed to be still on the table. He stated when Chief Administrative Officer Tom Jenkins heard what was important to him in his opening speeches with the command staff, he started beating the bushes to see if there was money available to get this kicked off; so he brought this to him late yesterday afternoon and that is why he is before the Board today.

Assistant County Manager Don Lusk inquired if this is to meet the requirement for the public hearing as submittal, or asking to put it in the legislative package and support it that way. Sheriff Parker responded that would be supplemental, and as a condition of the grant application they require the Board to approve the fact the Sheriff’s Office is making application. He stated it is a technicality in the grant that they will not review the grant request application from the Sheriff unless the Board approves it. Commissioner Carlson inquired if it has to be in a public hearing and advertised. Sheriff Parker responded he does not think so. Mr. Lusk stated it would be better to add it to the legislative package so the liaison person will be able to track it.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to include Operation I-95 Alive in the legislative package so it can be tracked by the legislative liaison representative. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Voltz stated she appreciates the Sheriff for coming before the Board and asking for its support to support him without any funding because the money is not there.

Chairman Pritchard advised he would like to move Item IV, Other Business, to this portion of the Agenda.

DISCUSSION, RE: SHORE PROTECTION PROJECT MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE
LEASE

Natural Resources Management Director Ernest Brown stated the approved Lease was distributed to the Board between Minerals Management Service and Brevard County for use of Outer Continental Shelf sand to be used on the North and South Reaches of the Brevard County Shore Protection Project.

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to execute Negotiated Noncompetitive Lease for Sand, Gravel, and Shell Resources on the Outer Continental Shelf with the United Stated Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS), to allow the use of Outer Continental Shelf sand for construction of the North and South Reaches of the County’s Shore Protection Project. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

DISCUSSION, RE: STATE-FUNDED INTERIM DUNE COST RECOVERY

Natural Resources Management Director Ernest Brown stated staff is asking for three positions from the Board. He stated one is to select an approach to take as to how to address the Dune Stabilization Project; the next one is how to fund the additional needs to meet that approach; and the third option is the Board consider authorizing staff to negotiate with all three bidders to seek a best and final offer from each of them because staff believes it may be able to get better pricing from them if it takes the time to negotiate with them. He stated with no funds readily available, it may be the best approach.

Interim County Manager Peggy Busacca advised there was a lot of discussion at the Board meeting of January 11, 2005 about beaches. She stated it is a State-funded program in which the State allocated a certain amount of money to put toward the dunes; but when the bids were opened on Monday there was not sufficient money in the State’s appropriation to allow the County to put six cubic feet of sand per lineal foot of beach. She stated that is the reason for the re-negotiation request. She advised at this time the sand has become very much in demand because many coastal communities are trying to do the same thing; there is a limited source; and the prices have risen. She stated if the Board looks at Attachment 2, it can see the various options staff has put together as far as either reducing the amount of sand that goes on the beach to fit the amount of money available or increasing the amount of money so additional sand can be put on the beach; and staff has a preferred approach to it and will be happy to discuss it with the Board.

Mr. Brown stated there are three options in Item 1, three options in Item 2, and two options in Item 3. He advised Item 1 deals exclusively with private residential properties, Item 2 deals with privately-owned properties that are improved, as well as the developed parks areas within the Mid-reach and South Beaches. He stated staff’s preference at this point to meet the needs of all the citizens of Brevard County and Satellite and Indian Harbour Beaches would fall into category number 2, and there are two options within that. He stated one is to place in front of all the developed private properties and the parks six cubic yards per linear foot, which is what FEMA is using as the appropriate amount for shoring up the dunes; and Option 2 is to put five cubic yards in front of each of those same properties. He stated it is a matter of pricing at that juncture.

Commissioner Carlson inquired what is the difference in price. Mr. Brown responded if the Board chooses Option 2a, an additional $3.7 million will be needed; but if it chooses Option 2b, in excess of $1.6 million will be needed. Chairman Pritchard inquired if staff has identified another partial funding source. Mr. Brown responded Virginia Barker, Environmental Management, has been working feverishly to find ways to kick up other sources of funding, and there may be a possibility to use up to $1 million cost-shared with the DEP that has been allocated for the South and North Beach Renourishment Projects. He stated it can be used on the parks only, and for the rest of the money for the private citizens, staff could get up to 50/50 cost share, which would reduce cost between $500,000 and $700,000 depending on which section the Board chose to use. Ms. Busacca stated her understanding is that alternative 2b would leave the County with about a $900,000 deficit. Commissioner Carlson inquired if the County could look to Port Canaveral to potentially get some of the funding. Mr. Brown responded that is something that has not been explored. Ms. Barker stated the County partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers to have a study done of how far south the impacts of Canaveral Port and entrance channel maintenance affected the beaches, and that study found the impacts start to deteriorate in Patrick Air Force Base. She stated the beaches being discussed today are the Mid-reach, which is south of Patrick Air Force Base, and the South Beaches, which are even further away. She stated while the Port may want to partner just because they have been good partners in the past, there is no documentation that would lend them to believe there is any responsibility there for erosion along those shorelines.

Ms. Busacca stated Mike Crotty from Satellite Beach is present, and he may have some comments.

Satellite Beach City Manager Mike Crotty stated as he has stated since October, Satellite Beach has had its hand out asking for assistance to anyone who would listen for beach improvement. He stated the Mid-reach was not renourished and sustained substantial damage compared to the North and South Reaches that were renourished. He stated he spoke with Indian Harbour Beach City Manager Jackie Burns and they reviewed the options; they believe Option 2b is an option they could live with as a reasonable approach to address the dune reconstruction; it is a good first step; but there needs to be a follow-up on the momentum identified at the meeting of January 11, 2005 in order to attempt to have a renourishment of the entire Mid-reach.

Ms. Busacca stated her understanding is there is the ability to get additional grant funding from DEP for this, but if the Board would turn back to page 2, the funding options are identified.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if the Board chose Option 2b would Satellite Beach be willing to work with the County as far as trying to come up with some of that money. Mr. Crotty responded the City of Satellite Beach does not have reserved funds to put towards any type of dune restoration; and its fund balance as of September 30, 2004 was about $400,000. He stated it was eaten into considerably by the damage it had to cover on the front end from the hurricanes; so the availability of funds is somewhat limited. He noted the City of Satellite Beach did retain Jerry Sansom to represent it on the special Bill that went before the Legislature in December; and Mr. Sansom indicated it was a real possibility that in the beginning weeks of the new legislative session the DEP Committee was approached about increasing the allocation. He stated Mr. Sansom did not think there was anything magical about the $3.54 million that was allocated forward; it was based upon preliminary assumptions on unit prices that were known in October; and everyone knows what has happened to a cubic yard of sand since October. Mr. Crotty stated Satellite Beach wants to encourage the protection of park areas; it has partnered with Brevard County since 1998 to buy 30% of its oceanfront; and it believes it is in everyone’s best interest to preserve all of those areas that they spent over $6 million in acquiring.

Mr. Brown stated in speaking with the key partners the County has with the municipalities, there is no question they are willing to work with staff to find funding sources; everyone is in dire straits in protecting those properties; and the object is to get through one more year so it can look at a long-term solution. He stated the question is how much sand will be put in front of the dunes; and it comes to economics at this juncture. He inquired what does the County want to commit to and how does it pay for that.

Chairman Pritchard stated since all the County is doing is sand without any stabilization to the dune or any sort of structure, he would opt for 2b; and that puts the Board at a question of where will it get $900,000. Commissioner Carlson inquired if the funding options are one through six on that page; with Mr. Brown responding yes. Chairman Pritchard stated it seems like number 5 may be appropriate; and inquired what Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten thinks. Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten responded in terms of the dollars, the Board has some leverage regarding the Department of Juvenile Justice funding. He stated the Board is not required to make the payment that was budgeted for this year, and it was a $2.1million payment. He stated on January 25, 2005 staff is preparing to bring to the Board an Agenda item that addresses the possibility of having additional judges, so staff is asking for its direction in terms of some buildout of the first and second floors of the courthouse. He stated the Board has $2.1 million; it is General Fund dollars; and the buildout for the courthouse may cost $1.8 million. He stated staff discussed if the Board could use a portion of the $2.1 and the remaining portion for commercial paper funding of the expansion of the first and second floors of the courthouse. Ms. Busacca advised it is also a timing issue; it is an immediate need; and the County is trying to get the sand on the beach by the end of April. She stated the judge issue is one that may take a year or longer. She advised the question is if the Board wants the money in the bank for a forthcoming issue or does it want to spend the money today for an issue that is outstanding. Mr. Whitten stated regarding the additional judges, the process is the Supreme Court certifies to the Legislature a need for new judges, and it is up to the Legislature to decide if it wants to fund that request. Commissioner Carlson inquired if the Board does not keep an amount in reserves for DJJ, may there be a big bill next time around. Mr. Whitten responded the DJJ funding allocated this year would be one-time funding; the Legislature will look at the issue in the Spring session; and he is pretty sure there will be a DJJ for the next fiscal year. Chairman Pritchard advised this year the Board has $2.1 budgeted that it does not look like it will be spending. Commissioner Carlson stated she knows staff has done work on MSBU and MSTU scenarios for some of the private property owners who did not fit into the equation when FEMA was looking at it. She inquired where does the County stand and how much could it reduce the cost by going either the 5% or 20% route under the MSBU scenario. Mr. Brown responded the numbers were primarily on the $3.7 million availability in getting six cubic yards per linear foot across every piece of parks and privately owned property. He stated staff looked at 100 linear feet at around $4,000 per household. He stated it is at the 16% ratio, which would be required if no additional funding came in; and that would be a full 16% of the cost that would, in fact, fund the deficit. Ms. Busacca advised the County would still have to come up with money for the privately owned properties. Ms. Barker stated it will fund 1a, but not the parks. Ms. Busacca stated there would still be money that would have to be identified.

Commissioner Carlson stated she was looking at a combination of things; if the County can go out with a commercial paper loan to fix what the County has for the public; and the private property owners could pay a percentage share of the damages. Ms. Busacca stated that could be done to reimburse that $900,000 of the $2.1 million left in the Juvenile Justice; that would leave the County with $1.2 million; and then some portion of that would be reimbursed.

Commissioner Colon stated the Board should go with the recommendation of Mr. Whitten, and use those dollars to be able to complete the project. Chairman Pritchard inquired if it is to take $900,000 from the $2.1 million, and then see what other type of reimbursement the County can get from wherever. Ms. Busacca advised staff will do its best to negotiate the price down and will spend the least amount of money it can. She stated staff feels Option 2b is the most bang for the buck. Chairman Pritchard stated the funding option would be number 1, General Funds, and then the Board will be seeking reimbursements.

Mr. Brown advised the only outstanding issue would be whether or not the Board would be inclined to allow staff to negotiate with the existing three bidders to seek a best and final price to hopefully mitigate those costs.

Mr. Whitten advised for the Clerk’s record he would like for the motion to include all necessary budget changes and budget amendments to affect the transfer. Ms. Barker recommend it include advertisement of the bid.

Motion by Commissioner Colon, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to approve Option 2b for interim dune options to protect non-armored, developed private properties and developed park areas only with smaller dune stabilizing berm of five cubic yards per linear foot; authorized advertising Request for Bids, negotiation with the low responsive bidder for the preferred option, and designated Chairman to award bid and execute contract with selected bidder; designated $900,000 for the $2.1 million budgeted for DJJ funding; and authorized budget changes and amendments to effect the transfer of funds. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

SMART GROWTH

Chairman Pritchard stated Smart Growth is the issue today; there are several members of a committee that has been formed for this; and he would like to read the names of the people on the committee. He advised there are six vacant seats around the table if some of the members would like to come up and sit here. He advised the Board appointed Commissioner Carlson, Commissioner Voltz, Stormwater Utility Director Ron Jones, Interim Assistant County Manager Ed Washburn; the municipal appointees are City of Palm Bay Councilman Andy Anderson, City of Titusville Councilman Ken Ward, Rockledge City Manager Jim McKnight, West Melbourne City Manager Mark Ryan, City of Cocoa Beach Planner Tony Carvello, City of Melbourne Beach Sheryl Dean; School Board Appointees are Larry Hughes and Dana Theodore of School Board

Facilities; and ex officio members from Space Coast League of Cities are Georgia Phillips from the City of Rockledge, Paul Gougelman of the City of Melbourne, and Pat Woodard of the City of Palm Bay.

Introduction

President and CEO of Leadership Brevard, Inc. Kristin Bakke stated she wanted to welcome members of the Task Force who were recognized by the Board; and she hopes to do a lot of good work together. She stated she wanted to recognize members of Brevard Tomorrow’s Land Use and Growth Team who are present as follows: Team Lead Jim Fletcher, Co-Team Lead Mario Busacca, Ann Mazon, Robin Sobrino, Doug Sphar, West Melbourne City Manager Mark Ryan, and Troy Brice with Indian River Lagoon, and Mel Scott helped out when he was on County staff and continues to lend a lot of expertise to the team. She stated they were here October 1, 2004 for a fairly lengthy workshop about getting to smart growth in Brevard County. She stated the document that was distributed to the Board has been a process through Brevard Tomorrow initiative that has taken approximately two years to get to this point. She stated they started out with a very diverse group and continue to maintain committee members with diversity; and it is one of the strengths the group has had with the process. She stated they have been able to work as a group from very different beginning agendas to recognize common interests as they relate to land use issues in Brevard County, and to function through a consensus process to arrive at seven principles for smart growth in Brevard County. She stated they are here today to talk about the educational process and what they would like the next steps to be, with the Board’s support, and to address questions as they may relate to the work or the work they may do with the Task Force. She stated she wanted to point out that the slide hand-out in the presentation the Board will see is slightly revised from those given earlier in the week; and the presentation has been refined and condensed.

Smart Growth Summary

Mario Busacca stated they wanted to talk about the Smart Growth Plan that was put together; they are here to talk about the education piece; but before they do that, they want to give perspective on what they presented before. He stated Robin Sobrino will present some details of analysis the Board asked for in the form of what pieces of the principles and strategies that they put forward are the County already doing. He stated the group had to define smart growth for Brevard County; and they came up with their own definition. He advised it is to make it possible for communities to grow in ways that support economic development and jobs, create strong neighborhoods with a range of housing, commercial, and transportation options, and achieve healthy communities to provide families with a clean environment. He stated it took the group to get to that particular definition. He stated the group looked at the smart growth principles that are universally accepted across the nation and came up with seven principles that reflect uniqueness of Brevard County. He noted it provides how they relate to each other. He stated the first thing that needs to happen when looking at the principles is the idea of community involvement. Mr. Busacca advised in order for the community to be involved at all, strategies are needed to do that; and the first principle is to ensure that the communities that are interacting together are engaged. He stated community, as defined in documentation, is self-defined; it could be defined as Brevard County as a whole; it could be defined as a PUD; and any group of geographically organized residents that want to identify themselves as a community have the right to do that under the principles. He stated it is not driving any particular way as far as regulatory issue as to what is a community; and so those are all strategies to do that. He inquired when a community comes together, how does a person do all this stuff. He stated first is to get people involved. He stated the first option is to have that community come together and be involved through education and motivation. He stated the first thing the community needs to do is identify what they are, where they want to be, and where they want to go. He stated there are strategies to identify how a community can develop types of growth, the physical environment it has, and how it would physically present itself and interact with other communities. He advised that could be done through effective community involvement. He stated once a community has done that, it would then go to economics of land use. He stated it involves strategies that are typical tools governmental jurisdiction would use to encourage, endorse, regulate, control, and manage growth, such as things like tax incentives, taxing issues, other funding sources, regulations, and ordinances. He stated they are all things that allow the jurisdictions to manage what that identity should look like. He stated many of the strategies are related to funding, but there are other management tools as well. He advised once the tools have been used, there are three basic comments the group looked at. He stated the first is environmental quality for the preservation and conservation of open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas. He noted they used the terms preservation and conservation; preservation is the action of taking a piece of land that for whatever reason has value and preserving it pretty much the way it is; and conservation is a piece of property that has value but it may need specific things to maintain or change it into what a community wants it to be. He stated a piece of property could be viewed as something as valuable as open space but is not be usable by the community, yet it may need to be improved; and that could be a open space issue that needs a management tool. He stated the strategies are involving how does a person do those kinds of things. He advised the second component is housing; and housing tries to encompass a broad range of housing, both upper and lower level, for all demographic groups and all economic levels of the environment. He stated the zoning and other management tools are used to determine what kind of housing is where. He stated finally there is a specialized category of mixed land use; and it is defined as the area in neighborhoods where people are allowed to live, work, and play in pedestrian-oriented environments that are distinctive in character. He advised it means a place where people can live very close to where they work, shop, go for entertainment, and those kinds of things on a regular basis; it does not mean a person does not go outside the community; but one of the big focuses of a mixed land use is to reduce the transportation infrastructure so a person can walk or bicycle to those places as opposed to getting into a car, bus, or train to get where he or she is going. He stated the team does not believe there are any true mixed use environments yet in Brevard County; there are some that are very close and some working in that direction; but the community would have to specifically want to be that kind of a community. He advised if so, there are strategies outlined that could be used to get to that place. Mr. Busacca stated ultimately the government will have jurisdiction over how all of that happens and how it is managed. He noted it gets the response of government. He stated under this particular set of strategies is how can the governmental entities, both the cities and the County, promote the other six smart growth policies. He stated there are strategies so there can be some coordination between all those entities; none of those communities can act in isolation; and they all have act together and integrate in some way. He inquired how does the community know that all this happened; and how does the government know what it did was responsive to what the community identified way back when; and advised it is feedback to public involvement. He stated involvement between the government and the communities, both individually and collectively, allows them to continue that discussion so it becomes kind of a loop a person goes through. He stated it is not a process that is a one-time deal; a plan is developed, it is implemented, and everyone goes on and goes to lunch; and it is something that will only be accomplished if all the parties, public, private citizens, and industry work together to establish the vision. He stated the process is ongoing, and will require time, energy, and resources if it will be fully realized. He stated that is sort of an overview of what the group put together as a team for all of the municipalities and jurisdictions to address. He stated what was asked for in the last workshop was that this sounds like the County is doing a lot of this stuff; the team has been working with the Planning Department; and Robin Sorbino has done a very detailed analysis of those strategies. He stated she will walk the Board through that.

Gap Analysis of Existing Smart Growth Policies and Future Alternatives

Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino stated the Board is hearing the term Smart Growth, and everyone perceives it as being a new addition to the planning lexicon, but in reality its principles are actually steeped in long-standing planning traditions. She stated as a result, the Board will see that its Comprehensive Plan includes a number of goals, policies, and objectives that already embrace the smart growth policies because a lot of those traditions have been around for a long time. She stated she will briefly go over a gap analysis, which shows some of the strategies and principles that are presented in the Smart Growth document versus the policies that support those strategies in the Comprehensive Plan; and she will identify those that are currently not addressed. She advised in addition to the brief PowerPoint presentation, the Board has received in its handouts prior to the meeting a more detailed analysis of Smart Growth strategies. She stated it goes into policy-by-policy analysis; and also there is a matrix that gives a little bit more concise overview of those policies that currently are addressed, and those that are currently not addressed the Comprehensive Plan. She noted there are seven principles that comprise the Smart Growth proposal and approximately 40 strategies, but only a few of those strategies are currently not addressed through the Comprehensive Plan. She stated the seven Smart Growth principles entail community involvement, community identity, economics of land use, environmental quality, housing, mixed land uses, and responsive government. She stated the first two planning principles, those being community involvement and community identity are directly embraced by the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA). She advised recently Thadeus Cohen, Secretary to the DCA, presented a fresh approach for comprehensive planning to the Florida Association of Counties. Ms. Busacca stated it encourages each jurisdiction to tailor its comprehensive plan to the issues that are relevant to its respective community, rather than giving lip service to a laundry list of State-driven subjects that may have no local relevance. She stated possible changes to the Florida Statutes to reflect the fresh approach may be forthcoming, and as a result the Comprehensive Plan may hone more in on those community involvement and community identity issues. She stated first she will discuss community involvement, which was the first issue addressed by Mr. Busacca. She stated it entails the strategies of reaching out to the residents and educating them regarding how their voice can help drive what a local government finds to be important when making planning decisions. She stated it encourages technical assistance in the realm of public participation; taking advantage of using the media of a conduit for informing the community as to what the planning issues are locally; and taking advantage of brain power at local institutions of higher learning. She stated while the Comprehensive Plan does not specifically go into policies that reflect those strategies, clearly the practices of Brevard County already embrace those. She stated the County does a lot of grass roots public participation activities associated with planning; there are a lot of boards that act in an advisory capacity; each of the Commissioners appoint designees to help be involved in the planning process; and there are citizens resource groups, planning and zoning board, local planning agency, and Brevard County Contractor’s Advisory Committee, which provide forums for public involvement. She stated the community identity strategies focus upon the natural and manmade resources within an area that help create a sense of place; and those resources include such things as historic features, preservation of open space, enactment of design guidelines to promote community identity, use of native vegetation, and the minimization of visual blight. She advised through the Comprehensive Plan there are policies that address each of those strategies. She stated one that currently is not really focused upon in the Comprehensive Plan is the enactment of design guidelines, and that may be something the Board may wish to discuss further. She stated design guidelines help reflect the identity of each respective community. She stated the next strategies are the economics of land use strategies, which help to ensure that public costs to support development are minimized or at least considered during the development review process. She stated the Capital Improvements Element and the Future Land Use Element help to further those strategies; they provide policies to reflect that there should be adequate physical resources necessary to fund any public improvements to support development; and the Future Land Use Element encourages the mixing of lands to help use land more efficiently, preserve public resources and access the economic impacts of land use regulations. She stated lastly the Housing Element encourages the identification of lands and structures that may be suitable for affordable housing projects. She stated the Board has discussed the Fiscal Impact Analysis Model in terms of evaluating the costs associated with development when considering a rezoning request; and she thinks it will help support those strategies. She stated the fourth principle is environmental quality; and those strategies include evaluating development in terms of the availability of infrastructure, creating interconnected greenways, blueways, and trails; seeking ways to acquire property when the community has environmental concerns; and expanding innovative financing tools for open space acquisition and conservation. She stated also recommended is the implementation of zoning tools to conserve and preserve open space resources and to encourage coordination among local, State, and federal jurisdictions for land conservation. Ms. Sobrino noted in the Comprehensive Plan, the Future Land Use Element, Conservation Element, and Intergovernmental Coordination Element all help to promote those strategies. She stated one issue the Board may wish to consider that is not really reflected other than the use of the EEL’s Program for financing the preservation of environmentally sensitive lands, is to look at other innovative tools for funding such acquisitions. She advised the fifth principle of smart growth is the housing principle; and it includes strategies to promote an array of housing styles and types to serve all sectors of the population. She stated it advocates that location should be conveniently arranged near employment centers and services, and that there should be a program to reintroduce vacant and abandoned housing back into the housing market. She stated the Housing Element includes a number of policies that address those strategies. She stated the Board may wish to add a policy that directs zoning regulations to encourage affordable housing and a mix of housing to generate the tax base that is necessary to cover the costs of associated services. She stated the next principle that was mentioned is the mixed land use strategy; and again that helps to locate housing in proximity to goods and services, encourages interconnectivity through subdivision regulations, establishes neighborhood schools, and encourages the reuse of grey field areas with mixed use projects. She advised innovative land use techniques are advocated all throughout the Comprehensive Plan; and there are a couple of flexible zoning classifications such as Planned Unit Development and Open Space that help to encourage more innovative land use planning. She stated one area not currently addressed through the Comprehensive Plan is the issue of redevelopment of grey field areas, and it may be something the Board wishes to discuss. She advised the last principle is that of responsive government; and there are strategies to seek incentives in the private sector pursuit of smart growth projects by way of government streamlining its development review process. She stated there are already some procedures in place to encourage streamlining such as the one-stop permitting process. She stated flexible and innovative growth through a lot of land use regulations are provided for. She noted if someone comes in with a smart growth project, there is a mechanism to facilitate, review, and expedite the processing of a smart growth project. She stated in summary, the smart growth strategies not currently addressed through the Comprehensive Plan policies are such things as the use of design guidelines to further community identity, the use of inclusionary zoning techniques to encourage affordable housing in the County, encouraging housing projects to generate slides to pay for associated services, encouragement to redevelop grey field areas, the fast tracking of smart growth projects through governmental approvals, and the economic feasibility of development plans to attract the private sector. She stated the last strategy, which requires State and federal legislative support rather than local initiative, is to give priority to Community Development Block Grants subsidization of smart growth projects. She advised today’s consideration of the smart growth principles and strategy is timely in that Brevard County is now getting ready to undertake the Evaluation and Appraisal Report for its Comprehensive Plan. She stated this will be due in Tallahassee in August 2006; and any strategies not addressed in the Comprehensive Plan can be incorporated while the update is being completed, which is the following step after the EAR is sent to the State.

Community Education Plan

Mr. Busacca stated the reason he is present and Jim Fletcher is not is that he has been elevated to co-lead so to speak. He stated Brevard Tomorrow is a non-profit group that has been put together by a grass roots organization, and has been put together because a community decided it needed to do some things; and this is only one piece of what Brevard Tomorrow is doing. He stated the set of documentation was put together by a whole series of volunteers for the Board’s consideration, and the consideration of the cities as well. He stated it is guidelines that do not replace what is being done; the County has a Comprehensive Plan as do the cities; and the issue really is how are those plans implemented and are there principles that everyone should be using. He stated when the Committee formed two years ago it was going to take on the land use and growth task, and there were several different goals it was looking at. He advised the Committee selected one which was to educate Brevard County citizenry about smart growth principles. He stated after getting the diverse group together they discovered there was not consensus about what smart growth was. He stated they spent a year developing smart growth principles; it was not that they were not out there; but they did not feel as a committee there was a consensus on what they should be educating about. He stated their goal is educating the community. He advised the committee is finally getting to what it is supposed to be doing after a year and a half. He stated Ms. Baake has copies of a draft plan the Committee put together and would like to distribute to the Board; and he will go through some of the various pieces of that. He advised the reason the Committee is here today is to let the Board know what it envisions its plan for educating Brevard County as a whole about smart growth is, see if the Board has any comments, and see if the Board will endorse it as the approach that should be taken. He stated there is a two-pronged educational program; and the two prongs are government and everybody else. He stated they want all the County citizenry to understand all of the smart growth principles so that they will ensure all the decision makers use the principle; so everyone needs to be educated on what the principles are in general; and with County government, it has to be done differently by going to the elected officials as well as the planning organization to talk about the details of the structure of the plan. He stated he has a beginning list of the kinds of organizations that are targeted such as: homeowners associations, fraternal organizations, churches, special interest groups, general public, School Board, city and County planners; and it is not a complete list. He stated the goal is to get the County and local municipalities to employ the smart growth principles and strategies when developing, modifying, and implementing the Comprehensive Growth Management Plans. He stated if everyone is using the same principles, all will get to the same place; and that is the goal for the Committee. He stated there are about 200,000 households in Brevard County; they said let us address 10% of that population, which is 20,000 households; and they want to reach them by July. He stated they want those people to understand the responsibility involved in growth development issues, what the counties and cities do, and all those things that are a part of the educational process; and they want them to work with the County and municipalities to develop uniform definitions and standards regarding smart growth and growth management. He advised there are some varying differences in the way the Management Plans are structured, different goals are set, and the team that put it together said would it not be nice if everyone was talking on the same page. Mr. Busacca stated one of the things they are hoping to do is develop a scorecard or checklist. He stated it would be nice if when the Board is making a development decision, it had a checklist that said there are 15 issues that should be addressed for this development to make it smart growth, and the person met nine of them and only needed to meet eight to make it a smart growth development. He stated if the County had a scorecard that everyone was using, when the Board made its decision, it could say yes or no whether it is a smart growth development. He advised it is a matter of working together with the planning organizations to see what makes sense that everyone can use; and it is an ultimate goal that is about a year away. He stated the Board needs a cost benefit analysis model to understand impact; the Board is already looking at that; but the team that put it together would say a) it needs to use one and b) everyone needs to be using the same one. He stated the ultimate goal is to have those discussions about what tools should everyone be using. He stated they want to work with developers that contract those smart growth concepts. He stated it is all well and good for regulation to say a person needs to do this, this and this, but if the people actually doing the development embrace those principles and come in with designs that addressed the principles, it would be easier. He advised one of the big educational thrusts needs to be pulling in all of those developers and land owners who are designing the new developments and say here are what the principles are and here is what is in it for you to make it better for you. He stated in the next year the team wants to start targeting those specific organizations and get them to buy into them.

Commissioner Colon inquired if the kind of education Mr. Busacca is speaking of is presentation like the Smart Growth folks gave the Board today; with Mr. Busacca responding that is where he is going. Commissioner Colon stated she feels the community is not knowledgeable of who has what jurisdiction. She stated she saw someone at Lowe’s trying to get shingles and they said something about all of the growth on a particular road that was not even in her District. She stated they were actually in the City of West Melbourne. She stated the Florida TODAY just focusES on the County Commission. She stated the County is not responsible for all of the growth that is going on in Brevard County; but the public is under the impression it is responsible for everything that goes on, even in the cities.

Mr. Busacca stated the idea is to target those organizations and to go and do presentations. He advised the piece the Board saw with the flow chart is the beginning of one of the first presentations they would do about Smart Growth Principles. He stated they envisioned there would be four levels of presentation; some places they go will only give them fifteen minutes; and so they have to get all the information they can out to the public. He stated another part of Brevard Tomorrow, either Civic Infrastructure or Workforce and Development, has talked about opening a citizens academy; and the people need to be educated about who is responsible for what. Commissioner Colon advised it ties into what is being said because the report card he spoke about would be an accountability to every jurisdiction. She stated everyone has to be on the same page, including municipalities. Mr. Busacca stated the goal would be to have a single checklist that everyone uses. He stated they are hoping to have it flushed out with more detail within a month or two. He stated there will be a multi-level approach by going to newspapers, radio spots, public interest articles, and getting people interested in what smart growth is about. He stated smart growth is a term that is getting out there a lot and people are saying they are not sure what that means; so the group is hoping to get the word out. He stated there are seven principles, and there is a flow chart that links them all together; and that very nicely goes into articles. He stated they are going to write brief articles that can be put into newsletters like the Homebuilders Association’s; so all those people will be involved in understanding what those principles are. He noted everyone has to speak the same language. He stated the Committee will be writing those articles over the next several months. He advised the Committee is using the website for Brevard Tomorrow; and a separate page can be put on the website that deals with smart growth or a separate webpage can be created for smart growth. He stated in terms of doing the presentations, the list distributed to the Board is an abbreviated list; and there would be thousands of presentations. He stated there are only three of the Committee members doing this. He stated the three members cannot do it all unless the Board gives the Committee a lot of funding. He stated what is being proposed is to develop a speakers bureau, get a series of canned presentations, and get a large group of people who understand those presentations and can go out to the various groups and get the interaction going. He stated it will be much like the public forums the Committee did because it always gets feedback. He stated there will be more PowerPoint presentations; they will develop those articles highlighting principles, not just eight of them but other articles; and they will try to participate in trade and home shows, and partner with other organizations interested in this issue. He stated finally they will develop illustrations and examples of smart growth. He stated the Committee needs to get across what a smart growth development looks like and advertise that. He advised a little more detail is in the handout distributed to the Board; there are people already writing some of the stuff; and they will just move forward with that. He inquired if the Board has any questions regarding the education plan; and stated it is the focus of the Team for the next year; and it is really what needs to get out.

Chairman Pritchard stated educating Florida TODAY Newspaper may be a good start. Mr. Busacca stated Florida TODAY is one of the partners the Committee is working with. Chairman Pritchard stated the newspaper tends to blame the Board for everything that happens in Brevard County; and if it is municipal, it is not the County’s fault. Chairman Pritchard inquired what the optimum density of Brevard County might be. Mr. Busacca responded it is not the Committee’s job. Chairman Pritchard inquired how is the Board going to do all the plans if it does not have an idea of how many people it eventually wants; and should the Board start with how many people and work its way backwards. Mr. Busacca stated the Smart Growth’s task is to educate people about smart growth so that the appropriate decision makers can make the decisions based on a standard set of principles. He stated the Committee is here to facilitate that discussion in the sense of getting the education; he would not disagree with the Board that it is a discussion that needs to occur; but it is not in the Charter of Strategic plan to do that. He stated it would be like asking the Smart Growth Committee to modify the County’s Comprehensive Plan. He stated they are here to make sure it is a grass roots thing to try to make sure that everyone is working on the same page. Mr. Busacca stated if that is a decision the municipalities and the County want to make, and that is the direction they want to go, he thinks it is a great idea.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Task Force is coming together to address that; and at the previous meeting the Board ask Ms. Sobrino to give it a buildout scenario and was going to bring it before the Board today. Interim County Manager Peggy Busacca stated Ms. Sobrino is working on that; but she does not know how far along she has gotten. Ms. Sobrino stated she can have something for the Board before the conclusion of the workshop. Chairman Pritchard stated that is the direction he would like to give the Committee; he does not see how the various plans can be implemented without having some idea of how many people; and if the Board decided an optimum number of people in Brevard County is 1.5 million, then it will need to figure out where the people are going to go. He stated then a plan can be developed showing where the people are going to go. He noted by doing it this way the County may end up getting more people than are normally considered to be an optimal level.

Commissioner Carlson stated either the County has a good plan when the people come, or it will figure out how many people will be here and plan when they get here. She advised she would rather have a plan to make sure everything is in place, with things similar to the strategies, which will set the County in motion filling in the gaps and trying to make sure the community grows correctly. She noted smart growth is all about making sure the County provides for the gaps that they have studied; and she thinks the Board can address some of those things. She stated it still leaves the Board to deal with the Task Force in its dealing with the cities. She stated the number one priority is for everyone to sing off the same sheet of music; and that is what Brevard Tomorrow and other folks who have worked with the program are trying to do. She stated there were a number of good issues brought up today; there needs to be some sort of action; and if nothing else the gaps need to be looked at that were pointed out in the Comprehensive Plan. She stated the County has experienced dumb growth, which is called sprawl; the County now has sprawl and has to deal with it; and being smart about additional growth is what it is trying to be now. She stated the County has always had difficulties with public relations because it has never had anyone in a position to put its point out there and say it is not the County’s issue but the cities issue. She stated there has never been a positive public relations hand of the County to help with that; and the Board ends up having to deal with its own individual issues. She stated there have been papers published that argue against smart growth because It seems like smart growth is trying to take sprawl and do something positive with it; and nothing can be done with sprawl but to deal with it. She stated she wants to get rid of the misconception that smart growth will do away with all the problems the County is having with sprawl because it is not the case.

Mr. Busacca stated sprawl has gotten a bad name. He stated you can have planned sprawl; the County may want to spread people out; if densities are reduced, it may be that people are sprawled out; but if it is planned for it and has the infrastructure to support it, then it is a good thing. Mr. Busacca stated smart growth really just says the County wants to plan in such a way that as it grows, it is understood what the impacts are, and the County has the structure, financial, and managerial to address those impacts as they come along.

Commissioner Carlson stated it may not be considered sprawl any longer because that is the way people want to live; and it is the acceptance factor that should be looked at. She advised it will not get better; and the only thing people like less than sprawl is density. She stated maybe what the Board is looking at is the fact that lot sizes need to be increased and spread people out because that is the way people want to live; and she is not sure what the reality is but it is somewhere in between. She stated the Board can do something by at least supporting what the Group has done and looking at some of the gaps it sees.

Robin Sobrino stated some of the things the Group is looking at now have to do with the land that is currently within Brevard County’s jurisdiction, not the municipalities; so it will not be a buildout within the confines of the County. She stated what the Group is able to present to the Board today would be what the Future Land Use Map currently provides for in terms of potential buildout. She stated she suspects because of the way Comprehensive Planning was done in 1986 and 1988, where they did very broad-brush land use designations to swaths of the County without really thinking of how it would actually build out in the real world, they will find there is a substantial over-allocation of the number of units currently provided for on the Future Land Use Map. She stated the Board may find that the number is much higher than what the real world will bear as far as when they bring into play such things as a level of service issues, roadway capacities, and those type of things, which will be limiting how much growth will actually take place. She stated she is not coming back with a number that says the maximum threshold allowed today will be “x” number of households, but rather this is what the Future Land Use Map provides for based upon acreage and density. She stated the Board would need to customize it in terms of levels of service that are available to serve future populations; and ultimately the desire of the Board may be that the number is way too high and it wants to begin bringing other issues to help adjust that number to its comfort level.

Chairman Pritchard stated there are areas in Merritt Island that are calling for 15 units per acre; that will not happen; the problem is people are buying acreage assuming they can do 15 units per acre, and are in shock when they find it is only two or three units per acre. He stated the way to do it is to start out with how many is reasonable and then take it back from there.

Ms. Busacca stated she would like to disagree with Chairman Pritchard respectfully. She stated the County needs to look at some kind of carrying capacity analysis; and she will give an example in the South Beaches. She advised in the South Beaches 30 years ago, it was 30 units per acre; and today it is anywhere between four and one unit an acre. She stated an analysis was done based on roadway capacity; and they found out if the 30 units per acre people a six lane Highway A1A. She stated if the road was built there would be no people. She stated they would determine carrying capacity of that land based on roadway capacity and Hurricane evacuation; in North Brevard that carrying capacity may be water supply; in another area of the County the carrying capacity may be some other finite resource; and she believes if the Board does an analysis, it should be done based on that finite resource and back into that number. Ms. Busacca stated if the Board finds out the number is higher than it feels comfortable with for intangible reasons, at least there is a number to start with; but she believes it is the carrying capacity based on whatever resources the County finds to be limiting, that the conversation begins with. Chairman Pritchard stated it works for him; either way a number will be established; and that number will be vastly different from the numbers generated today just by looking at what the County has listed in Land Use Plans and Comprehensive Plans. He stated the whole point is, whether it is carrying capacity or just a will of the people to limit the population to whatever, the Board needs to figure that number out. He stated the carrying capacity may be “x” in one neighborhood, but to be compatible they do not want “x”, and want a little bit lower density. Ms. Busacca stated that is actually what the Board does when it comes to level of service on the roads, because a person can get an engineer to tell him or her how many trips a day a road will take, but the threshold of tolerances may be how many stop lights does him or her have to sit through. She stated the levels of capacity as based upon, not just the technical aspects, but those intangible aspects of what kind of community a person wants to live in.

Ms. Sobrino stated that is staff’s experience in terms of the Board directing it to do those small area studies; it is in recognition that the Comprehensive Plan, when the density allowances came out in 1988, was much more generous; and it does not necessarily reflect what is built out now or the identity the community is seeking to promote in their area. She stated that is where the small area plans assist the Board in making adjustments to density; and staff is doing it all over the County. She advised the numbers will begin to change from what is currently on the Future Land Use Map.

Palm Bay Representative Pat Woodard stated it works two ways about jurisdictional inaccuracies; the City of Palm Bay gets complaints regarding all of the traffic that the Wal-Mart on Palm Bay Road generates; and the City has no control over that. He stated he appreciates that concern. He stated the definition of smart growth sounds good; the Committee worked hard to wordsmith so it meant what it wanted it to mean; but the problems he sees are the definitions. He stated city sprawl is not necessarily a bad word when a person understands what it encompasses; but if someone says city sprawl or urban sprawl to someone off the street, the person would not like it at all. He stated economics of land use can be using a particular piece of property at the best value, and if it happens to be on an arterial road and the best value for the property is commercial development, then that should be the economics of land use. He stated if it is close to people who live in a rural area, and there may be not in my back yard philosophy; and they catch that on a municipality level all of the time. He stated one thing the group can do is to look at a buildout map; it may be 30 or 40 years down the road before it gets there; but in Palm Bay there is a bad hand of cards it has to play with. He advised the new growth that comes in there can be smart growth. He stated the County may want to see what a buildout map looks like as a total package including the municipalities. He stated the Task Force could hopefully bridge some of the communications gaps between the County and municipalities.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board members have talked with Linda Chapin with University of Central Florida regarding the Penn Study, which is a study that will look at the seven-county region that makes up the Myregion.org Initiative; and they are supposed to come through in March, collectively get comprehensive plans from all of the cities and counties, and do a 25 and 50-year snapshot of what each area will look like when it is built out. She stated if the counties and cities do not like what they see, the study will add some options. She advised it is a study through the University of Pennsylvania so she does not know all of the details, but that is how it was described to her. She stated first the County needs a picture of what it will look like; and if it does not like what it looks like, it will have to look at capacity issues.

The Board recessed at 2:35 p.m. and reconvened at 2:48 p.m.

Discussion and Next Step Discussion

Commissioner Voltz stated she thinks about sprawl in Fort Lauderdale where communities used to be built, would thrive for a while, and then they would build them further out, and the ones built earlier would go defunct. She advised everything was vacant; and it would move on further and further. She stated that is not happening here. She stated a number will not tell the Board anything unless it knows how much land it is talking about to put that number in. She stated it is not so much the number. She stated it would be better if the Board knew how much land mass versus just numbers. Chairman Pritchard advised it all fits together. He stated what Ms. Busacca spoke about was regarding the carrying capacity of either water or transportation or whatever; there are some areas that do not have roads, so it has to be forecasted what kind of road, what kind of feed off that road, and how many curb cuts. He stated it needs to be looked at from the planned community and the planned community is Brevard County. He stated the County is going out of business in terms of the municipalities annexing; and the County’s Comprehensive Plan is not a critical as the cities’ Comprehensive Plans. He stated areas like Merritt Island years from now could be a city; other areas could be annexed into other municipalities; and places like Port St. John could become municipalities. He stated the existence of the County as having a lot of input in the process is not as great to him as the input of the municipalities. He advised Broward County went through this, and did not get anywhere because the good areas were annexed and the bad areas were left in the County. He stated Jim Scott introduced a bill into the Legislature that required the municipalities to annex all of those areas; that is what Broward County has done; and Brevard County will probably end up doing the same. He stated it is important as a group to look to see how it wants to do that and make sure Brevard County does not become something that will destroy the reason everyone lives here.

Commissioner Colon stated she comes from a municipality and also represents the County; the Board needs to make sure it protects the integrity of why people move into an unincorporated area and that rural sense of it; and that is why it is critical for the Board to know what the cities plans are.

Mel Scott stated he is happy to be before the Board, and is glad to see the participation of the cities and the School Board for the important discussion. He stated depending on a person’s appetite for the subject, if a person is not enthused about it that is too bad. He stated smart growth discussion is a destination that will never be reached because it is an ongoing discussion. He stated he commends the Board’s and cities’ involvement for the discussion. He stated as a citizen he commends them and wishes them well on their neverending journey for smart growth because it will never perfectly get there; but it is the pursuit of that perfection that is the noble thing to do. He stated he comes before the Board recognizing that the big experiment, which is community development, really is affected one block at a time. He stated looking at the Zoning Code, he comes before the Board with a very specific recommendation for a Zoning Code change, which he thinks is worthwhile and will further the goal of one of the cornerstones of any smart growth discussion, which is mixed use discussion. He advised the Zoning Code has a compound commercial component to it; Section 62-2106 is unincorporated Brevard County’s compound commercial section of the Zoning Code; and when it was put in place it was the first regulatory step that said a person can build residential units above shopping, retail, and office. He stated the proceedings, the reins were pulled back; and because it was the first step into the truly mixed use provision of the Zoning Code, qualifiers were placed on it, which had the effect of not having but one development in its six to seven years of existence capitalizing on the provision. He stated he would like to request a staff report, which illustrates that Zoning Code section and enables the Board to think about removing some of those constraints that had the effect of prohibiting all mixed use development in unincorporated Brevard County. He advised there is a provision that says a person can build residential units above office professional so long as those units are no larger than 1,500 square feet; it is in the Zoning Code 46 zoning classifications, and none of them having living size caps; and they are all about minimum requirements for living size. He stated the density issue is controlled. He stated if a person is going to take a chance to live about the office, but is forced to live in a unit that has a size that is not desirable by today’s market standards, the market has a double risk involved to present that for sale. He stated he would like to request the Board lift the maximum requirement and establish some sort of minimum standard; and he can guarantee that with the gentleman he is working with, they will be looking hard at actually delivering mixed use development. He stated not only is a person forced to live in a very small unit, but he or she must either own or be an employee of the store that is below. He stated if mixed use development is about offering opportunities to eliminate transportation trips, then it is something that needs to be explored. He stated if a person is living above a store, it will provide that person the opportunity to eliminate some trips, which takes the burden off of the roadways. He stated those two things have really served to prohibit that type of development.

Commissioner Carlson stated it was not that long ago that Viera wanted to do exactly that; the Board thought it was a great idea because it was applying that part of the Code; and she is not sure where the problem occurred, but it was in the fact that a particular group moved out and another one came in and had a different idea. She stated it was an evolution of thought from the Viera perspective. She inquired what is in the Code that deals with inclusionary zoning because it goes along with the mixed use stuff; and is there a combination of that which could be addressed in the report in terms of the affordable housing inclusionary. She stated if minimums are used instead of maximums, it includes some of the affordable housing type of scenarios that need to be included in the mixed use zones. Mr. Scott stated he was sharing that all residential classifications have minimum size uses, and it is peculiar in the sense that it caps the maximum size; so it would be bringing the mixed use concept into the same rule set that every other residential zoning classification works with. Mr. Scott stated maximum is dictated by lot size, density, and height.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to direct staff come back to the Board with a report on Mixed Use Zoning. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Ms. Busacca inquired if it is more fun to ask for a staff report than to complete one. Mr. Scott responded he has so many ideas. He stated strangely enough he would be willing to write something.

Commissioner Voltz stated she finds it amazing to be going back to this type of community. She stated when she grew up her parents did not have a car; her dad worked across the street from her home; and she walked to school more than two miles and played in the local neighborhood. She stated she never felt like that she was living in a downtrodden area; everyone knew everyone else; and it was a great childhood. She stated when she was in the 8th grade her family moved to a larger place; and her dad bought a car; but it was still a very small area. She stated all of her family lived there, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc. She stated she loved how she grew up; and she did not know she was poor. She stated it is neat the County is going back to how it was when she was growing up.

Ms. Busacca stated what she hears the Board say is each one has a little different issue it would like to focus on today, but all agree that a community with a variety of housing opportunities so that each one can find that niche that they feel comfortable with really is smart growth; and it is what the Board is telling staff it wants to achieve. She stated some people want to live in rural areas, some want to live downtown, and some elderly people do not want grass to mow. She advised a variety of housing types is what makes the community interesting.

Rockledge City Manager Jim McKnight stated the City of Rockledge just completed a comprehensive plan amendment relative to mixed use, so it is not an open-ended thing, and there are limitations. He stated it had to negotiate to limit mixed use in certain areas because the carrying capacity issues do come into play. He stated the City is in the process of putting the final touches on its own ordinances relative to mixed use and would like to share them with the County. Mr. McKnight stated what has happened is under-utilization of properties has occurred because of the flexibility; and as the City has moved into the redevelopment programs, it would provide new value to the community. He advised Mel Scott has given the County a good suggestion; and all need to look, on a Countywide basis, at the ability to put mixed use in appropriate area. He stated it is not something for every place, but there are areas the City is looking at.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he has been through a number of conversations with Myregion.org, and it appears what ends up being discussed is whether or not the public infrastructure can build responsibly in line with the private sector. He stated there is no more dynamic economy in the world; and it happens because private capital is able to move and be creative. He stated it does not mean that it cannot exist without a public commitment to the roads, schools, and environment. He stated in doing that, the County takes its time and talks about smart growth; there is something that is hidden underneath; and just because a school is built does not mean someone gets good education. He stated Head of the Parrish Medical Center George Mikitarian told him it was more than building a hospital; the hospital may bring good doctors; but he can go a step beyond that. He stated he can build ball fields and if he does not have a community that wants to help the young people with recreation, it does not work. He stated Commissioner Voltz said she did not know she was poor. He advised she was not poor because she had a social structure that made her feel good. He stated the problem is economic data can be crunched so easily; but the Board can still fail. He stated it is more than the government and the private sector; and it is the community spirit; and Brevard County has more community spirit than some of the adjoining counties. He stated if Brevard County wants smart growth but it does not incorporate the value the average human beings have, it may not work. He stated this is what will make Brevard County work. He stated he does not want to forget in smart growth the average human being and his or her decency and willingness to become part of the larger community is the fundamental element on whether there is a quality community or not.

Chairman Pritchard stated he thinks it is the function of the Committee to develop, either collectively or on its own, and get the message of smart growth to everyone. He stated he would suggest the Committee meet frequently.

Space Coast League of Cities Representative Georgia Phillips stated Monday night the League of Cities voted to supply the secretarial staff and take care of necessary payroll for that for the first six months of the Committee’s existence. She stated the League of Cities Executive Secretary Nancy Glass will be used to help out. She stated they would like to have a meeting date three weeks in the future to give them time for proper public notice.

Commissioner Carlson inquired if the Board feel comfortable that it supports the work the Committee is doing thus far, and would like to support the next step of the education process, which is to go to the Task Force with a list of things it can begin to talk about. She stated one of them could be a gap analysis potentially for all of the cities within the County to look at where everyone fits into the smart growth principles that have been shown; and it would be an interesting place to start from a Task Force perspective. She advised she wants to at least make a motion to make sure the Board is in support of what the Committee has done and presented to the Board today; and supports going forward from this step, giving it to the Task Force to work on some of the issues, and bringing back the big priorities.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to declare support for Brevard Tomorrow’s presentation on Smart Growth and moving forward with the process of education and bringing back the big priorities. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Motion by Commissioner Colon, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to direct a report come back to the Board on gaps in the Comprehensive Plan and things being done successfully in other areas based on smart growth principles to fill those gaps. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Chairman Pritchard advised there are 12 members of the Committee and three ex officio, which makes a total of 15 members; and it is open to the public when it has a scheduled meeting. Ms. Phillips stated she would hope to get a room at the Government Center for the meetings. Chairman Pritchard inquired if they would be in the evening; with Mr. Busacca responding evenings would be preferable. Ms. Phillips stated she would prefer the meeting no earlier than 5:30 p.m. Commissioner Carlson inquired if Ms. Glass will contact the 12 members for a date and time. Ms. Phillips responded she will be contacting the members and set up a meeting date. She advised Ms. Glass will be taking care of all the secretarial staff work until they get the Task Force going; and the Space Coast League of Cities will pay for the staff support for the first six months. Chairman Pritchard inquired if the Interim County Manager will take care of finding a room for the Task Force to meet in. Ms. Busacca responded she would be happy to do that.

Chairman Pritchard stated he is interested in a bill that is working through the Legislature that would allow a County to build schools based on future capacity instead of today’s standard. School Board Chairman Larry Hughes stated they would give increased flexibility in order to be able to meet known anticipated needs as opposed to just building on speculation; and it would be huge for Brevard County. He advised one of the problems at this moment is being caught between the class size reduction amendment, which says there can only be so many students in a class, and the old Florida Information on School Houses database, which has an entire different set of numbers in it. He stated the database will show that in Brevard County today there is reserved capacity, but unfortunately it does not because of the class size reduction amendment; so everyone is waiting for the State to clean that up.

Commissioner Colon stated she would like to get some feedback from Chairman Hughes about what he has heard today and regarding the Task Force, which he is a part of. Mr. Hughes stated from a School Board perspective, speaking only for himself and not for the Board, it is not the School Board’s job to decide how much growth is enough, and what the optimum numbers
are. He stated people at higher pay grades than the School Board members are charged with those kinds of decisions. He stated the problem is like those who provide any services whether it is transportation, water, utilities, police, they have to react to whatever the growth is. He stated the School Board is concerned and does want to be involved in the planning so it can anticipate, move forward, and maintain a high level of quality of services, just as the Board wants to do for its citizens. He stated smart growth is important, he is investing his time in it, and he believes it is where the County needs to be.

City of Cocoa Representative Charlie Love stated he did want to speak on the Whitley Bay item. He stated the Cocoa City Council has unanimously approved the Resolution concerning the use of the Whitley Bay Marina, as has the Legislative Delegation. He stated he would appreciate it if the Board would do the same and approve the resolution. He stated the City Council is going to Tallahassee, and would like to go with the full strength of the County in full force.

Commissioner Colon stated just like Ms. Phillips’ concern of not letting the Space Coast League of Cities pay for the secretary, the same things fall with the Smart Growth Plan, the County is supporting it and wanting it to be part of the Comprehensive Plan. She advised there are 15 municipalities, and while allowing those municipalities to see if they want to embrace the Smart Growth Plan, they can teach their own communities about smart growth. She stated it is a huge task, and to expect one group of people to do it all is extremely hard. She stated each municipality should embrace its own version with the help of the folks from Brevard Tomorrow.

Commissioner Carlson stated she thinks that is what Brevard Tomorrow is doing; and requested Ms. Bakke address that.

Kristin Bakke stated it is a piece of the education program; and Brevard Tomorrow hopes to be welcomed by the municipalities, and to take the Smart Growth Presentation and work with municipalities to have them look at that framework within and have the conversation. She advised Mr. Love had the conversation at break, and Brevard Tomorrow will be going to Cocoa in the near future.

Chairman Pritchard stated he has great expectations from the Committee; and he expects to have a forecast of where Brevard County will be when it is built out. He stated the Board owes that to the citizenry and the city governments. He stated it is realistic to say the County will shrink and the municipalities will increase. He stated the municipal role in developing it will be critical; and the School Board’s role will be tied in with it to make sure the facilities are provided so there will be quality education.

Pat Woodard stated he hopes that is the end goal; it is something that is needed; but the Task Force needs to get into the jurisdictional squabbles. He stated it needs to get into the nuts and bolts on what smart growth looks like on a street-by-street level as opposed to a County level; and that is what the Task Force will have the opportunity to do.

Chairman Pritchard advised the Committee will be charged with an awesome responsibility; and the Board is expecting great results. He stated he would like to thank the Space Coast League of Cities for initiating the formation of the Committee and really addressing where Brevard County is going.

Upon motion and vote, the Board adjourned at 3:23 p.m.

ATTEST: _________________________________
RON PRITCHARD, D.P.A., CHAIRMAN
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

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SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

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