At this morning's agenda review of the Board of County Commissioners, I requested a discussion about our land development code.
Specifically--I wanted a discussion of Concurrency, Transportation Mobility Fees, and/or Impact Fees.
We are the only large county in Florida without BOTH a half cent LOST tax AND some form of Impact fee to mitigate the impact of growth on existing infrastructure and public facilities.
Over the last ten years, we have seen growth that has been unbridled and it has created issues with traffic, stormwater, and school capacity at some schools.
Concurrency, had it been in place, could have helped ameliorate some of the issues with this growth.
Concurrency was always a state requirment for countys and school boards until 2011 when it was removed as a state requirement by then Governor Rick Scott to assist the state's recovery from the Great Recession. When it was removed as a state requirement, the Escambia BCC inserted concurrency into the County Land Development code in 2011. Two years later, in 2013, the BCC removed it from the LDC, in order to stimulate our area's economy that was still suffering impacts from the recession.
That's how we got where we now are, in 2024.
I brought concurrency to the board and traffic mobility fees three times since my last election, once in 2021 and twice in 2022. I did not have three votes to support these measures at that time.
I brought it again today and have now gained solid support from my counterparts to have staff do some research on the issue and bring back recommendations for implementation.
I was heartened to get the support--because we need to bring this back and more importantly--the people want it and the county needs it. I'm glad we are making some forward progress on this. More to come in the months ahead.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI don't think we agree on much but I agree with you on this.
Hi Jeff, I wonder if small multi family can be excluded for Impact fees? I am a small local developer, building 2-8units multifamily —providing affordable housing to many poorer neighborhoods like Brownsville.
ReplyDeleteWith those lost tax and impact fees will you establish proper firefighter and police (sheriff) staffing for the continued growth of Escambia county and Pensacola as a whole? It doesn’t support the growth models we’re seeing. Have you done an analysis of other like size cities for response times? This will keep coming up Jeff. Just like those lives that were lost of those two boys and and janitor. “Over 60 personnel”. It wasn’t about that. First five minutes is crucial for survival in a fire.
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