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Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item#10 January 27, 2026 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | Request to Schedule the First and Only Public Hearing to Consider an Ordinance Amending Chapter 10, The Land Development Code, of the Code of Laws, and Repealing and Replacing Division 6 of Article VII of Chapter 10 entitled “Plats”, for March 10, 2026 |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
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Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Ken Morris, Assistant County Administrator Nawfal Ezzagaghi, Assistant County Administrator Brent Pell, Director, Public Works Charles Wu, Director, Engineering Services Scott Brockmeier, Director of Development Support and Environment Management |
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Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Kimberly Wood, Chief of Engineering Coordination Tim Barden, Administrative Services Manager |
Statement of Issue:
This item seeks Board approval to schedule the first and only public hearing for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., to consider an ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Leon County Land Development Code. These amendments are necessary to align County Code with statutory changes adopted during both the 2024 and 2025 Legislative Sessions. To comply with these state mandates, the proposed Ordinance establishes administrative approval for plats and replats, and introduces new procedures to expedite the issuance of building permits prior to plat recording. Additionally, it updates relevant definitions and replaces the "Plats" division of the Code in its entirety to ensure full regulatory alignment.
Fiscal Impact:
This item has no fiscal impact.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Schedule the first and only public hearing to consider the ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Report and Discussion
Background:
This item seeks Board approval to schedule the first and only public hearing for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., to consider an ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code, herein referred to as the Plat Ordinance (Attachment #1). The proposed ordinance will incorporate updates as a result of the Florida Legislature's passage of both Senate Bill (SB) 812 in 2024 and SB 784 in 2025.
Recent legislative action resulted in significant revisions to subdivision and platting requirements under Florida Statutes. Specifically, the following legislation introduced new procedural obligations for local governments:
Senate Bill 812 (2024): Requires local governments to establish an expedited process for the review and issuance of building permits prior to the final recording of a subdivision plat.
Senate Bill 784 (2025): Effective July 1, 2025, this legislation transferred final approval authority for plats and replats from local governing bodies, including the Board, to a designated administrative authority. The statute requires this authority to be a department or agency that includes an employee with oversight responsibilities related to land development, housing, utilities, or public works.
To ensure immediate compliance with the July 1, 2025, effective date of Senate Bill 784, the Board adopted Resolution 25-33 (Attachment #2) on July 8, 2025, designating the Development Review Committee as the administrative authority for plat approvals. While this resolution established an interim administrative framework, Florida Statutes require permanent amendments to land development regulations to be adopted by ordinance. The proposed Ordinance was drafted to formally incorporate these administrative approval processes and the expedited building permit procedures into Chapter 10 of the Leon County Code of Laws.
Analysis:
Recent legislative action revised Florida’s subdivision and platting framework by requiring an expedited process for the issuance of building permits prior to plat recording and by transferring final plat approval authority from governing boards to designated administrative staff. In response to these statutory changes, Leon County must amend its subdivision and platting ordinance to ensure compliance while maintaining appropriate technical review. Accordingly, several sections of Chapter 10 of the Leon County Code of Laws require updates.
While the County initially addressed the transfer of review authority through Resolution 25-33, this Ordinance is necessary for full legal and procedural consistency. Although Section 177.071, F.S., allows local governments to move to administrative approval via resolution, Section 163.3213, F.S., requires that land development regulations be enacted by ordinance. Leon County used its resolution authority for the temporary purpose of immediate compliance with the new state law; however, as the new law did not suspend the requirements of Chapter 163, an ordinance is required to ensure consistency between the new requirements in Chapter 177 and the existing requirements in Chapter 163.
Furthermore, Resolution 25-33 was limited to the transfer of authority for the plat itself and did not include the various agreements typically associated with the process. Currently, items such as Maintenance, Performance, and Capacity Agreements still require Board approval at a regularly scheduled meeting. To maintain the expedited timeline and streamline the approval process as intended by the state, the proposed Ordinance delegates the authority to approve these concurrent agreements to the Development Review Committee (DRC). This ensures the administrative review of public infrastructure is consistent with the new plat approval process.
Beyond these administrative updates, the proposed Ordinance captures existing standards regarding stormwater functionality and maintenance during the construction of public subdivision infrastructure. To ensure that the move to an administrative approval process maintains the County's established quality controls, the ordinance codifies the following requirements:
Construction and Certification: In accordance with existing technical standards, the applicant shall construct, stabilize, test, and certify via the Engineer of Record that all stormwater management facilities are functioning as designed and permitted prior to final plat submittal; likewise, no plat shall be presented to the Development Review Committee for approval until the facility(ies) has been constructed, tested, and certified consistent with the permitted design.
Coordination and Outreach:
The Advisory Committee on Quality Growth (ACQG) reviewed the proposed ordinance on December 15, 2025. The Committee acknowledged that the updates are necessary to achieve compliance with state law and offered no substantive changes or additional comments. This ordinance will be presented to the Planning Commission prior to the Board’s public hearing. Comments and recommendations from the Planning Commission will be provided in the agenda materials for the March 10, 2026, public hearing.
Once scheduled, the Board’s public hearing will be duly noticed as required by State law. Public notice will be published in the local newspaper for four consecutive weeks, as required by Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes.
This item recommends that the Board approve the scheduling of the first and only public hearing to consider an ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Options:
Schedule the first and only public hearing to consider the ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Do not schedule the first and only public hearing to consider the ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code for March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Board direction.
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachments: