The Planning and Architectural Review Board voted Sept. 2 to recommend approval of Ordinance 2025-16, which updates the city's subdivision and platting regulations so final plats are reviewed and signed administratively rather than by a governing board. City staff said the change is needed to conform with a Florida law that took effect July 1.

Staff explained the ordinance does not eliminate the subdivision process's substantive steps: preliminary plats and other land-use reviews will continue to be available to planning bodies, but the final plat signature and final administrative approval must be performed by a designated city official (typically the city engineer or their designee). A staff member said the city engineer will be the designee; if the engineer is unavailable, the presenter said she is designated to sign plats in the engineer's absence.

Public comment came from RJ Santore, who urged the city to adopt a brief administrative checklist or report and to post proposed final plats online at least a week before the city engineer signs them. Santore said a short, published confirmation that the plat matches the approved final plan would increase transparency without delaying approvals. Board members asked staff to review the state law's precise language to determine how much process the city can preserve. One board member moved to approve the ordinance with consideration of Santore's suggested public-notice language; the board approved the motion on a roll call vote.

The presenter stressed that the change reflects state preemption of certain local review authority and that the preliminary plat review process remains unchanged. The ordinance will be forwarded to the city commission for final action consistent with the city's legislative process.