The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners on a 4-0 vote adopted a new Brevard Barrier Island Area (BBIA) element to the county comprehensive plan and authorized staff to correct scriveners errors before transmitting the package to the Florida Department of Commerce for state review.
The BBIA amendment implements the Brevard Barrier Island Protection Act and establishes coastal protections, low-impact development guidance and living-shoreline priorities for the countys barrier-island communities.
County planning staff said the BBIA implements the guiding principles in state law and will next be reviewed by the Florida Department of Commerce. "The Brevard Barrier Island Protection Act was a law that was passed by the legislature. It creates an area of critical state concern in the South Beaches," a staff member explained during the hearing.
Speakers at the meeting largely supported adoption but urged additional future work. Sandra Sullivan, a resident who testified, flagged two concerns: that the adopted language does not explicitly state an evacuation level-of-service standard, and that a reference to the future land use element should instead appear in a stand-alone property-rights element as recommended by state reviewers. Sierra Club Turtle Coast Group and the Marine Resources Council urged adoption while asking staff to return later with additional coastal-management refinements.
Commissioner Atkinson moved to adopt the BBIA amendment and to authorize corrections of scriveners errors before transmission; Commissioner Goodson seconded. The roll call showed Delaney, Goodson, Atkinson and Chairman Feltner voting yes. The board recorded the motion as passing 4-0.
Public commenters expressed concern about stormwater, evacuation capacity and future density on barrier islands and flood-prone inland areas; staff and the county attorney responded that some technical and implementation matters would return in follow-up rules and local land-development regulations. The board also discussed House/Senate Bill 180 and whether future attempts to reintroduce numeric density caps would be constrained by that legislation.
The board adopted the BBIA element as presented and directed staff to transmit the amendment package to the state with authority to make clerical corrections prior to filing. The amendment will be evaluated through the states coordinated review and comment process, after which the county will receive formal comments and move toward local adoption of implementing land-development regulations.